90 courses · 14 tracks · one date open now
The catalog. October is the one you can book today.
Automotive Plastic Part Design runs October 20–22 at GVSU DeVos Center in Grand Rapids. Everything else is available as an in-plant program, a private cohort, or the next open date — tell us which and we will price it.
Automotive Plastics Part Design Seminar — October 2026
October 20–22, 2026 · Grand Valley State University — DeVos Center, Grand Rapids, MI
8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (registration first day at 8:00 a.m.)
How to Attend
Register by phone at (248) 539-0473 or online at ets-corp.com → Registration. Early-registration pricing applies for payment received at least four weeks before the seminar date.
What's included. Every seminar includes a Certificate of Completion, a printed slide binder, and a take-home reference text.
Group discount. Three or more participants from the same organization, registered and attending together, receive $200 off per attendee.
Free consulting sessions. Attendees may sign up for individual 20-minute consulting sessions with the instructor — first-come, first-served.
October 20–22 fees
From the current brochure. Early rate applies to payment received by October 1, 2026.
| Automotive Plastic Part Design | By Oct 1 | After Oct 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Check | $2,085 | $2,185 |
| Credit card | $2,195 | $2,295 |
Three or more from the same company, registered and paying together, take $200 off per attendee. Other catalog courses are priced when a date is announced. 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. On-site delivery is quoted separately.
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Filter the full catalog by track, level, length, role, and demand. Counts update live.
Flagship Seminars
The signature ETS programs — taught continuously for more than 40 years and attended by over 19,800 engineers across 500+ companies.
FS-01 · Automotive Plastics Part Design
The ETS signature seminar, taught continuously for 40+ years — design philosophy, robust design, material selection, DFM/DFA, snap-fits, living hinges, assembly methods, and the 18-defect troubleshooting matrix.
FS-02 · Advanced Topics in Automotive Plastics — Computational Methods
The cutting-edge companion to the flagship: ML surrogates, reinforcement-learning optimization, uncertainty quantification, conformal cooling, and multiscale computational materials science.
Track A — Polymer Failure & Materials Science
How parts break, why compounds behave the way they do, and what the evidence shows — fractography, environmental stress cracking, compounding, CAE, and polymer IP.
A-01 · Polymer Failure Analysis & Fractography
The science of how a part broke — optical and SEM fractography, failure-mode discrimination, and confirmatory testing from a record of 2,000+ investigated failures.
A-02 · The Compounding & Mixing Workshop
Twin-screw compounding from first principles — dispersive vs. distributive mixing, specific mechanical energy, screw-element selection — so you can troubleshoot any line.
A-03 · Environmental Stress Cracking & Environmental Crazing
The quiet field-failure killer — ESC mechanism, the innocent media that trigger it, screening and confirmation testing, and the design levers that prevent it.
A-04 · CAE Simulation & Digital Twin for Plastic Parts
Process simulation (warpage/filling/cooling), structural FEA of plastics, and building a living design/manufacturing/field-data twin.
A-05 · IP Litigation & Patent Strategy for Polymer Engineers
How polymer patents are written, construed, and challenged — ITC, PTAB, and federal courts — from a practitioner's perspective.
A-06 · Failure Analysis and Forensic Engineering of Plastic Components
ETS's flagship forensic course — built from 904 real investigation records, 126 failure signatures, 57 methods, 135 test protocols, 132 decision criteria. Fractography to courtroom.
A-07 · Restricted Substances & Materials Compliance
GADSL deep-dive, REACH/SVHC, ELV and RoHS overlap, declaration obligations, and lab testing for global materials compliance.
Track B — Composites & Lightweighting
University-grade composite science through executive lightweighting strategy — fiber systems, continuous-fiber and sustainable composites, appearance engineering.
B-01 · Composite Materials & Structures
University-grade composite science — fiber/matrix systems, lamina mechanics, laminates, interfaces, failure and damage, and manufacturing.
B-02 · Continuous-Fiber & Sustainable Composites
High-performance continuous-fiber design and processing, and the emerging paths to recycled, bio-sourced, and recyclable composite systems.
