Global Product Development

Location of Program: Europe (Spain, Italy, Romania, Greece)      Year: 2014
Program Director(s): Christopher Mattson and Spencer Magleby
Participating Major(s): All Engineering and Technology Majors

Summary:

The purpose of this program is to give students an opportunity to participate in the globalization process.  Through this international experience they have first-hand experiences with how global companies approach issues associated with global product development.  This year they toured Nolan Helmets, Olympic International, Bianchi, Cinelli and Fundacio Cim. 

Recap of the Year:

Leadership Development
Students in this program were members of a unique group analyzing and comparing multiple companies.  As students they were able to ask intimate questions into the working of companies in the USA and abroad, which gave them a vision of what drives economies and product development.  This then gives the students the ability to more quickly understand, react to, and lead others through difficult situations.

Global Agility
During this program, students visited four countries, spending just a few days in each country.  This pushed them to develop the skills of being able to quickly acclimate to each culture.  It was also a wonderful opportunity to compare and contrast both the cultures and the product development process in each country, which will help them be more efficient in their dealings in the global market.  They can now take ideas from international settings to determine what will work best for them as they navigate their careers as global designers.  

Technical Competence
During this program, students were asked to choose one part of the design process to study and prepare questions for the companies to answer.  Some of the best designers in the world opened their doors to this group and taught the students how they worked.  These lessons can’t be taught in a classroom.  Not only did they gain new insights about the inner workings of companies, but they saw why they did it that way.  Studying their chosen topics in these settings broadened their perspective and allowed them to think about their topics differently. 

Participants