Written By Elizabeth Walter

VENTURES

written by ELIZABETH WALTER

From Model to Market Stanford’s Product Realization Network Take a moment to think of your favorite toy – a speedy mountain bike, parabolic skis, or perhaps a shiny new cell phone. Picture this item in your head. Spin it around, notice its contours, colors, and the materials that make it. Now ask yourself: How did this object get to me? Who decided to mold it out of this material, or wire it up in this particular way? How was its price determined? Is it unique, or do my friends own similar products?

Credit John Aney

An astounding number of people play important roles in designing, engineering, producing and marketing each of your tools and playthings, from those with the grand ideas, to the technically savvy individuals who rig the assembly lines. At most universities, students are segregated into business or engineering based disciplines, only learning about one piece of this long production pipeline. However, a recently revamped program at Stanford, the Product Realization Network, is currently working to break out of this restrictive mold.

Bridging the Gap

Universities have traditionally forced students to focus on one aspect of the product implementation process. Those who are inclined toward engineering A worker at General Foundry in Hayward checks learn how to make parts, while business his mold during a PRN Site Tour in October 2007. students study the environments in which products are sold, and calculate how to best market them. In an exciting twist, however, the interdisciplinary Product Realization Network (PRN) gives Stanford students the opportunity to experience the entire

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process: from idea formation, design and production, to pricing and marketing. The goal is for students to be actively engaged in the entire process, and those involved with PRN are betting that their students will be better designers, implementers and marketers of new technology as a result. PRN brings Stanford students, faculty, staff, and alumni from the schools of engineering and business together with an array of industry partners. Though newly redesigned, the PRN is an organization with deep roots on campus. For the past 25 years, PRN’s precursor, the Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing (AIM), worked to bridge the gap between academic research and the business of product design. AIM began as an alliance between Stanford and the US auto industry, later growing to include a variety of partners in the auto, electric, defense and other industries. Though this method was useful for the partner companies, who gained information about product creation as well as novel product ideas, it was not particularly helpful for allowing students to learn about the design and realization process. As AIM grew, the directors realized that their focus had turned almost exclusively to funneling information from Stanford to industry, with little emphasis on developing students’ skills. “We were getting away from what was exciting to all of us, which was students learning about manufacturing, product design, and product realization,” notes John Aney, the executive director of PRN.

To augment student participation and learning, the directors of AIM employed an innovative tactic last year –they harnessed design thinking for their own strategic planning sessions. In a process familiar to prototypers, the AIM directors started with a few pressing questions about what challenges manufacturers are facing today and what kinds of opportunities would create better manufacturing engineers graduating from Stanford. After identifying these primary problems, the directors created prototypes for an organization that could solve them, and convened focus groups to critique their ideas and suggest new directions. After a number of iterations, and input from hundreds of faculty, students and industry professionals, the PRN was created as an organization with the mission to provide students with immersive experiences in the real world of product manufacturing.

Creating the Best Engineers Possible

Credit: John Aney

The current program includes insights into all aspects of product realization, which, as Aney explains, is design-speak for everything surrounding the creation of a product, “from the initial thinking all the way through to full manufacturing and even end of life.” In other words, students

are now expected to consider not only the mechanical and electrical issues involved in getting your new appliance to work, but they also must figure out what to do with all those sophisticated materials once the consumer is tired of the appliance and wants to throw it away. Thinking about how to mitigate the impact of toxic materials, by reducing the need for them, or through the implementation of recycling programs, is one important step along this pathway. To this end, PRN recently invited representatives from Nokia to speak with Stanford students about their company’s sustainability efforts, including the development of a new line of 100% recyclable products.

“Students need opportunities to experience the real manufacturing and product design world. Students need to understand what’s needed to take a product from the prototype level to full production.” –John Aney, PRN Executive Director

In order to help students understand what it takes to move an idea from prototype to market, PRN offers an academic certificate program (previously offered through AIM). To earn the Certificate in Product Creation and Innovative Manufacturing, students must complete at least four courses across three general areas with a 3.0 or higher GPA. These areas are Methods & Processes, Management & Strategy, and Economic Modeling & Finance . In conjunction with fulfilling these requirements, students are also encouraged to attend related seminars in other departments, including Chemical Engineering and Computer Science.

Stanford students on a recent trip to Intel organized by PRN.

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VENTURES

written by ELIZABETH WALTER Tesla Motors shows off a new design at Stanford’s Cool Products Expo in 2007.

classes, we talk a lot about how this system was a big evolution in the world of manufacturing,” she explains, “but seeing it in action brings it to a whole different level! It’s not just empty concepts anymore.”

