The 15th-annual SPE® TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference, the world’s leading automotive engineered-polyolefins forum, will feature five keynote speakers, interspersed throughout the two-and-a-half-day conference, who will highlight important trends facing the automotive-plastics market, including mass and cost reduction, increased functionality, and consumer appeal. Organized by the Detroit Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®), this year’s event will be held at Troy Marriott in the Detroit suburbs from October 6-9, 2013. Speakers from LMC Automotive, Chrysler Group LLC, International Automotive Components, Advanced Composites, Inc., and Borealis AG will help audience members better understand how thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs), thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) are Driving Value, Light Weight, & Innovative Automotive Solutions  this year’s conference theme.

On Monday morning, the conference will kick off with a keynote from Jeff Schuster, senior vice-president, LMC Automotive on the topic, Global Automotive Outlook — What is in Store Beyond Uncertainty? Schuster explains, “The near-term automotive environment is mixed across the globe, as some markets are in full recovery mode and others have faltered. Uncertainty and risk have become permanent fixtures in automotive markets, and competitive pressures have greatly reduced the margin of error. Despite this, optimism and prosperity have returned in some pockets.” Schuster adds that his talk will examine global demand and supply trends for both short and long term, as outlooks vary by region or market. He also says he will provide deep analysis of the North American market, including segment shifts, hybrid/electric vehicle (EV) activity, and trends in vehicle sourcing.

Schuster is one of the firm’s primary global automotive experts providing oversight of the global light vehicle sales and production forecasts and process at LMC, while also being responsible for all activities in the Americas region and serving on LMC Automotive’s board of directors. He has been tracking developments in the global automotive industry for nearly 20 years and has been with LMC Automotive since its inception in 2011. He is widely quoted by automotive press in print, broadcast, and internet reports and frequently makes conference and seminar presentations on topics like current assessments and outlook for the auto industry. Before joining LMC Automotive, Schuster led the automotive forecast division of J.D. Power and Associates and has experience in financial analysis and cash management in the automotive supply base. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and an M.S. degree in Corporate Finance from Walsh College. He is an active member of Society of Automotive Analysts and the Automotive Press Association.

About the SPE TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference

Since 1998, the SPE TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference has highlighted the importance of rigid and flexible polyolefins throughout the automobile – in applications ranging from semi-structural composite underbody shields and front-end modules to soft-touch interior skins and bumper fascia. Engineered polyolefins have been the fastest-growing segment of the global plastics industry for more than a decade owing to their excellent cost / performance ratio. The show typically draws over 500 attendees from 20 countries on four continents who are interested in learning about the latest in rigid and elastomeric TPO as well as TPE and TPV technologies. Fully a third of conference attendees say they work for a transportation OEM, and roughly 20% work for a tier integrator / molder, with the balance from materials or reinforcement suppliers, equipment OEMs, industry consultants, and members of academia. This year’s conference returns to the Troy Marriott in the Detroit suburbs. A variety of sponsorship packages are available for companies interested in showcasing their products and / or services.

See http://auto-tpo.com/ or http://speautomotive.com/tpo.htm.

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) today announced the date, location, and theme for its 43rd-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. This year’s event will be held Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at Burton Manor (www.burtonmanor.net) in Livonia, Mich.

Jeffrey Helms, global automotive director, Ticona Engineering Polymers, who returns as the 2013 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards chair said, “The automotive industry faces extremely challenging emissions and fuel-economy standards over the next decade in most major markets, so materials that reduce part mass and cost while improving durability, aesthetics, and functionality are going to be key to helping OEMs meet requirements while producing vehicles that consumers want to buy and drive. Events like the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala have long focused a spotlight on cutting-edge technology and the many benefits that polymeric materials can bring to cars, light trucks, and other types of ground-transportation as this year’s event theme, Plastics: Kick the Metal Habit, help to underscore.”

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 over 700 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.

For more information, see http://speautomotive.com/inno.

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

Detroit Marriott Troy, April 16, 2013

SPE members are invited to register to attend a free seminar in Troy, Michigan, USA this April, brought to you by Moldex3D, Matsui, Trexel, Inc., Siemens, and RJG.   Seats are limited, so if interested, please respond right away.

