Profile

Education

• Ph.D., University of Stuttgart, Germany, 2003
• M.S., University of Duisburg, Germany, 1996
• B.S., University of Duisburg, Germany, 1994

Research Areas and Descriptors

Computer-Aided Engineering and Design and Manufacturing; Integrated design of mechatronic systems, model-based systems engineering, information engineering for complex engineered systems, virtual engineering, systems integration, variant and agile design, innovation in engineering education, personalized learning, remotely and robotically controlled laboratories, and professional faculty development programs.

Background

Prior to joining Georgia Tech in Fall 2006, Dr. Schaefer was a Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Durham University, UK, and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He also held part-time positions as an Assistant Professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Aalen and as a Lecturer at two private IT Academies in Esslingen and Dresden. In addition, he was the Managing Director of an IT consulting firm which he founded in 1999. Dr. Schaefer started his career as an apprentice toolmaker with one of Germany's leading metal forming companies, where he specialized in CNC machining and the manufacture of compound tool sets for knuckle joint presses. Prior to working in academia, Dr. Schaefer gained experience as a software engineer in the area of CAD system development.

Research

Dr. Schaefer has experience in research and development on the boundaries between engineering and information technology principles. Longstanding work has addressed product modeling, variant design technology, product life-cycle management, interdisciplinary ECAD-to-MCAD integration, design-with-manufacture integration, standardized product data exchange, and knowledge management. His current research focus is on The Scholarship of Integration and The Scholarship of Education.

His contributions to the Scholarship of Integration are related to Computer-Aided Engineering and Design and concern the highly topical area of Designing Mechatronic Systems: "Mechatronic systems are a synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, electronics and software technologies into electromechanical systems. Mechatronic systems are excellent candidates for design process optimization due to the high complexity of mechatronic design, the high degree of integration of electrical, mechanical and information-processing components, the overlapping design disciplines and system behaviours, and the critical nature of optimizing the overall system." In his research, Dr. Schaefer addresses the following related challenging questions:

• Mechanical, electrical, and software product development have traditionally evolved as separate silos of expertise and technology. How can these different areas be brought together earlier in the development lifecycle, i.e., how can these different design domains be integrated into one overarching design domain?
• Mechanical, electrical, and software data are often handled in separate Product Data Management systems (PDMs) with no automated sharing of data between the systems or links between data. How can such domain-specific PDM systems be integrated and what are the standards needed for this?
• There is no commercial mechatronic system design environment currently available. How can domain-specific CAD systems be integrated into a new type of mechatronic CAD/CAE system?
• Due to the growing number of product variants and increasingly short lifecycles, costs for developing physical prototypes have become increasingly prohibitive. How can mechatronic systems and system families be designed and re-used more efficiently?

ECAD-MCAD systems integration as one step toward integrated design of mechatronic systems.

Dr. Schaefer’s contributions to the Scholarship of Education address one of the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering as stated by the National Academy of Engineering: Advance personalized learning. There are three related research themes of key interest: (1) Why is personalized learning useful? (2) What personalized learning systems are available? (3) What can engineering do to improve learning? In his research, Dr. Schaefer addresses these themes by focusing on the following research questions:

• How can the paradigms of mass customization, personalization and collaborative learning be introduced into the engineering curriculum through problem-based activities that foster deep learning?
• How can distance learning students be provided a learning experience equivalent those of in-class students, specifically in the area of physical laboratory exercises?
• How can engineering education be designed to educate a new type of engineer that is better prepared to succeed in the ‘flat’ world of globalization?
• What are the opportunities and challenges in introducing a professional faculty development program for engineering educators in the United States and what are the requirements to be met by such programs?