Car Body Design CBD provides selected daily news from the automotive and design worlds, publishes original projects created by emerging designers, links to automotive design and engineering technical publications, and offers free design tutorials. Great resource for automotive designers, engineers and enthusiasts.

The current pressure in the solar power industry will require some sacrifices in the near future. Mainly small and middle class providers won’t have an easy going time. Reasons are the increasing price competition and the technological progress of the big companies. Also a lot of German providers are affected.

The photovoltaicmarket shows an constant growth. John West from “VLSO Research” considers that a marketgrowth of even 10% is possible. Only in 2010 they put solar power systems with a rated power of 14, 2 GW on stream, worldwide. At the „European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference & Exhibition (EU PVSec)“ West announced on the one hand, that moduleprices are expected to decrease, so that a lot of companies won’t survive on the market any longer. On the other hand he spoke about the European market in general.

At the moment especially producers of wafers, cells and modules are affected. However because of the German producers’ advantage in the technological sector, they are still doing well in opposite to other manufacturing countries. In advance of the „EU PVSec“the financial figures of the second quarter 2011 were published. According to these the turnover strongly increased and surpassed the same quarter of last year with 28 percent.

Examples from the branch: The German branch primus “Solarworld” closed his module factory in California. Meanwhile Competitor “Conergy” says, that it would be much more profitable to simply produce modules in its factory in Frankfurt-Oder, than building cells or wafers.

The market research agency “ABI Research” expects that the USA (with 5 GW per year) will outbid Germany (as the worldwide biggest market for new installations of solar energy systems) in 2013.

Another expert from the branch, Tom Murphy (Head of „Investments in erneuerbare Energien bei HG Capital“), does not see an end of the bad market situation. Since 2008 there were too many start-ups who put trust in the solar market. Due to the growing competitor China, the prices got under a enormous pressure. In comparison: In the United States one watt solar energy rated power costs instead of 4,00 $ today only 1,30 $.

Based on: Solarstrombranche unter Konsolidierungsdruck

The good news for the automotive industry is that it is expecting a worldwide burst of growth. The bad news: many middle-class suppliers are not able to keep up with this dynamic and will lose their self-employment.

“In the next 15 years, this might concern up to 20 percent of the middle-class suppliers”, a study by car-expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the University of Duisburg-Essen shows.

Based on his calculations, 57 millions cars will be sold this year. Until 2025, the number should rise to 91 million. Interestingly, the markets with the greatest growth are positioned in Asia. Until 2025, the sales in China and India will be accounting for about 40 percent of the whole world market. One reason is the low vehicle density in Asia. For example: from 1000 Chinese people only 24 (2.4%) have got a car. In comparison: from 1000 Germans, 523(52.3%) have a car.

Those who want to keep up with the growing process must expand to Asia and work in cooperation with the factories there, says Peter Faulhaber, head of the consultancy “Struktur Management Partner” in Cologne, who was also involved in the study. “To supply China with exports from Germany is illusionary”, Faulhaber says. A survey amongst 180 suppliers, car and bank managers showed that the middle-class suppliers strongly underestimate this dynamic. They plan with too little shares of sales for Asia.

In conclusion: Those who miss the growth in Asia will be unable to keep up with the market and lose market shares. Five percent sales growth per year will be needed in order to not lose shares. Those who can’t achieve these five percent downgrades his cost position and takes the risk to become a candidate for takeover. Experts say that it is necessary to develop a fitting strategy for the Asian market to prevent this.

What is your assessment? Will Asia have taken over the majority of the world market by 2025?

After the financial crisis in 2009, the aerospace industry concentrates on international growth, according to the Roland Berger survey of top managers. Starting points in order to achieve the growth are, amongst others, international market strategies and more efficient research and development. That means that companies are trying to expand their product range and simultaneously open up their business areas. By this, the companies aim to spread the risk across different business areas. While The North American market remains the most important for the aerospace industry, markets like Asia, India, South America an the Middle East are becoming more and more interesting for the top managers.

Mergers and acquisitions are other opportunities for companies of the aerospace industry to grow and easily enter new markets – especially in the field of security. The British, the Saudi-Arabic, Indish, and even the Turkish market is growing six to eight percent per year.

On rolandberger.com, you will find more information and data.

What do you think about this development? Do you expect it to lead to more working positions/projects or rather less?

The lack of engineers in Germany could become an impediment for the economical growth. The “Association of German Engineers” (VDI) is going to publish a topical report concerning the economical situation of Germany related to the engineering branch. The report says the lack of engineers in Germany might become a serious problem.

The problem of skills shortage over years can cause a certain damage for the German economy in the future. According to the VDI, 69.000 engineers are missing to fill vacant positions in Germany. And the problem of skills shortage will significantly intesify the current situation until 2020.

A solution for this problem could be a higher number of engineering alumni. The VDI calls for a consistent policy of education for Germany. Currently, every German state makes its own decisions concerning the education policy.

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Die Aktion läuft ab sofort bis einschließlich Ostermontag, dem 25.04.2011 VERLÄNGERT BIS 30.04.2011.

Wir freuen uns von Ihren „Verstecken“ zu hören und wünschen Ihnen ein schönes Osterfest!

From 4th to 9th September 2011 the “Worlds Engineers’ Convetion” (WEC 2011) takes place in Geneva. Under the topic “Engineers Power the World – Facing the Global Energy Challenge”, engineers, politics and exponents of research and industries are going to discuss innovative solutions for a endurable handling with energie.

