Munro & Associates, UBM TechInsights and EE Times to Share Advanced Analysis of Key Chevrolet Volt Components at Design West's Embedded Systems Conference

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Key components of the Chevrolet Volt will get an advanced analysis when Al Steier, design prophet, Munro & Associates, Inc., John Scott-Thomas, senior engineer, UBM TechInsights and Brian Fuller, editorial director, EE Times, share their teardown insights of the battery pack, charging and infotainment systems during three separate sessions at Design West's Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center (Design West Theater) in California. Steier recently led a team of Munro engineers through a three day teardown of the Volt, where they catalogued all of the vehicle's parts and weights utilizing Munro & Associates Design Profit software.

In their first presentation titled "Drive for Innovation Teardown: Chevrolet Volt Battery Pack" – taking place on Tuesday, March 27 at 12:30 p.m. – Steier, Scott-Thomas and Fuller will describe the 380V battery's properties, its design and safety systems, as well as its six boards and front battery pack control module used to control the battery and the massive energy it stores and releases.

On Wednesday, March 28 at 12:30 p.m., in their second presentation titled "Drive for Innovation Teardown: Chevrolet Volt Charging System," they will discuss the vehicle's sophisticated charging system used to pull energy from the grid into the vehicle's main battery to run a variety of subsystems – a "step-change" in automotive electronics design. The audience will have an opportunity to see the modules and intricately designed boards that make up the charging system's inverter, AC-DC converter, DC-DC converter and charge cable.

Finally, on Thursday, March 29 at 11 a.m., Steier, Scott-Thomas and Fuller will present "Drive for Innovation Teardown: Chevrolet Volt Infotainment" – on the vehicle's state-of-the-art interface that includes two displays and capacitive-touch control buttons for entertainment, climate control and navigation. They will walk the audience through the half-dozen boards that control communication, radio, navigation, body positions and the flat panel displays, including the driver and navigation / entertainment displays.

"The importance of benchmarking is critical to adding intelligence to the process and quantifying the real value of component features," Steier said. "Our qualified team – including engineers, certified ergonomists, and manufacturing and material experts – and their efforts, like those performed on the Chevrolet Volt, go well beyond traditional benchmarking procedures to include detailed analytical design audits with quantitative results. We are pleased to be sharing some of our insights on the Volt teardown with ESC attendees."

ESC is the global electronics industry's leading event. With product demonstrations, visionary speeches, and hundreds of technical training classes and accreditation opportunities, ESC is a venue for the design engineering community to learn, collaborate and recognize excellence.

Munro & Associates' benchmarking services utilize the Design Profit software tool, which incorporates Lean Design, part costing and Cost of Quality methods and tools to offer production intelligence and quantify the value of product features through data collection, reverse engineering, competitive and side-by-side analyses. The company's 27,600 square foot world class Benchmarking Information Center (BIC) is dedicated to product evaluation and redesign. The BIC is a turnkey facility complete with the necessary tools, technology and engineers to perform any size or type benchmarking study. The facility is available to manufacturers in any industry that are looking to take advantage of the benefits of benchmarking. Munro also has a customer specific 80,000 square foot facility dedicated to automotive architectural studies.

Founded in 1988, Munro & Associates Inc. is a world class consulting engineering firm based in Troy, Mich. with offices in Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia. The firm specializes in upfront, predictive methods to increase profitability by improving quality, reliability and value, while reducing total lifecycle costs. The Munro team delivers in-depth knowledge in product design, manufacturing, quality and technologies from a broad selection of industries.

Munro's diverse customer list includes: Abbott Laboratories; ATK; Bentley; BMW Mini, Boeing; Cardinal Health; Caterpillar; Chrysler; Department of Defense, Fiat, General Dynamics; Ingersoll Rand, Lockheed Martin; Medtronic, Inc.; NASA, Nikon; Raytheon; Rolls Royce; Rubbermaid; TACOM LCMC; Tata Motors and more. For more information, visit www.leandesign.com.

SOURCE Munro & Associates, Inc.