Qualification and certification for the competitive edge in Integrated Design

Competitive Product Design is more and more linked to mastering the challenge of the complexity and the multidisciplinary nature of modern products in an integrated fashion from the very earliest phases of product development. Design Engineers are increasingly confronted with the need to master several different engineering disciplines in order to get a sufficient understanding of a product or a service. Industrialists demand for the certification of the required skills, as well as for their international recognition and exchangeability. This paper describes an innovative approach to establish a training curriculum and a certification in the domain of Integrated Engineering on a European level. It shows the key competences that have been identified for the new job role of Integrated Design Engineers, as well as their relevance to system competence, which is considered one of the most vital success factors of competitive product design. It also introduces the European-wide recognized schema for professional training and certification that has been adopted for the implementation of the qualification and certification of Integrated Design Engineers, and it points out the relevance of the activity for universities.