Industry academic connect supports talent development and research for China’s automotive industry

Hunan University recently opened its Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Center, making it the fifth Chinese university to participate in the world-renowned program.

Since its introduction in China in 2002, PACE has trained thousands of students to become automotive industry professionals. More than 1,000 university graduates with PACE experience are working at General Motors and its joint ventures across China.

The program has also helped Chinese universities catch up with their international counterparts while supporting win-win cooperation between the automotive industry and academic institutions, as well as forward-looking collaborative programs with other universities worldwide.

Academia-industry cooperation provides competitive advantage
Founded in 1999, PACE is an alliance between GM and other multinational corporations. It cooperates with strategically selected institutions worldwide to support their educational and research capability in automotive engineering in order to strengthen the development of high-quality talent for the automotive industry.

PACE has established partnerships with 65 leading universities in 12 countries, including the United States, Germany, Italy, South Korea and China.

According to GM CEO Mary Barra, “The automotive business has always been about people and technology – superior professionals and the latest technology creating the greatest cars and trucks. By pooling our industry resources and ideas with worldwide famous universities, we can transform our industry into something that will redefine transportation as we know it.”

In addition to providing cooperating universities with advanced technology and grants, PACE also offers IT consulting services and automotive research training. This is enabling students to master the use of CAD/CAM/CAE software and hardware, and become familiar with comprehensive automotive Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) practices. These technologies and practices are utilized by automotive companies around the globe. Experts from several GM functions participate in practice projects involving students to enhance their learning.

Through its five Partner companies and 17 Contributor companies under the leadership of GM, PACE has donated software, hardware, training, consulting services and grants valued at more than $12 billion. Over $1.7 billion of that amount has been provided to Chinese universities.

Learning through experience in global technology and processes
In 2002, Shanghai Jiao Tong University became the site of the first PACE Center established outside North America. PACE Centers in China were later set up at Tongji University, Jilin University, Wuhan University of Technology and now Hunan University.

Tongji University graduate Xu Yudong joined the program in 2011 when he was a student. He took part in the Portable Assisted Mobility Device (PAMD) initiative along with students from Italy's Polytechnic University of Turin, the Israel Institute of Technology and the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology. They were tasked with designing a ‘first mile/last mile’ transportation device for an urban market.

After graduation, Xu joined GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) automotive engineering and design joint venture with SAIC in Shanghai. He currently serves as the body structure engineer.

“PACE gave me the chance to become familiar with the teaching philosophy and technological development in Western countries, gain insight into the automotive industry’s future development direction, and apply what I had learned in the classroom through specific projects,” Xu said. “It also helped me get fully prepared for my job after graduation by improving my overall awareness of everything from automobile R&D to production through the use of comprehensive PLM practices. This experience has continued to benefit me in my career.”

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