B-03 · Automotive Lightweighting Strategy
The executive track — where mass matters, which materials win where, and how to build and defend a vehicle lightweighting roadmap.
B-04 · Interiors, Coatings & Appearance Engineering
The materials science of interiors and exteriors: substrates, coatings, paints, soft-touch, grain, color, and the appearance-failure modes customers feel.
B-05 · Advanced Composites & Lightweighting
Built from the U.S. DOE vehicle-materials portfolio — carbon-fiber cost paths, vitrimers, additive composites, energy-absorbing structures, body-in-white lightweighting.
Track C — Design, Molding & Tooling
The ETS core curriculum: function-to-feature design methodology, injection-molding process science, tooling and moldmaking, bonding, and sealing.
C-01 · Plastic Part and Mold Design
Function-to-material-to-feature methodology, wall/draft/radii, ribs and bosses, gates and runners, cooling, tolerances and shrinkage, molding-process science, DFM per material.
C-02 · Assembly Methods and DFM
Joining method selection, mechanical fastening discipline, snap and press-fits, automated assembly, tolerance and datum strategy, DFM economics, design-for-service.
C-03 · Injection Molding Process Technology
Resin behavior and drying, machine/screw/melt profiles, filling and packing, cooling and mold temperature, and the complete 18-defect troubleshooting matrix.
C-04 · Tooling and Moldmaking
Moldbase and steel selection, coatings, machining and EDM, cooling circuits, venting, gates and runners, slides and lifters, hot-runners, mold maintenance.
C-05 · Adhesion and Bonding Design
Why bonds fail — surface energy, substrate treatments, adhesive chemistries, joint loading, failure modes, and environmental durability.
C-06 · Elastomeric Seal Design
O-ring and seal engineering — gland design for static and dynamic service, squeeze and stretch, compound selection, installation, failure-mode diagnosis.
C-07 · Materials Selection and Property Envelopes
Building and defending property envelopes — thermal, mechanical/time-dependent, chemical/environmental — fillers and additives, moisture and shrinkage, OEM screening.
C-08 · Plastic Part and Mold Design + CAE Simulation & Digital Twin for Plastic Parts — Combined Program
Part and mold design plus the simulation-validation layer in one combined four-day program: design methodology followed by process simulation and structural FEA of plastics.
SUP-01 · Plastics Sustainability & Circular Economy
Add-on module · also available standalone
Design and process decisions that determine recyclability, recycled content, and circular-economy positioning — available as an add-on module or standalone seminar.
C-10 · Creep, Stress Relaxation & Fatigue Design of Plastics
The long-term mechanical behavior no intro course teaches: creep rupture, polymer S-N curves, stress relaxation in snap-arms and bolted joints, thermal aging — the mathematics of how plastic parts fail slowly.
C-11 · Welding & Joining of Plastics: Ultrasonic, Laser, Vibration, Hot-Plate
The industrial welding processes and their joint design: ultrasonic energy directors, laser transmission, vibration and hot-plate welding, with weld-line quality, leak integrity, and process windows per process.
C-12 · Multi-Material Molding: Insert, Overmold & Two-Shot
Insert molding, hard-soft overmolding, and two-shot/two-color design: substrate preparation, CTE mismatch management, adhesion without primers, and the tooling economics that decide insert-out vs. two-shot.
C-13 · Threaded Fastener Joint Design & Torque Control
Bolted joints into plastic: preload, self-loosening, creep-driven preload loss, boss and insert design, torque control strategy — the mechanical fastening discipline assembly methods surveys can't fit.
C-14 · Additive Manufacturing for Production Polymer Parts
Production additive manufacturing for polymer parts: process selection (FDM/SLS/MJF/SLA), DFM for AM, qualification and quality systems, and the conformal-cooling tooling bridge to injection molding.
C-15 · Micro-Molding & Precision Miniaturization
Micro-scale injection molding: sub-gram shots, micron tolerances, micro-feature demolding, medical/connector miniaturization, machine and mold technology, and the metrology to prove it.
C-16 · Mold Surface Science & Release Agent Technology
PRIVATE/CHANNEL course (ChemTrend co-delivery): mold fouling and buildup science, release-agent chemistry and selection, mold-surface engineering, and the part-design interaction — the mold's surface as a system.
