I
M P A C T
Emerging Work from CTPID
Impact
Fall 2002: Cover Stories
Ford-MIT
Alliance | New
Executive Directors
Ford,
MIT Renew Alliance Through 2007
By Nancy Duvergne Smith
The Ford Motor Company and
MIT announced in October the $20 million-dollar renewal of their research
and education alliance for a second five-year term, extending through
2007.
"In the past five years
our work with MIT has resulted in some significant technical progress
and has expanded to include new strategic activities," said Gerhard
Schmidt, Ford Vice President for Research, Ford's Director of the Alliance.
"We are very pleased with the new ideas and depth of insight we have
gained from interactions between Ford's senior management and MIT faculty
members."
The Ford-MIT Alliance has created
a model for mutually beneficial university-corporate research, participants
say. The alliance has grown beyond the initial focus areas of environmental
science and policy, information technology in product development, virtual
teams, and education. New interests include specialized research projects
and a new program area in active safety technology research. The research
projects are also linked with recruiting and MIT's educational programs,
enrolling engineers and managers that bring new research knowledge back
into Ford. The Alliance is an MIT-wide initiative financially administered
by the Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development.
"MIT and its faculty have
demonstrated an ability to come together across departmental and disciplinary
boundaries to work on interesting practical problems," said MIT Chancellor
Phillip Clay, the MIT Director for the Ford-MIT Alliance. "This work
with industry contributes new insights to our faculty and enhances the
implementation of MIT research through corporate partners - a cornerstone
of MIT's relationship with corporations."
Key projects
- The MIT/AGS Consortium on
Environmental Challenges, an environmental research center that supports
integrated, cross-disciplinary teams undertaking physical and social
science projects in environmentally complex and sensitive situations,
such as a study of air pollution in Mexico City, the life cycle of different
fuels and alternative power sources, carbon mitigation strategies, future
water resources problems, innovations in sustainable materials and recycling,
and innovative approaches to environmental regulation.
- Development, testing, and
implementation of DOME (Distributed Object Modeling Environment) that
allows engineers at automotive companies and suppliers to use each others'
computer design and modeling tools for rapid design changes and improvements.
- Acceleration of the development
of new 42 volt high-voltage vehicle electrical system standards through
the use of virtual engineering concepts and achieving global consensus
among US, European, and Asian automotive OEMs and suppliers.
- Initiation of active safety
research projects that apply research results from military and aerospace
projects to smart automobiles, with an awareness of vehicle occupants,
environments, and threats.
- Collaboration on more than
30 other projects focusing on success in engineering careers; factors
for successful global teams; future directions for engineering systems;
diesel particulate matter emissions reduction; a virtual design studio;
quality-enhancing engineering techniques; and data searching computer
programs.
For Ford, partnership benefits
include developing new technologies and knowledge to provide a competitive
advantage, increased profitability, and shareholder value. Ford employees
benefit by working with faculty and students on research projects and
these opportunities help Ford recruit new engineering and science talent.
MIT benefits through funding, access to interesting problems, and joint
examination of unsolved industry challenges that lead to breakthrough
research, new theory, and academic publications, and invaluable real-world
case studies. Students working on these projects will be better prepared
for workplace challenges.
The Ford-MIT Alliance, drawing on more than four decades of cooperative
research and faculty consultation, began in September 1997. Nearly 200
MIT alumni are currently employed by Ford, including Chief Executive Bill
Ford, a graduate of the MIT Sloan Fellows Program, and Martin Zimmerman,
Group Vice President, Corporate Affairs, who received his PhD in Economics
from MIT.
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Husband-and-Wife
Alumni Team to Lead Ford-MIT Alliance
By Nancy DuVergne Smith, CTPID Communications Director
Kristin and Steven Schondorf
are bringing job sharing to a new level as joint executive directors of
the Ford-MIT Alliance. The Schondorfs, collectively alumni of mechanical
and aerospace engineering and the Technology and Policy Program, returned
to MIT in October after working on Ford assignments in the U.S. and abroad
since their graduations in 1992.