Use this LINK to learn more and to register for this event.

Questions? Contact Rob Stipek:

Tel: +1-248-946-4570 ext. 202

Fax:+1-248-928-227

robstipek@moldex3d.com

Through a special arrangement with SAE International, SPE members who are not also SAE members can attend next week’s SAE Congress at Cobo Hall in Detroit at the SAE Classic Member rate. To take advantage of this reduced price admission, follow the instructions below.

Registration Instructions

1. Go to the SAE 2012 World Congress registration page at: http://www.sae.org/congress/registration.htm
2. Click on the link to Register Now!
3. You will be asked to Login to the SAE Website. If you don’t already have a MySAE User ID and Password, you will need to create one by clicking the Sign Up/Get Started Now button on the right.
4. When Non-SAE Members log in, they will see a screen like that shown below.
5. In the Other Society section, please select the days that you plan to attend by checking the boxes and select “I am an SPE Member” from the drop down box (see screen shot below):
6. Select any additional events you are interested in, then click the Proceed button at the bottom of the page.
7. The Registration Summary screen will appear with the SAE Classic Member rates. Confirm your selections are correct then click the Proceed button at the bottom and complete your registration.

Nominations are being accepted for the 43rd-annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition’s Hall of Fame (HOF) award category. The team representing the winning nomination will be honored at the 2013 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, November 6, 2013 at Burton Manor in Livonia (Detroit Area), Michigan.

To be considered for a Hall of Fame award, the application must have:

1) Been in continuous production for a minimum of 15 years;

2) Been a game changer (must have led to significant changes in that category of part) over the years;

3) Been recognized and used worldwide;

4) Been considered a technical innovation in terms of materials, process, or application at the time of its introduction.

The winner of the Hall of Fame award is selected by a group of judges comprised of current members of the SPE Automotive Division board of directors, industry experts from OEMs and tier suppliers, as well as SPE Honored Service members, technical Fellows, and Lifetime Achievement award winners.

The last date for submission is April 15, 2013. Use the standard Automotive Innovation Awards  nomination form available at www.speautomotive.com/inno.htm (under forms).

Please submit the application electronically to Nippani Rao (nippanirao@aol.com) and David Reed (fierodreed@sbcglolbal.net). The winner will be announced in June of 2013.

For more information on the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, see www.speautomotive.com/inno.htm. For questions on the award, contact Hall of Fame committee co-chairs Nippani Rao or David Reed, or contact Dawn Stephens at dawn@speautomotive.com or call 1.248.244.8993 ext. 3.

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 thirteenth year, the SPE ACCE is the world’s leading forum for automotive composites and draws exhibitors, speakers, and attendees from 15 countries on five continents. This year’s show, whose theme is Composites: Lightweighting the Cars of Tomorrow, returns September 11-13, 2013 but to a new venue.

Creig Bowland, senior research associate at PPG Industries, 2013 SPE ACCE conference co-chair explains, “Our conference has been fortunate enough to enjoy excellent growth the past few years — so much so that we have literally outgrown our home of 12 years. We and management at our previous venue tried everything we could to make the most of the space we had, but it became clear during last year’s ACCE that we needed to make a change. We’ve moved our 2013 conference to The Diamond Center, which is part of the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich., U.S.A. We believe it will give us the best of both worlds — the friendly, intimate feel of our old facility and the flexibility to grow and spread out that we so badly needed.”

Adds conference co-chair, Antony Dodworth, managing director, Dodworth Design, “It’ll be great to have all our exhibitors together in a single room for the first time since 2007, and this facility is still convenient to major highways in the Detroit area. In fact, a brand-new hotel is being built adjacent to the Diamond Center and that will make the show even more convenient for out-of-town guests.”

Those interested in speaking at this year’s event should submit abstracts by March 29, 2013 and full papers or presentations are due May 31, 2013 to the review committee via ACCEpapers@speautomotive.com. 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.