C-09 · Hybrid Metal–Plastic Crashworthiness
Cross-listed — delivered as F-05 in its home track.
Track D — Reliability, Statistics & Compliance
Life-data and RAM engineering, accelerated life testing, applied statistics, environmental qualification, and the regulatory corpus taught from primary source text.
D-01 · Reliability Life Data Engineering
Weibull and life distributions, confidence bounds, mixed and multi-modal data, competing risk, warranty and field data, ALT, reliability block diagrams, and system reliability.
D-02 · Reliability Prediction and RAM Engineering
Reliability functions, system reliability, standby and k-out-of-n structures, maintainability and availability, allocation, FMEA linkage — the complete RAM program.
D-03 · Accelerated Life Testing
Physics of acceleration, Arrhenius/Eyring/inverse-power/Coffin-Manson models, test planning, censoring, ALT analysis, and extrapolation validity.
D-04 · Applied Statistics for Engineers
NIST e-Handbook-grounded applied statistics — exploratory data analysis, distributions, intervals, hypothesis testing, DOE, capability, SPC, and regression.
D-05 · Environmental Testing and Qualification
Tailoring doctrine, temperature and shock, vibration, mechanical shock, humidity and altitude, qualification vs. acceptance testing, and lab-to-field correlation.
D-06 · Warranty Engineering & Field-Failure Analysis
Field-failure data, warranty claims analysis, rate forecasting with uncertainty, root-cause triage, and the warranty-to-design closed loop.
D-07 · Automotive Regulatory Compliance
From the CFR itself — core FMVSS, homologation, US self-certification vs. EU type-approval, GADSL, recall jurisdiction, and the compliance program.
D-08 · Medical Device Regulation: EU MDR & FDA QMSR
EU MDR 2017/745 article-by-article, classification rules, conformity assessment, technical documentation, clinical evaluation, FDA QMSR, and 510(k) pathways.
D-09 · Export Controls Compliance: ITAR & the EAR
From the verbatim EAR — jurisdiction, CCL and ECCN, USML and TAR, licenses and exceptions, deemed exports, end-use and end-user controls, compliance and penalties.
D-10 · Industrial Safety Compliance: OSHA 29 CFR 1910
The OSH Act and 29 CFR 1910 framework — hazcom/GHS, walking-working surfaces, PPE, machine guarding, electrical, LOTO, confined spaces, and recordkeeping.
D-11 · Restricted Substances & Materials Compliance
Cross-listed — delivered as A-07 in its home track.
Track E — EV, ADAS & Software-Defined Vehicle
Battery plastics and thermal management, high-voltage insulation, autonomy, SDV architecture, and the failure and liability landscape of electrification.
E-01 · EV Battery Plastics & Thermal Management
Battery enclosure plastics, thermal management, cell-adjacent material selection, and the design constraints unique to electrified-vehicle powertrains.
E-02 · High-Voltage Polymer Insulation
High-voltage polymer insulation — creepage and clearance, tracking resistance, material selection, and design for 400V/800V architectures.
E-03 · ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering
The systems engineering of ADAS and autonomy — sensors and fusion, control architectures, ISO 26262 and SOTIF, validation, and the failure and liability landscape.
E-04 · Software-Defined Vehicle & Architecture
Software-defined vehicle architecture — domains and zonal E/E, the shift of value to software, and what it means for vehicle engineering organizations.
E-05 · EV/ADAS Failure Analysis & Liability
EV and ADAS failure analysis and liability — high-voltage incidents, sensor and software failures, and the expert-workflow for electrified-vehicle claims.
E-06 · Software-Defined Vehicle & AUTOSAR
Software-defined vehicle and AUTOSAR — the Classic and Adaptive platforms, methodology, and integration practice, taught from ETS core material.
SUP-02 · EV Battery Materials & Cell Engineering
Add-on module · also available standalone
The 800V EV accelerator module — high-voltage plastics selection, creepage and clearance, tracking resistance, battery enclosure design, and thermal-runaway venting. Available as an add-on module or standalone seminar.
