SPE® Auto TPO Conference Organizers Announce 2012 Event Dates, Issue Call for Papers & Presentations

The fourteenth-annual SPE® TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference, the world’s leading automotive engineered-polyolefins forum will be held September 30-October 3, 2012 and the group has issued its annual call for papers with abstracts due April 27, 2012 and non-commercial papers or presentations due July 31, 2012 (eMail both to TPOpapers@auto-tpo.com). Since 1998, volunteers from the Detroit Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) have organized the conference to update attendees on the latest developments in engineered thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs) and related materials. The show typically draws 500 attendees from around the world and features 40+ technical presentations, panel discussions, keynote speakers, networking receptions, plus exhibits that highlight advances in engineered polyolefin materials, processes, and applications technologies.

To represent the technology changes in the plastics industry during the last decade better, as well to reflect growing interest among the automotive and ground-transportation market segments, the conference has expanded its scope beyond rigid and elastomeric TPOs to include a growing range of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) and that broader perspective is reflected in a slight name change for the event.

SPE® Announces Dates, Location, Theme for 12th Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE)

The organizing committee for the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) today announced the dates, theme, and location for this year’s show and issued its annual Call for Papers. Now in its twelfth year, the SPE ACCE has become the world’s leading forum for automotive composites and draws exhibitors, speakers, and attendees from 15 countries on five continents. This year’s event, whose theme is Unleashing the Power of Design, returns September 11-13, 2012 to the MSU Management Education Center in Troy, Mich., U.S.A.

Creig Bowland, senior research associate at PPG Industries, and the 2011 and 2012 SPE ACCE conference chair said, “With the global automotive industry growing again after several difficult years, and with a host of tough new emissions and fuel-economy standards looming for the industry to meet, interest in lightweight materials like polymer composites is at an all-time high. Fortunately, the composites industry has a broad portfolio representing a wide range of cost, performance, and processing options from which to choose. Whether automakers are working on low volume/performance platforms, or high volume/economy platforms, they will find materials and process options that will meet their needs. And the best way to keep on top of the very latest technology innovations in this field is to attend the annual SPE ACCE show.”

Those interested in speaking at this year’s event should submit abstracts by March 31, 2012 to the review committee via ACCEpapers@speautomotive.com. Full papers or presentations are due May 31, 2012. Authors who submit papers (not presentations) in the proper format will be considered for the conference’s Best Paper Awards, which will be presented during the event’s opening ceremony.

SPE® Automotive Div. Announces Winners of 41st Automotive Innovation Awards Competition

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) tonight announced the winners of its 41st-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. Winners survived a pre-qualification round, as well as presentations before a panel of industry experts on September 29-30; finalists from that round presented again on October 10 before a Blue Ribbon panel of judges where category and Grand Award winners were selected; winners were announced tonight at the 2011 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala. The Process / Assembly / Enabling Technologies category winner was also selected as the event’s Grand Award winner for the Most Innovative Use of Automotive Plastics in 2011.  For more information on the 2011 winners, see  http://speautomotive.com/inno.htm.   And to learn more about all the nominations accepted into this year’s competition, see:  http://speautomotive.com/Awards%20Modules/2011Awards/Home.html

SPE’s Automotive Innovation Awards Program is the oldest and largest competition of its kind in the world. Dozens of teams made up of OEMs, tier suppliers, and polymer producers submit nominations describing their part, system, or complete vehicle and why it merits the claim as the Year’s Most Innovative Use of Plastics. This annual event typically draws 600 to 800 OEM engineers, automotive and plastics industry executives, and media. As is customary, funds raised from this event are used to support SPE educational efforts and technical seminars, which help educate and secure the role of plastics in the advancement of the automobile.

The mission of SPE is to promote scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics worldwide and to educate industry, academia, and the public about these advances. SPE’s Automotive Division is active in educating, promoting, recognizing, and communicating technical accomplishments for all phases of plastics and plastic-based-composite developments in the global transportation industry. Topic areas include applications, materials, processing, equipment, tooling, design, and development.

For more information about the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala, please visit the SPE Automotive Division website at http://speautomotive.com/inno and http://speautomotive.com/awa, or contact the group at +1.248.244.8993, or write SPE Automotive Division, 1800 Crooks Road, Suite A, Troy, MI 48084, USA. For more information on the Society of Plastics Engineers or other society events, visit the SPE website at www.4spe.org, or call +1.203.775.0471.

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High-resolution digital part photography for all of the 2011 nominations may be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/speautomotive/collections/72157627886707996/.

