The AQUA Automotive Sector Skills Alliance: Best Practice in an Integrated Engineering Approach

Summary: [This abstract is based on the authors' abstract.] The AQUA Automotive Sector Skill Alliance integrates core elements of three complementary disciplines in automotive into one practical, compact skill set. Alliance experts on Automotive SPICE (ISO 15504), Functional Safety (ISO 26262), and Six Sigma collaborated to collect best integrated practice and devise a training with personal certification. The AQUA skill set is highly modular, and comprises 11 learning elements, each with four very compact subviews: Automotive SPICE, Functional Safety, Design for Six Sigma, and an integration view. Some integrated topics are highlighted and illustrated by an example: integrated development process, multidiscipline information flows, and entangled iterations. AQUA courses are currently offered via automotive clusters and training providers across Europe, and as regular university courses. Feedback confirms AQUA is meeting a vital demand in automotive not covered so far.