E-07 · Functional Safety (ISO 26262) for Component Engineers
ISO 26262 for the component engineer: ASIL decomposition, safety mechanisms at part level, the safety case artifacts suppliers must produce, and the documentation chain from hazard to part drawing.
Track F — Crash, Structures, Reconstruction & Injury
Crashworthiness and body structures, FEA for impact, accident reconstruction and biomechanics, heavy-truck crash, and hybrid metal-plastic structures.
F-01 · Vehicle Crashworthiness & Body Structures
Vehicle crashworthiness and body structures — crash energy management, materials and sections, load paths, and the structures behind occupant protection.
F-02 · FEA for Crash & Impact
FEA for crash and impact — explicit dynamics, material models for polymers and metals, contact, strain-rate effects, and model validation practice.
F-03 · Accident Reconstruction & Biomechanics
Accident reconstruction and biomechanics — delta-v and event data, injury mechanisms and tolerances, restraint analysis, and component-failure interaction with occupant response.
F-04 · Heavy Truck & Commercial Vehicle Crash
Heavy truck and commercial vehicle crash — the distinct structures, regulations, and failure patterns of Class 7-8 vehicles and their trailers.
F-05 · Hybrid Metal–Plastic Crashworthiness
Hybrid metal-plastic crashworthiness — joining dissimilar systems, mixed load paths, and the analysis of structures that combine metallic and polymeric energy management.
F-06 · Plastic Part and Mold Design + Vehicle Crashworthiness & Body Structures — Combined Program
Design plus crashworthiness — the part and mold design methodology followed by crash and impact analysis in one combined four-day program.
F-07 · Food-Contact & Hygienic Polymer Engineering
Polymer parts for food machinery and processing: FDA 21 CFR 177 compliance, 3-A/NSF/EHEDG hygienic design rules, UHMW/acetal/PEEK wear parts, knife-land geometry, and washdown chemical survival.
F-08 · Heavy-Truck Cab & Exterior Polymer Systems
Class-8 and vocational polymer engineering: SMC/BMC compression molding, RIM and thermoplastic cab panels, hoods/fenders/bumpers/fairings, vibration-UV-gravel duty cycles, fleet warranty economics, and the FMVSS/CMVSS touchpoints for truck exteriors.
Track G — Computational & Quantitative Engineering
New — grounded in 199 MIT OpenCourseWare courses: machine learning, algorithms, stochastic processes, numerical methods, and advanced design of experiments.
G-01 · Applied Machine Learning for Engineers
Supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning for engineering — surrogate models, defect prediction, process optimization, and judging vendor AI claims.
G-02 · Design & Analysis of Algorithms for Engineering
The computational core behind optimization, search, and data operations: asymptotic analysis, data structures, graph and dynamic-programming algorithms.
G-03 · Stochastic Processes & Systems Modeling
Probabilistic modeling of real systems — Markov chains, queueing, reliability of stochastic systems, Monte Carlo methods.
G-04 · Numerical Methods & Computational Simulation
The numerics underneath every FEA and solver run: linear algebra, root-finding and optimization, integration, differential equations, discretization error and stability.
G-05 · Design of Experiments & Advanced Statistics for Engineers
Modern experimental design and advanced statistics — factorial, fractional, and response-surface designs, ANOVA and regression, variance components, advanced SPC.
Track H — Electrical & Electronic Engineering
New — digital signal processing, embedded systems, cryptography, and robotics for the software-defined vehicle era.
H-01 · Digital Signal Processing for Automotive Systems
Sampling, transforms, filtering, and spectral analysis applied to the ADAS, radar, LiDAR, and sensor signals your programs depend on.
H-02 · Electronics & Embedded Systems for Vehicle Platforms
Circuits, digital electronics, microcontrollers, sensors and actuators, and in-vehicle networks — the electronics literacy structural and materials engineers now need.
H-03 · Cryptography & Secure Communications
Symmetric and public-key cryptography, hashing, signatures, key management, and secure protocols for connected vehicles and OTA updates.
H-04 · Robotics & Autonomous Control
Kinematics and dynamics, state estimation, feedback and optimal control, and trajectory planning — the control-theoretic depth behind safe autonomy.
