A little bit of background about Lucas and its engine control divisions.
When I worked at Lucas, (Jan 91 - Dec 91), I worked in the Engine Mangement
Systems Department. I was involved in the development of a black box called
GEMS - Generic Engine Management Systems (Inspired name huh?). The GEMS unit
was being designed to control 6 cylinder engines and V8 engines for Jaguar
and Rover respectively. Due to a lack of resources and apalling project
management the project when I joined was already late and over-budget; in an
attempt to salvage the system personnel from Lucas Aerospace were called in
to actually design the software to our specification and the automotive
engineers would implement and test it.
In 92, Lucas underwent a major re-organisation; the aerospace division became
Lucas Electronics and a 50% share of the Engine Management Division was sold to
Sagem. I think that Lucas also manufacture compnents and systems under license
for the growing European-Japanese car industry, e.g. Nissan.
BTW the title Princes-of-Darkness is well-earned and is oft heard in the UK
automotive industry. The quality of Lucas' systems compared to other developer's
offerings is woefully lacking.
Quote heard from a Lucas manager "We build the system first and then engineer in
the quality". What more is there to say?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Ashworth
Lloyd's Register email: tcsaca@uk.co.lreg.aie
29, Wellesley Road Phone: +44 (0)81 681 4040 ext 4510
Croydon Fax: +44 (0)81 681 4839
CR0 2AJ
The opinions above are purely personal!
|