AIM sponsored an Alumni Professors of Manufacturing trip to China four years ago. Seen here, workers at ToyBiz in Dongguan, China sort Spiderman Action Figure heads.

The PRN certificate program is open to any student in the Stanford community, and its other workshops are typically open to the public. Because many of the PRN certificate courses are accessible online, off-campus students can complete the program as well. According to Aney, the certificate can be very valuable for students who are hitting the job market, as it serves to highlight for employers the student’s strong grounding in product design and manufacturing. While the certificate isn’t technically part of an academic program, Aney likens it to earning a “minor” in manufacturing. Though initially geared towards graduate students from Engineering and Business, the certificate program is attracting enterprising undergraduates as well. Sabina Alistar, now a doctoral candidate in the Department of Management Science and Engineering, completed the Product Creation Certificate a few years ago as an undergraduate, when it was offered through AIM. After hearing about the program in one of her classes, she realized that she could finish much of the certificate by taking classes that were already required for her degree program. Sabina particularly enjoyed the site visits, and recalled a trip to New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) right after learning about just-in-time manufacturing systems (systems in which products are made for specific orders). “In our [Management Sciences and Engineering]

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This spring, PRN sponsored a full academic course for the first time. The course, titled “Making it Big: Crossing the Entrepreneurial Gap,” was taught through the department of Mechanical Engineering (ME233). This course was led by Dr. Marc Theeuwes, a visiting professor with extensive industry experience in product implementation. Part lecture, part hands-on tutorial, this course allowed students working in teams to start with a prototype (developed in previous classes) and create a plan to put the prototype into production and in the marketplace. Other activities included tearing apart consumer products in order to discuss from where the individual parts come from, how the supply chain is set up and monitored, and what can be done with the pieces once the product has served its purpose. In addition to this academic coursework, PRN offers an array of opportunities, including forums and panels that give students a chance to interact with top industry leaders, a one-on-one mentorship program that partners Stanford students with alumni in industry, site-visits to design and manufacturing plants in the Bay Area, mixers for students and industry employers, and workshops that allow for an in-depth understanding of issues pertaining to the design process. In April, PRN co-sponsored the annual “Cool Products” Expo, and has also offered workshops on topics as diverse as sustainability and manufacturing for the environment, in addition to a recent seminar on software simulation in manufacturing environments. Also, in May, PRN hosted a career panel aimed at helping students understand the transition from university to the workplace.

Industry partners hail from large and small companies, in a diverse set of fields, including GM, Toyota, Genentech, Spansion, Raetheon, Cisco and Respironics. On a recent trip to the Tesla Motors design studio in San Carlos, Stanford students crawled underneath test cars and talked with the designers who spend their days trying to improve the performance and aesthetic design of these speedsters. At the Specialized facility, students could create a mock-up of a bicycle of their own design, and spend time discussing bike design with industry professionals. Students in a freshman seminar entitled “How stuff is made” recently took a PRN-sponsored trip to Timbuk2 in San Francisco. Other recent trips to the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont and to the Fab Lab at Intel allowed students to get up close to the production lines and gave unprecedented access to designers and manufacturing leaders. Nipun Girotra, Operations Program Manager at Novellus, has worked with Stanford students on three PRN-associated projects in the past year. As part of a Manufacturing Systems Design course, students were responsible for auditing the flow of material through one of Novellus’ warehouses, and made recommendations on how to redesign the facility to improve efficiency. Girotra helped students get up to speed on the intricacies of the business processes and was quite impressed with this team, saying that the students “were extremely well organized, displayed a high level of initiative, and brought a significant number of new ideas to the table.” Girotra views the collaborations as a way to give back to the intellectual community, explaining that, “our partnership with PRN provides opportunities for students to work on real-life business

Credit: sxc.com

Partnering with Industry

problems. At the same time, the PRN network provides Novellus an opportunity to identify and recruit the best of talent.”

The Long View

PRN allows Stanford students to explore the world of product realization through their own prototypes as well as real-world case studies and site visits. By encouraging networking and collaboration between the university and industry, this organization is taking a giant leap towards fostering a new generation of designers, manufacturers and marketers who will have a deep appreciation for the entire product cycle. Keep a look out – these students will soon be designing your favorite new toys.

“What’s really important is for students to have these real experiences and to teach students what they need to know to go beyond prototyping.” - John Aney, PRN Executive Director

Elizabeth Walter is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry. When not researching or writing, she enjoys hiking and biking outside.

To Learn More

For more information visit PRN’s website at http://www.stanford.edu/group/AIM/PRN/

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