Automotive Product Development ─ A Systems Engineering Implementation

This book is about how to develop future automotive products by applying the latest methodologies based on a systems engineering approach and by taking into account many issues facing the auto industry such as meeting government safety, emissions and fuel economy regulations, incorporating advances in new technology applications in structural materials, power trains, vehicle lighting systems, displays and telematics, and satisfying the very demanding customer.

It is financially disastrous for any automotive company to create a vehicle that very few people want. To design an automotive product that will be successful in the marketplace requires carefully orchestrated teamwork of experts from many disciplines, substantial amount of resources, and application of proven techniques at the right time during the product development process.

Automotive Product Development: A Systems Engineering Implementation is intended for company management personnel and graduate students in engineering, business management and other disciplines associated with the development of automotive and other complex products.

Vivek D. Bhise is currently Visiting Professor/LEO Lecturer and Professor in post-retirement of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He received his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering (1965) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, M.S. in Industrial Engineering (1966) from the University of California, Berkeley, California and Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering (1971) from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

During 1973 to 2001, he held a number of management and research positions at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. He was the manager of Consumer Ergonomics Strategy and Technology within the Corporate Quality Office, and the manager of the Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics in the Corporate Design of the Ford Motor Company where he was responsible for the ergonomics attribute in the design of car and truck products.

Dr. Bhise is the author of recent books entitled "Ergonomics in the Automotive Design Process" (ISBN: 978-1-4398-4210-2. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2012) and "Designing Complex Products with Systems Engineering Processes and Techniques" (ISBN: 978-1-4665-0703-6. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2014.)

Dr. Bhise has taught graduate courses in Vehicle Ergonomics, Vehicle Package Engineering, Automotive Systems Engineering, Management of Product and Process Design, Work Methods and Industrial Ergonomics, Human Factors Engineering, Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, Quantitative Methods in Quality Engineering, Energy Evaluation, Risk Analysis and Optimization, Product Design and Evaluations, Safety Engineering, Computer-Aided Product Design and Manufacturing, and Statistics and Probability Theory over the past 36 years (1980-2001 as an adjunct professor, 2001-2009 as a professor, and 2009-present as a visiting professor in post-retirement) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He also worked on a number of research projects in human factors with Late Prof. Thomas Rockwell at the Driving Research Laboratory at the Ohio State University (1968-1973).

His publications include over 100 technical papers in the design and evaluation of automotive interiors, parametric modeling of vehicle packaging, vehicle lighting systems, field of view from vehicles, and modeling of human performance in different driver/user tasks.

Dr. Bhise has also served as an expert witness on cases involving product safety, patent infringement and highway safety.

He received the Human Factors Society's A. R. Lauer Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Understanding of Driver Behavior in 1987. He has served on a number of committees of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.