Program Overview

The New Product Development (NPD) program at Cerritos College has the goal to prepare technicians for both the automotive aftermarket and the professional, scientific, and technical service companies of Southern California. The program goals are multiple. The first goal is to provide students with the academic preparation needed for a career in the automotive aftermarket industries or other industries using similar technology. Students can do that by learning the program objectives from the set of classes that will allow them to take a virtual new product idea to market. Another goal of the program is to enable current students to get a double competency (3D inspection/NPD, Machining/NPD, Auto/NPD, Welding/NPD, Plastics/NPD, and Engineering Design/NPD). Finally the last goal of the program is to provide continuous learning opportunities for industry employees. This in turn will provide industry with a framework of classes to further employee development and/or provide validation of professional experience and a path to an AS degree for current employees. The main objective of the program is to enable students to take a product of their choice through the appropriate stages and produce a portfolio for a new design. The steps include product plan, customer needs evaluation, product specification, concept generation, concept selection, product design and a plan for manufacturability and procurement.