Knowledge management in research and education for product development

Abstract

The Institute of Product Development (IPEK) is an institute in the faculty of mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe (TH), respectively the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the merger of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. Approximately 70 employees work in research and education, administration and machine shop. The unifying goal of the research at IPEK is to improve product development processes. Every year roughly 2500 students participate in the courses offered by the institute and new research findings are continuously being taken over into the lectures and tutorials. The knowledge intensive activities in research and education together with a relatively high fluctuation of academic assistants, distribution of the institute over three locations on and off campus and a continuously growing number of employees require efficient means for knowledge management. In this contribution we present aspects of the knowledge management approach at the Institute of Product Development and show how aspects of knowledge management are being addressed in engineering design education in courses with up to 500 students.