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Based on the demands of numerous industrial sectors, in particular automotive and software, a project team composed of members of EMIRAcle and the ECQA has established a qualification and certification scheme for Integrated Design Engineers in the iDesigner project, which is co-funded by the EC in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (contract LLP-LdV-TOI-2008-FR-117025). Figure 1 provides an overview of the highest level of skills, the so-called skill units of this modern job role. For each of these skill units, so-called skill elements have been specified that give details on the skill requirements, and thus provide a framework for the development of training modules and test questions for certification.
The Reasons for Integration in Design skill unit deals with the motivation for the paradigm of Integrated Design for innovative and competitive product development. The Targets of Integration in Design unit deals with the major entities to be integrated by integrated design approaches. At the same time, these signify the key characteristics of integrated design compared to traditional approaches. As such, the unit gives the motivation for integration in design, and attempts to present an overview of the key qualification issues. The unit on Essential Methods of Integration in Design deals with cutting-edge methods of major importance in integrated design that have been proven both in scientific research and in industrial environments. The target of this type of training is for students to understand these methods to the extent that they are themselves able to apply them to their own design tasks, as well as to select the best means to improve their knowledge and skills about them in a more specific and focused type of training and/or study.
The unit on Mastering Complexity in Integrated Design focuses on the key role that design plays in systems engineering, with a focus on systems that should be turned into competitive products successful on the market. The Knowledge Management for Integration unit makes design engineers aware of the importance of their own contributions to knowledge management and knowledge sharing in the organization, and more specifically in the design team. The unit deals with formalization, sharing and contextualisation of knowledge, as well as with capitalization on knowledge.
The unit on Collaborative Distributed Design deals with key skills required for engineers to be able to work in distributed and multidisciplinary teams. Finally, the Selected Aspects of Integration unit uses real-world case studies from different industrial sectors to teach principles of Integrated Design in specific contexts. As such, it is meant to be an extendable pool of case studies to be used by trainers according to the relevance of the studies for a specific target audience. Currently, the topics addressed include risk and safety considerations, lifecycle assessment, sustainable design and virtual technologies. Example domains range from automotive to wood furniture.