H-05 · Connector & Terminal Engineering for Polymer Components
The connector world's polymer engineering: contact interface physics, plating and fretting corrosion, CTI/glow-wire material requirements (IEC 60695), miniaturized housing design, insert-molded terminals, and EV high-voltage connector systems.
Track I — Systems, Program & Product Engineering
New — systems engineering and optimization, product development strategy, and NPI program management for senior technical staff.
I-01 · Systems Engineering & Optimization
Requirements, architecture, trade studies, and linear, integer, and nonlinear optimization — from coordinating parts to architecting systems.
I-02 · Product Development & Operations Strategy
The management layer engineers rarely get: development process, innovation management, operations strategy, and project economics.
I-03 · Supply Chain, Sourcing & NPI Program Management
Supply-chain design, inventory and capacity, supplier qualification, and NPI program management — connecting sourcing to DFM and PPAP.
Track J — Global Compliance & Aerospace Quality
New — FMVSS, EU/UNECE homologation, and AS9100 aerospace quality taught from the verbatim standards corpus.
J-01 · FMVSS & U.S. Automotive Safety Standards
The core Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards taught from primary regulatory text — the deep-dive counterpart to survey-level compliance training.
J-02 · EU/UNECE Homologation & Global Regulations
EU type-approval, UN-ECE regulations, the EU General Safety Regulation, and the ELV and recycled-content regime.
J-03 · AS9100 Aerospace Quality & First-Article Inspection
AS9100 quality management and AS9102 first-article inspection, NADCAP special processes, aerospace materials and ITAR interaction, and prime digital-thread expectations.
J-04 · Automotive Cybersecurity Compliance: ISO/SAE 21434 & UN R155/R156
The vehicle cybersecurity regulatory regime: ISO/SAE 21434 engineering process, UN R155 CSMS type-approval, R156 software-update management, and what suppliers must produce to keep programs moving.
Track K — Platform, AI & IT Enablement
Teach-them-to-fish training on the ETS platform estate — ChatETS, ETS Build, the Applied Physics Engine, and the multi-agent platform — plus general AI and IT capability for engineering teams: AI literacy, automation with LLM APIs and local models, and knowledge/data infrastructure. Taught hands-on on live systems, not slideware.
K-01 · ChatETS for Engineering Teams
The engineering answer engine, hands-on: cited DFM-grade answers in plain language, eight specialist modes, RAG grounded in your own documents, and running real engineering tools from chat.
K-02 · ETS Build Power User
Design, analyze, verify, and document a plastic part end-to-end in one browser workspace — parametric design, generative optimization, guided FEA, the Material Lab, DFM/DFA, and the 18-defect troubleshooting matrix.
K-03 · AI-Assisted Design Validation Workflow
The disciplined way to put AI inside design verification: where AI genuinely accelerates, where it must be checked against verified physics, and how signed, auditable analysis replaces black-box output.
K-04 · The Applied Physics Engine for Engineers
The verified calculation brain — 164+ modules across 24+ domains — worked hands-on: classic engineering calculations, natural-language access, and checking every AI answer against verified physics.
K-05 · Enterprise AI Deployment & Governance
For engineering leaders and IT: deploying AI engineering platforms in your organization — SaaS vs. self-hosted, SSO and RBAC, organization isolation, audit trails, compliance regimes, and a governance model that survives audit.
K-06 · Multi-Agent Engineering Workflows
The governed platform layer hands-on: sequential and parallel multi-agent workflows for engineering work — orchestration, tool execution, collective intelligence, and results that are proven, not just produced.
K-07 · AI Literacy & Prompting for Engineers
The durable AI fundamentals every engineer now needs: how large language models actually work, why they fail, how to prompt for engineering-grade output, and the verification habits that make AI safe to use on real work.
K-08 · Engineering Automation with LLM APIs & Local Models
Hands-on building blocks for engineer-built automation: calling LLM APIs from scripts, structured output and tool calling, retrieval over your own documents, and running local/open models for IP-sensitive work — with cost and quality discipline.