The program includes the seven topics Global Challenges, Education in Engineering, Mobility and Transport, Buildings and Megacities, Powerplants and Networks, Renewable Energy and Storage as well as Rational Enduse and Large Consumers. The WEC 2011 will contribute to make the achievements of engineering more public. An other aim of the convention is to give decision makers an understanding of how important the accomplishments of the engineering branch are. The WEC 2011 is a tribute to the goods and services of the engineering branch, too.

Especially the young generation of engineers should be encouraged to tackle the environmental- and energetically-problems.

On the occasion of the WEC 2011 the „Best Energy Practice Award“ will be conferred. The “World Federation of Engineering Organizations” (WFEO) is planning to advance effective energy-applications and introduce them to the public. An international jury will choose 20 finalists whom’s projects will be presented at the WEC 2011. The first three places are awarded with 30.000$ prize money. Until the 20th of april all projects need to be given in on www.wec2011-award.org. The award ceremony will take place in Geneva.

Of course architects can not design their whole projects on a smartphone yet. But the increasing number of mobile applications, called “apps”, for Blackberries, iPhones, and other mobile devices might be a movement in architecture. Today they support architects already now and then, when they are on the move. With this article we present you a sample of apps that might be useful for architects.

1. Concrete Calculator

This is an app which shows the cubic yards needed for a job. It provides you choices of concrete calculation for Square or Rectangle Concrete Slab, Circular Concrete Slab, Concrete Sono Tube or Column.

Buy this app on http://www.appstorehq.com/ for 99 cents.

2. Project Photo

This app archives photos which have been taken with an iPhone. Each photo is tagged with its GPS point. Then it’s possible to link the pictures to construction drawings and plans. It is also possible to add a description, keywords and comments to a photo. This iPhone application is only for existing users of Cosential. For signing up, visit cosential.com (it’s not for free).

Buy this app on http://www.macworld.com/ for $4.99.

3. ecobee Smart Thermostat

With this app you can easily adjust the temperature at home. It’s available for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android. You can download it free of charge from the iTunes Store or the Android Market. This facile app lets you control all of your Smart Thermostats from anywhere at any time. And it alerts if it gets too hot at home.

Buy this app on http://www.ecobee.com for free.

4. Design Data Engineering Materials

On www.uassistme.com you will find a selection of apps which can provide data about the tensile strength, weldability, and density of certain metals. The apps are available for iPhone and iPod touch.

Buy this app on http://www.uassistme.com/ for 99 cent.

5. Architecture

This is a GPS enabled worldguide. It alerts about major landmarks nearby and includes architectural masterpieces from 165 different architects in 270 cities. It is also possible to map them.

Download this app on http://itunes.apple.com/ for free, after three days you need to pay $4.99 to use the app furthermore.

6. iGIS

The app turns iPhones into a tool to checkout layers of buildings or pieces of land. It gives users the opportunity to e.g. load, view and export their own data by using Google maps satellite images. With this app it is possible to export and import ESRI Shapefiles as well as you can look up the outline of an area.

Buy this app on http://www.geometryit.com for $36.99.

7. My pie interactive

This app is available as a “carpenter’s helper”, 2carpenter’s helper pro” or as a slimmed-down version. It is an advanced construction calculator with which you can e.g. calculate a roof pitch and the column volume.

Buy this app on http://www.mypieinteractive.com/ for $11.99.

8. Architect’s Formulator

Multieducator launched a series of apps for architects and engineers. Its 200 formulas help e.g. to determine how many bricks a wall might need, which wind load a roof has to bear up or the number of baulks required for a building. The apps show numerous of different formulas.

Buy this app on http://www.multieducator.net/ , the price varies from $3.99 to $17.99.

9. Save H2O

Find out your water usage with this app. The firm Sloan offers this free business tool. It helps people to understand the ecology of their restroom water usage. The app is comparable with those provided by engineering firms and enables the user to calculate savings easily. This can be generally helpful, not only for architects.

Download this app on http://www.sloanvalve.com for free.

10. Top Interior Design Blogs

This app shows you the Top Interior Design Blogs. You can follow them easily and look them up quickly. Through your iPhone it keeps you up-to-date. From MocoLoco over Inhabitat to Dezeen, this app checks all the design-blogs for news for you.

Download this app on http://itunes.apple.com/ for free

Have you tried any of the apps above – what are your experiences? Are there any apps we forgot to mention?

Companies in the engineering industry have been complaining about the lack of specialists for some time. Now, german politicians seem to have heard them and will facilitate employment opportunities for highly qualified workers from non-EU countries: there shall no longer be an engineer driving a taxi, announces Education Minister Schavan. Therefore, there will be a new law which recognises diplomas awarded by non-EU countries.

But is this a way to solve the problem? Is it really that easy to compensate the lack of experts in engineering? Or does a stronger rethinking has to take place – e.g. towards more flexibility in staffing? Working with freelancers not only helps being more flexible but also brings new expertise into the company.

What do you think of this political move? Are there similar efforts in other countries? Discuss with us!

The interaction of a vehicle with its environment makes the engineer’s hearts beat faster: Car-to-car or the communication between driver and vehicle are probably only two challenges.

At the ongoing Motor Show 2011 in Geneva, BMW is presenting a roadster reflecting the current state of research .

The developers use cloud-computing to realize the interaction of the vehicle. It shall e.g. be possible for the board electronics to look for an alternative restaurant  if the designated place is crowded.

Is the complete interconnectedness of the vehicle the next big thing in vehicle development? What do you think?