Change and Renewal in Engineering

Change and renewal seem to be everywhere. As the whole world embraces political winds of change, we also witness fundamental transformations erupting in our engineering communities and core industries. None embody the necessity of change more than the global auto industry. As difficult as the challenges are, the end result will still be a spectacular renewal of automotive technology in a short amount of time, and we will witness literal revolutions in fuel technology, intelligent power management, and system controls.

Behind the scenes, there is an even greater transformation for many of us. The current generations of engineering technique and design technology have been remarkably effective in increasing productivity and improving product quality. Techniques such as Model-Based Development (MBD) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) are now computational cornerstones of leading manufacturers. However, we must remember that many of the ideas, and in many cases, even the code driving the current toolchain, can be 20 or more years old. And many engineers have openly expressed real concerns about whether this toolchain can support the needed product innovations in a timely manner.

The basic issue is quite simple to describe, though the solutions may be complex. Traditional engineering modeling approaches rely on purely numerical frameworks that represent physical systems in a highly abstract way, based on a generic notion of a signal flow. As auto companies, among others, now face the challenge of developing more sophisticated dynamic models of more complex systems, this very abstract layer has become, according to industry leaders, a real impediment to rapid product development. All of the progress that we have made over the last two decades to automate design and manufacture are heading for a wall.

Nothing embodies the challenges more than the needed generation of hybrid powertrains and the future generations of 100% alternative energy vehicles. These engineering marvels have already captured the imagination of the public. From an engineering standpoint, however, they have become nightmares. Just the simple fact that hybrid engines must be modeled using techniques from different domains (such as mechanical, electrical, thermal, and hydraulic) makes the efficient application of conventional engineering computing tools virtually infeasible. Some have estimated that the amount of time required for dealing with the complex up-stream phases has ballooned to upwards of 80% of overall modeling and simulation time. This is a staggering figure as it implies that the vast majority of the task of modeling and simulating systems has become manual.

The issue of the aging toolchain has now been publically acknowledged by industry leaders. Two years ago, Toyota and the engineering modeling software company Maplesoft (www.maplesoft.com) established the Plant Modeling Consortium (PMC; www.pmconsortium.org). The PMC is basically an industry think tank that openly discusses possible solutions for the software dimension in modern engineering design, with particular focus on the need for new design techniques in control plant modeling. It currently boasts over 100 companies in its membership ranks, including virtually all major OEMs and parts companies, software and service solution providers, and university research groups.

At the recent third general meeting of the consortium in Tokyo, the PMC presented the case to a broad cross-section of the Japanese automotive engineering community. Indeed, it was the largest PMC conference to date, with the largely Japanese audience agreeing on the deficiencies. But it is not all doom and gloom. Parts of the outcome of the meeting were some indications of solution paths and, more importantly, a willingness to explore, adopt, and even collaborate on new techniques. Here are three cases in point: Toyota offered an example of complex modeling of a variable-valve timing (VVT) actuator system using an innovative technique that automatically ensures that the fundamental physics are correct. The German automotive modeling leader IAV showed how analytical and experimental methods could be combined to develop higher fidelity plant models of systems. Maplesoft demonstrated its newest modeling framework called “MapleSim,” which provides an integrated view of the system components and the underlying mathematics. These are a few examples of the bold ideas emerging from all of the key segments that feed into modern design and engineering. Everything from rethinking the way that an engineer validates system models to fresh ways of managing the fundamental mathematics and science of modeling are reinvigorating many engineers. And the software community is fully engaged to deliver these new concepts in usable and accessible end-user tools.

Just as the challenges faced by industry today seemed to have crystallized overnight, it seems that the engineering solutions for tomorrow, with smart thinking and clear vision, can respond to these challenges with equal speed. The PMC has shown that we can bring together fierce competitors into a single room to openly discuss respective challenges and collaborate to explore solutions. This is engineering at its best. True, in the near future, there will be important and heated debates on bailouts and acquisitions and jobs. But in the background will be some of the most exciting engineering thinking that we have seen in a long time. I can’t wait to see the 2012 models!