Chrysler Group LLC Wins 2011 Vehicle Engineering Team Award from SPE® Automotive Division

The interiors of the 2011 model year (MY) Chrysler® 200 and Dodge® Avenger® mid-size sedans, which were developed and launched as part of vehicle facelifts in just over a year, won Chrysler Group LLC and its interiors supplier, Faurecia, the 2011 Vehicle Engineering Team Award (VETA) from the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) as part of the group’s 41st-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. James N. Lyijynen, system responsible – Interior Cockpit, System & Component Engineering, at Chrysler Group LLC will accept the award on behalf of all OEM and supplier team members during SPE’s annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala on November 9, 2011, at Burton Manor in Livonia, Mich.

Unlike other SPE executive awards, VETA recognizes the technical achievements of entire teams comprised of automotive designers and engineers, tier integrators, materials suppliers, toolmakers, and others whose work—in research, design, engineering, and/or manufacturing—has led to significant integration of polymeric materials on a notable vehicle. This is the fifth time in eight years that the award has been presented. The first winner was Porsche AG for the 2004 MY Porsche® Carrera GT supercar, and Ford Motor Co. has won in three previous years with, respectively, its 2009 MY Ford Flex™ cross-over-utility vehicle (CUV), 2010 MY Ford® Taurus sedan, and 2011 MY Ford® Explorer sport-utility vehicle (SUV).

Chosen by a panel of Blue Ribbon judges and SPE Automotive Division board members from nominations by each of the Detroit Three automakers, the winning team was selected, in the words of one judge, “because of the incredibly tight timing and the highly integrated team approach taken with key suppliers.”

All new interiors for both the 2011 Dodge Avenger and Chrysler 200 sedans were developed in a record 54 week time period, just over 12 months from surface freeze to start of production (SOP). The previous-generation Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger interiors were developed on a 30 month time line. Partly as a result of the 2008 global economic downturn and the ownership change of Chrysler Group LLC in 2009, the new company was at risk of not having a competitive sedan in the D segment, the second-largest segment in the automotive market. To remain competitive, Chrysler Group needed a solution that could be brought to market rapidly.

SuperPlug® Door Hardware Module is 2011 Hall of Fame Winner at SPE® Auto Innovation Awards Competition

The SuperPlug® integrated composite door-hardware module—which first debuted on 1997 model year (MY) Chevrolet® Venture® and Malibu®, Pontiac® Transport®, Oldsmobile® Silhouette® and Cutlass®, and Opel® Sintra® vehicles from then General Motors Corp. (GM)—was selected as the 2011 Hall of Fame winner of the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers’ (SPE®’s) 41st-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition. To be considered for a Hall of Fame award, an automotive-plastic component must have been in continuous service in some form for at least 15 years and preferably have been widely adopted within the automotive or ground-transportation industries. As the first all-plastic integrated door-hardware module, it reduced components and fasteners by up to 75% by molding features into a single gas-assist injection-molded composite frame that literally “plugged-into” the inner door on the vehicle-assembly line, improving ergonomics and quality, saving labor time and costs, and reducing warranty claims.

According to SPE Hall of Fame committee co-chair, Nippani Rao, president, Rao & Associates, “The success of the SuperPlug program is easily seen when you consider that industry sources estimate that over 250-million integrated composite door-hardware modules have been produced globally by all suppliers since 1997 and used on over 60-million vehicles worldwide. At an average of 5 pounds of plastic per module, that’s over a billion pounds of resin consumed in just this one automotive application. That makes it an ideal example of the type of component that warrants an SPE Hall of Fame award.”

The module was jointly developed during a 5-year program that started in 1990 by then Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems (at the time a division of GM, and whose business, production, and patents have since been transferred to Inteva Products, LLC) and GE Plastics (now SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business unit). The collaboration this program fostered between the suppliers would eventually become a model of close business and technical alliances between members of the automotive supply chain.

SPE® Automotive Div. Announces Finalists in 41st Automotive Innovation Awards Competition

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) today announced the finalists for its 41st-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries.

Finalists survived a pre-qualification round, as well as presentations before a panel of industry experts on September 29-30.  Those selected from that round presented again before a Blue Ribbon panel of judges on October 10.

Category and Grand Award winners selected during the Blue Ribbon judging will be announced on November 9 during the Automotive Innovation Awards Gala at Burton Manor in the suburbs of Detroit.  The event begins with the VIP Cocktail Reception at 4:30 p.m., generously sponsored by Ticona Engineering Polymers. At 5:00 p.m. the main exhibit area will open for general admission and guests can review this year’s Automotive Innovation Awards part nominations, as well as enjoy the specialty and antique vehicles that are always a highlight of the show. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the awards program itself will last from 7:00-9:00 p.m. For those who wish to extend merrymaking and networking activities, the ever-popular Afterglow – also sponsored by Ticona – will run from 9:00-11:00 p.m.

