PACE Centre set up at Wuhan University of Technology

The Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT) held an opening ceremony on April 30 for its new Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) Center. PACE provides Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software and hardware, to learning institutions worldwide. This is preparing students for careers in design and engineering.

The WHUT PACE Center received a donation of engineering and design software and hardware valued at $433 million (Rs 2,611 crore) from several PACE Partner companies, including Autodesk, HP, Siemens and Oracle. WHUT is the fourth institution in China to participate in the PACE Program, joining Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University and Jilin University.

“We appreciate the support of the PACE Program and its partner companies,” said WHUT President Zhang Qingjie. “It will provide vital experience using the latest design and engineering tools that our students will use on the job.”

GM and its partners have donated more than $1.2 billion (Rs 7,237 crore) in facilities and software to four universities in China through the PACE project.

PACE is an alliance between five partner companies, GM, Siemens PLM Software, Autodesk, Hewlett Packard and Oracle, joined by 16 other software and hardware contributors, that helps the next generation of automotive engineers and designers get a head start in using advanced digital tools.

Since the organisation was founded in 1999, GM, Autodesk, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and Siemens PLM Software have partnered to contribute nearly $12 billion (Rs 72,372 crore) in design, engineering, manufacturing, and collaboration software, hardware, equipment and training to 64 institutions in North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. PACE also provides opportunities for students to work on real-life technical projects at PACE companies, including GM, worldwide.

Last year, almost 40 percent of engineering and design graduates hired by GM and its joint ventures in China – including SGMW and PATAC – attended PACE schools. These young professionals had an advantage due to the practical experience they acquired using leading-edge digital tools while at the university level, as well as through their participation in PACE-sponsored vehicle collaboration projects and competitions. One ongoing PACE competition involves more than 300 students from 33 universities in 12 countries. Their mission is to design a Portable Assisted Mobility Device solution to address transportation challenges posed in megacities by population growth, global warming and the depletion of natural resources.

“We are actively leveraging PACE and our cooperation with universities such as WHUT to help train and recruit graduates who are not only talented but have real-world expertise in design, engineering and manufacturing,” said SGMW executive vice-president Ray Bierzynski. “These individuals are able to make a valuable contribution from their first day at our company.”

The new PACE Center will benefit students enrolled in WHUT’s School of Automotive Engineering as well as the Schools of Science, Electrical, Mechanical and Art and Design. Being involved in PACE also helps students develop and improve their foreign language skills, product design and development capabilities, collaboration skills, design experience and research strengths.

SGMW and WHUT have an ongoing cooperative relationship, having worked together to prepare automotive professionals for their future careers. “We recruit on average 40 new employees from WHUT annually,” according to Yuan Zhijun, VP, SGMW. “Working with PACE, we hope to help even more university talent develop world-class competence so that they can become high-quality contributors to the development of China’s automotive industry.”

SGMW offers a scholarship for WHUT students, jointly operates a laboratory at WHUT and has played a significant role promoting curriculum development and personnel training in WHUT’s Automotive Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical, Materials Science, and Management Colleges.

Leo Liang, MD of Greater China, Siemens PLM Software, said: “We are honored to join the PACE Program and to provide the world’s leading PLM technologies to WHUT students by helping them to grow into excellent engineers. I believe with this program, WHUT students will find that their Siemens PLM skills will help and accelerate China’s manufacturing transformation process from low value high volume goods to high value, high quality and digital manufacturing in China.”

“HP Enterprise Services and our Product Lifecycle Management practice is a long term partner in PACE and is excited in our global commitment to the mission of PACE,” added Rob Link, Siemens PLM Practice director.

Autodesk representative Pat Williams, senior VP, Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets, commented, “Autodesk is proud to support the partnership with General Motors and PACE. We are committed to providing educational institutions and students with access to leading design technology. We support the innovation potential of the next generation of designers, engineers and architects.”