Maintaining Industry Partnerships In Integrated Product And Process Design Education (original) (raw)

The University of Florida Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) faculty have become expert at teaching multidisciplinary design (9 fields of expertise) and cultivating industry partnerships. With an annual 25+ project activity, 150+ student and 20+ faculty, many lessons have been learned and codified in the areas of project recruitment, project scope definition and project management. Industry praises the program as an outstanding experiential education, with benefits for students, faculty and industry. Between 1995 and 2001, 133 projects and $2 million in support were provided by industrial sponsors. Two thirds of the projects each program year come from repeat sponsors. Since 1996, Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Pratt & Whitney and the USAF have sponsored 25 aerospace-related projects. Lessons learned in design project management and funding are explored in the context of representative aerospace-oriented projects.