Samenvatting

In the fall of 1999, we started, the Integrated Product Development- Collaborative Engineering ( IPD-CE) project as a first pilot. We experimented with modern communication technology in order to find useful tools for facilitating the cooperative work and the contacts of all the participants. Teams have been formed with engineering students from Lehigh University in the US, the Fontys University in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and from the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. In the fall of 2000 we continued and also cooperated with the Finnish Oulu Polytechnic.

It turned out that group cohesion stayed low (students did not meet in real life), and that Internet is not mature enough yet for desktop video conferencing. Chatting and email were in these projects by far the most important communication media. We also found out that the use of a Computer Support for Cooperative Work (CSCW) server is a possibility for information interchange. The server can also be used as an electronic project archive.

Points to optimise are:
1. We didn't fully match the complete assignments of the groups;
2. We allowed the groups to divide the work in such parts that those were developed and prototyped almost locally;
3. We haven't guided the fall 2000 teams strong enough along our learning curve and experiences from previous groups.
4. We didn't stick strong enough to the, by the groups developed, protocols for email and chat sessions.
5. We should facilitate video conferencing via V-span during the project to enhance the group performance and commitment.