ASME Highlights Boeing 787 Dreamliner as Model for Global Design Innovation
June 5, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
To see how business organizations are adapting to new challenges brought by the global economy and shifts in technological practices, consider the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the newest design in commercial air transportation.
The Dreamliner, scheduled to launch in early 2009, will incorporate highly sophisticated avionics, advanced communications, engines that will consume 20% less fuel than today's similarly sized commercial aircraft and many other state-of-the-art capabilities.
Experts said to bring all these cutting-edge technologies to bear on the new airliner, Boeing served as a large-scale integrator, creating a far-reaching global network consisting of interdisciplinary design teams and a supply chain of more than 70 companies.
"I do not believe such an innovation as the 787 could have been planned and developed without a globally-focused strategy involving multidisciplinary design teams," said Ahmed K. Noor, Ph.D., William E. Lobeck professor of aerospace engineering at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.
Noor joins other technology leaders who believe that to be successful in today's global market, companies and their employees - particularly engineers - must seek opportunities for strategic collaboration and interdisciplinary partnerships.
"We are seeing a cultural shift in the way business organizations operate and carry out product development," said Noor. "Companies are collaborating globally in the effort to leverage technology, knowledge, human talent and other resources necessary to innovate and compete."
Noor said businesses are transforming into what he calls "global collaborative enterprises." While business models differ from company to company and from industry to industry, one common trait of the global collaborative enterprise is the use of "mirror zones" enabling around-the-clock, 24-hour product design and development capabilities.
Globally-focused collaborative strategies are evident throughout industries, Noor said, from health care and telecommunications to automotive and aerospace. "Global collaboration is having a profound impact on business, and for engineers it could represent the next major advance in the profession," he said.
An increasing number of colleges and universities in the U.S. and Europe have established programs that teach interdisciplinary collaboration and global product development. Old Dominion started the Center for Advanced Engineering Environments that connects engineers and computer scientists from dispersed locations around the world.
"Engineers must be 'systems thinkers' and become adept at synchronous design in virtual design environments," said Noor.
Noor and others will discuss this and other topics at Innovative Partnering: Interdisciplinary Challenges to Designing the Future, the 2008 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) annual meeting, June 7-11 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The conference will include three plenary sessions: "Envisioning the Future," "Critical Skills Needed to Overcome 21st Century Challenges" and "Partnering: Interdisciplinary Approaches Are the Keys to Success."
Joining Noor are senior executives and engineers from IBM, Westinghouse Electric, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other leading firms and organizations. Panel discussions will be led by Michael Rogers, futurist-in-residence, at The New York Times Company. Rogers is one of the nation's leading experts on the impact of technology on business and society.
Source: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
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