They met as graduate students
in their last semesters, standing in line to sign up for job interviews.
They quickly realized they had many things in common - ongoing work on
their theses and professional interests in the automotive industry.
As a MIT freshman, Kristin
Schondorf had chosen mechanical engineering as a flexible major that would
open many career fields. Her interest in the automotive industry was sparked
when she joined the Solar Car team in fall '91. After she drove two days
of the five-day American Tour Del Sol - which MIT won - her interest was
confirmed. When she earned master's and bachelor's degrees in mechanical
engineering, she and Steven headed for six weeks in Europe, then to Dearborn,
Michigan, both to work for the Ford Motor Company.
Steven Schondorf first fell
in love with aerospace. He earned a S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics
in 1988 then worked on the Space Station Freedom Program. Space seems
glamorous, he said, but the reality of being tied to congressional budget
cycles is not. So he returned to MIT to earn a dual master's degree in
technology policy and aerospace engineering in 1992. "I was looking
for something more collegial than my undergraduate experience and TPP
was exactly that. Every minute of every day, I loved it."
As graduation approached, Steven
knew he wanted to work in a more tangible field that space and interviewed
in one non-aerospace company - Ford. When they both received good offers,
they headed for the Midwest. After a training period, Kristin became a
cylinder head component engineer in the engine division and Steven worked
as a systems engineer on a new battery electric vehicle.
In 1996, Ford tapped Kristin
to move to Germany. Kristin was soon named supervisor of the 4.0L Product
Support Group in the Cologne Engine Plant. Although women engineers were
rare, she quickly proved herself not only through her professional work
but because she was the only female player on the Ford soccer team. Everyone
knew her name. Steven, who quickly followed Kristin to Germany, has worked
in a series of assignments in the electrical/electronic systems division
to design electrical system architectures, vehicle wiring, electronic
module diagnostics, and airbag electronics.
A promotion for Steven brought
them back to the U.S. in 1999. He returned to form and manage a group
devoted to restraints electronics. Most recently he has been working on
Ford's fuel cell vehicles. A signature of Steven's work style is the invention
group he starts in each new job. Weekly brainstorming lunches have produced
a stream of ideas. "Ford has a very good system for submitting ideas
for inventions and technologies," he said. "We've been very
successful."
In 1999, Kristin also returned
to the US and worked in Engine Performance Development - the department
responsible for V-engine development and durability testing/analysis.
After a maternity leave following the birth of their son Benjamin, she
has worked in Lincoln Powertrain defining the Lincoln Brand "DNA"
and working as a powertrain program management supervisor.
Since graduation, the Schondorfs
have returned regularly to recruit MIT students for Ford and to keep up
with friends. In January 2002, Kristin joined an advisory group for the
Ford-MIT Alliance and soon realized that the Ford-MIT connection was rich
- and a potential new assignment. "It was a long shot that we could
do it as a job share," she said. "As alumni, it seemed like
a great idea. So we applied and got the job."
Understanding the scope of
the Ford-MIT Alliance is their first goal, then they want to learn more.
They want to investigate projects beyond the current alliance to learn
about research that might benefit Ford business and technologies as well
as to consider funding in new areas.
"We plan to utilize each
other's strengths and divide the job as it makes sense," Steven said.
Those strengths include Steven's sense of invention and using technologies
in new ways and Kristin's management skills and interest in technologies
in depth.
Boston and MIT also have a
personal pull for the couple, who will live near Harvard Square. "When
I was here as a student, I had no time or money to explore Boston. I haven't
even been to Cape Cod," says Kristin. "We are also looking forward
to reuniting with old friends - we have a strong network of friends at
MIT and in the area," says Steven.
The Alliance
is a MIT-wide initiative financially administered by the Center
for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development.
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