Honda R&D Americas Chief Engineer and Fraunhofer Head of Polymers to Keynote Lightweighting AutoPlastics 2012 Conference in Response to the CAFE Standards

TROY, Michigan, Oct. 18, 2012 /CNW/ - Keynote speeches delivered by Mr. Lawrence Geise, Chief Engineer and Division Director of Body and Interior Design, Honda R&D Americas and Prof. Frank Henning, Head of Polymer Engineering, Fraunhofer ICT (Germany) will outline the sustainable mobility trends and pressures for lightweight vehicle design (CAFE standards in the U.S.) and the technologies that will enable large scale manufacturing of automotive composites. The meeting also features an exclusive presentation by NHTSA, the U.S. government agency that administers the CAFE standards. The conference takes place over two days on November 14 - 15, 2012 in Troy, Michigan USA. To learn more about this event, visit http://www.lightweightautoplastics.com 

Automakers worldwide are ramping up their lightweighting programs to meet the fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles sold in the U.S., as mandated by the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation. The goal is 54.5 MPG on average for the entire vehicle fleet by 2025, which will help consumers save significant energy costs. This present automakers with a host of challenges in utilizing lightweighting materials and technologies. Plastic manufacturers are now working with major auto OEMs in strategic partnerships, such as Ford-Dow, GM-Teijin, Honda-Nissan-Toray and BMW-SGL to tackle the challenges when incorporating plastic based materials, such as engineering plastics and carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP), into existing car structures to achieve optimal engine performance.

The Lightweighting Autoplastics conference program features multifaceted perspectives from the entire automotive plastic industry, presented by auto OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, plastic manufacturers, processors, injection molders and upstream suppliers. The conference program addresses key challenges with incorporating advanced composites in car structures to drive lightweighting innovation for fuel-efficient vehicles. This event is developed and organized by PlasticsToday's Automotive Channel.

The conference sessions deliver an unparalleled lineup of speakers. This is a must-attend event for automakers, Tier 1 suppliers and plastic manufacturers, as it is the only auto plastics conference to feature the Department of Transportation's NHTSA, the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). For most up-to-date information about this conference, visit http://www.lightweightautoplastics.com

Speaker line-up includes:

• Stephen Ridella, Director of Vehicle Crashworthiness Research, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-U.S. Department of Transportation
• Raymond Boeman, Program Director of Energy Partnerships, Oak Ridge National Laboratory-U.S. Department of Energy
• Adrian Lund, President, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
• Lawrence Geise, Division Director of Design, Honda R&D Americas
• Patrick Blanchard, Composites Group Leader, Ford Research & Innovation Center
• Avetik Harutyunyan, Chief Scientist, Honda Research Institute
• Frank Henning, Deputy Director Fraunhofer ICT and Director of Polymer Engineering, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology

Must-see sessions include:

• Reviewing sustainable mobility trends and pressures for lightweight vehicle design and forecasting the impact on automakers and their plastic suppliers
• Large scale manufacturing of automotive composites - Technologies and trends
• Understanding the Department of Transportation's perspectives on automobile lightweighting to devise timely and effective strategies for plastics and advanced composites
• Adopting a material-focused approach to mass reduction through intelligent design to bring low-cost, high-volume carbon fiber composites to next-generation vehicles

SOURCE: UBM Conferences

Vu Nguyen
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