New Product Development for Engineers

Success in new product development (NPD) execution has become ever more critical today due to the global competitive pressure and rapid changing technologies. Innovation is not a competitive advantage until a company can successfully commercialize it via new product introduction. Universities and professional training of NPD normally focus broadly on the marketing, operational, and process aspects, but not adequate on the technical roles and functions of engineers. In this paper, we propose a course to prepare specifically engineering students for NPD with emphasis on the engineering roles, practices, and deliverables. The motivation stems from recognizing when entering the workforce in the industry, the vast majority of engineers will be involved in designing products and systems for profit. In a framework of new product development, where products are developed from inception to mass production, students need to learn cross-functional activities and skills that are beyond their traditional design technical discipline. These skills will directly enable these graduates to operate effectively and successfully in such ubiquitous commercial environment. Keywords—New product development (NPD), innovations, DFx, engineering curriculum.