For details on the nominations that were named finalists in this year’s competition, see the press release HERE.

To view photos of all nominations accepted into this year’s competition, see our Flickr page HERE.

To learn more about the event, see our event page HERE.

To purchase tickets or tables for this year’s event, see our registration form HERE.

SPE Members Receive Discounted Admission to Plastics in Lightweight & Electric Vehicles Conference

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In light of the aggressive new CAFE mileage standard targets – this 2-day conference – preceded by a half-day of concurrent (optional) workshops will assess the state of play in the fast-changing area of vehicle lightweighting.

See PN reporter Rhoda Miel’s recent story on the topic at http://bit.ly/caferules and PN editor Don Loepp’s related column at http://bit.ly/r5inox. Or this video shot by Rhoda — http://bit.ly/qeF7vy — which features CAR President/CEO Dr. Jay Baron, one of this conference’s speakers.)

In light of the aggressive new CAFE mileage standard targets – this 2-day conference – preceded by a half-day of concurrent (optional) workshops – will assess the state of play in the fast-changing area of vehicle lightweighting.

Various speakers and sessions will look at the role plastics can play in interiors, seating, exteriors, structural, powertrain and under-the-hood components, as well as in electrification, battery and hybrid technology. In addition to offering increased styling and design freedom, plastics also will play a key role in tomorrow’s environmentally friendly electric and hybrid vehicles — from traditional parts to battery components.

SPE® Auto TPO Show Features Strong Technical Program, Emphasis on Sustainability, Efficiency

Preparations for the thirteenth-annual SPE® Automotive TPO Global Conference, the world’s leading automotive polyolefins forum organized by the Detroit Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) International, is nearly done and, thanks to a recovering global automotive market, a strong technical program is shaping up for the two-and-a-half-day annual event. Four keynote speakers, a panel discussion, two networking receptions, and special new technical sessions on Polyolefin Foams and Advances in Process Developments and Automotive TPOs/TPEs join traditional sessions on Materials Development, Surface Enhancements, and Process Enhancements, and Applications Development.

Technical program chair, Norm Kakarala, senior technical fellow, Inteva Products LLC, notes, “This year’s technical program features more than 40 talks from all sectors of the automotive plastics industry – from OEMs and molders to materials, additives, and reinforcement suppliers, to universities – and we’ve seen increased participation from our colleagues in Europe and Asia. As our industry steps up to the challenge of higher fuel efficiency and greater sustainability, plus competing in a global marketplace, there is considerable growth opportunity for polyolefins. To highlight this, we’ve added two new sessions this year. Polyolefin Foams will cover sheet foams and cellular plastics that increasingly are being used on vehicle interiors to reduce weight and save process steps. Automotive TPO/TPEs will examine new materials and processes for body/glazing seals, interior skins, wire & cable, airbag doors, and shifting requirements for underhood components. As always, our program emphasis is on providing practical information and highlighting emerging trends impacting this industry.”

SPE® Announces Second Winner of Fifth-Annual ACCE Graduate Scholarship on Automotive Composites

Thomas (Tom) G. Loken, a doctoral candidate in Mechanical Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wisc.) as well as a project engineer at The Madison Group (Madison, Wisc.), is the second 2011-2012 winner of the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) graduate-level scholarship in transportation composites research. Loken, who is from Winona, Minn. and expects to graduate in 2014, won this year’s second scholarship for a research project analyzing the effects of processing conditions on fiber-length distribution in short-fiber composites. He will receive his $2,000 USD check this fall and will report the results of his research during the twelfth-annual SPE ACCE, September 11-13, 2012.

Short-fiber thermoplastic composite materials are widely used in the automotive industry. These materials offer enhanced mechanical properties over unfilled resins, yet remain viable for high-volume production methods, such as injection molding, making metals replacement cost-effective thanks to parts consolidation, weight reduction, and elimination of secondary-finishing operations. However, the mechanical properties of fiber-filled composites are strongly influenced by orientation and length/diameter (L/D) ratios of reinforcing fibers, making final part properties highly dependent upon processing conditions. In the case of injection molding, fiber damage and attrition can occur during processing, reducing final L/D ratio. Therefore it is useful to understand which process parameters have the greatest effect on final fiber length distribution.

Two Panel Discussions will Track Emerging Trends, Opportunities in Automotive Composites at SPE® ACCE

The eleventh annual SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) returns to the MSU Management Education Center in Troy, Mich., on September 13-15, 2011. This year, two panel discussions will evaluate important trends providing opportunities for the automotive and composites industries.