K-09 · Engineering Knowledge & Data Infrastructure
Turn scattered specs, reports, and datasheets into a citable knowledge base: document pipelines, search and retrieval concepts, RAG grounding done right, and the governance that keeps institutional knowledge findable — and trusted.
Track L — Quality & Launch Standards
The launch-discipline layer: APQP, PPAP, MSA, SPC, 8D, GD&T, and FMEA/DVP&R — the core tools taught on plastic parts, for the quality organizations ETS training already serves.
L-01 · Automotive Quality Core Tools: APQP, PPAP, MSA, SPC & 8D
The five core tools as one launch discipline — APQP phases, the 18-element PPAP package, Gage R&R measurement systems analysis, SPC starter set, and 8D corrective action — taught with polymer-specific launch failure modes (weld lines, warp, shrinkage) no generic quality course covers.
L-02 · GD&T and Tolerance Stack-Up for Plastic Parts (ASME Y14.5 / ISO GPS)
Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing per ASME Y14.5 and the ISO GPS system, taught with the plastic-part specifics generic GD&T courses skip: shrinkage variation, warpage drift, and datum schemes that survive molding reality.
L-03 · FMEA and DVP&R Discipline for Plastic Programs (AIAG-VDA)
Design FMEA and Design Verification Plan & Report discipline per the AIAG-VDA FMEA handbook, built around plastic-part failure modes: the mechanism-first approach that makes FMEA a design tool instead of a compliance artifact.
Track M — Regulated-Product Design
Medical and regulated-product polymer engineering: biocompatibility and sterilization, thermoforming, LSR, cleanroom processing, and sterile-barrier packaging — the design side of the catalog's regulatory depth.
M-01 · Medical Device Polymer Design & Sterilization
Designing polymer device components for the regulatory reality: ISO 10993 biocompatibility in the supplier-data era, EtO/gamma/e-beam sterilization effects on polymers, device-scale part design, and the design-control documentation chain.
M-02 · Thermoformed Polymer Products: Medical Trays to Aligners
Heavy-gauge and precision thermoforming: plug-assist and pressure forming, twin-sheet, trim and fixture design, aligner-grade PETG/TPU processing, medical packaging trays, and process validation for formed parts.
M-03 · Liquid Silicone Rubber & Elastomer Part Design
LSR part and mold design: material behavior, medical-grade grades, cold-runner systems, flash and parting-line economics, LSR-over-thermoplastic overmolding, and the key/seal/skirt geometry that makes silicone parts work.
M-04 · Cleanroom Polymer Processing & Controlled Manufacturing
Molding and assembly in ISO 14644 cleanrooms: particle generation from polymers and equipment, gowning economics, process validation, and the molder-transfer playbook that decides CDMO relationships.
M-05 · Sterile Barrier & Device Packaging Engineering
ISO 11607 sterile barrier systems: formed tray vs. pouch architecture, seal process validation, accelerated aging, and EtO/gamma/e-beam compatibility of packaging polymers — the discipline that keeps devices sterile to the point of use.
Delivery Options
Every seminar in this catalog is available four ways:
- Open enrollment — announced dates, individual registrations
- Corporate on-site — the full seminar delivered at your facility
- Private cohort — your team, your schedule, our venue
- Digital license — curriculum licensing for internal training programs
Call (248) 539-0473 or email info@ets-corp.com to scope an on-site program.
The whole practice
One record. Eight ways to use it.
Three days in Grand Rapids with the author. 1,300 slides, real case histories, twenty minutes with him.
90 coursesThe catalogFailure, composites, EV, crash, compliance, regulated product. Open enrollment, in-plant, or your own cohort.
Your floorIn-plantThe same course at your plant, on your parts. Sixty-three companies have already hosted it.
The book10th editionDesigning Plastic Parts for Assembly. The seminars are taught from it. Read the prefaces first.
The recordExpert witnessTrial and deposition work since 1997. Plastics failures, explained to a jury.
The toolsCalculatorsSnap-fit and living-hinge, free. The same equations the seminar spends a day on.
Cited answersChatETSAsk the corpus. Answers come back with the source, not a guess.
The workspaceETS BuildDesign, FEA, DFM, PPAP and FMEA in one browser. Early access for pilot teams.