Held annually in suburban Detroit, the ACCE draws over 650 speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees and provides an environment dedicated solely to discussion and networking about advances in the transportation composites. Its global appeal is evident in the diversity of exhibitors, speakers, and attendees who come to the conference from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia / Pacific as well as North America. Fully one-third of attendees indicate they work for automotive and light truck, agriculture, truck & bus, heavy truck, or aviation OEM, and another 25% representing tier suppliers. Attendees also represent composite materials, processing equipment, additives, or reinforcement suppliers; trade associations, consultants, university and government labs; media; and investment bankers. The show has been jointly sponsored by the SPE Automotive and Composites Divisions since 2001.

The mission of SPE is to promote scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics. SPE’s Automotive and Composites Divisions work to advance plastics and plastic-based composites technologies worldwide and to educate industry, academia, and the public about these advances. Both divisions are dedicated to educating, promoting, recognizing, and communicating technical accomplishments for all phases of plastics and plastic-based composite developments, including materials, processing, equipment, tooling, design and testing, and application development.

For more information about the SPE Automotive Composites Conference, visit the Automotive Division’s website at http://speautomotive.com/comp.htm, or the Composites’ Division website at http://compositeshelp.com.

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

The fifteenth-annual SPE® TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference, the world’s leading automotive engineered-polyolefins forum, returns to the Troy Marriott in the Detroit suburbs from October 6-9, 2013. This year’s theme is TPOs: Driving Value, Light Weight, & Innovative Automotive Solutions. The organizing committee also has issued its annual call for papers, with abstracts due April 19, 2013 and non-commercial papers or presentations by July 31, 2013 (eMail both to TPOpapers@auto-tpo.com).

Bill Windscheif, president, Advanced Innovative Solutions, Ltd. and conference co-chair notes, “A few years ago we made the strategic decision to expand our event’s coverage beyond just rigid and flexible thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs) to include flexible thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). We clearly saw the role of these materials expanding among automakers, plus their functionality constantly being improved upon by resin suppliers and compounders. We’ve also featured sessions for many years on improving molding productivity and designing better parts because we know that engineering and manufacturing need to work closely to improve first-pass yield. We work hard to scout the industry each year to find the most interesting and innovative technologies to include in our conference. Attendees tell us over and over that the practical knowledge they gain is why they return every year. They know their time won’t be wasted and they’ll leave with lots of new ideas and great new contacts, thanks to the event’s outstanding networking opportunities.”

Conference co-chair, Jeffrey Valentage, global market planner-specialty compounding automotive, ExxonMobil Chemical Company adds, “With the increased focus on improved fuel economy, interest in lightweight, high-performance TPO materials is stronger than ever. Last year’s conference broke our all-time attendance record and we expect the same thing to happen in 2013.”

This year’s technical program is co-chaired by Dr. Norm Kakarala, Inteva Products LLC and Peter Grelle, Plastics Fundamentals Group LLC. Sessions currently planned for the event include: Advances in Automotive Polyolefins managed by Patti Tibbenham, Ford Motor Co. and Neil Fuenmayor, LyondellBasell; Rigid Polyolefin Compounds managed by Mike Balow, Asahi Kasei Plastics North America and Ermanno Ruccolo, Mitsui Plastics, Inc.; Automotive Interior Trim & Skins managed by Dave Helmer, General Motors Co. and Yvonne Bankowski, Ford Motor Co.; Surface Enhancements managed by Dr. Rose Ryntz, International Automotive Components and Jim Keller, United Paint Co.; Automotive TPEs managed by Bob Eller, Robert Eller Assoc., Inc. and Jeff Valentage, ExxonMobil Chemical Company; Tooling & Design of TPO Parts managed by Dave Okonski & Charles Buehler, General Motors Co.; Molding & Forming of TPOs managed by Hoa Pham, Avery Dennison Corp. and Dr. Suresh Shah, SPE; Lightweighting of Polyolefin Parts managed by John Haubert, Chrysler Group LLC and Charles Buehler, General Motors Co.; and Adhesives & Coatings for TPOs managed by Dr. Pravin Sitaram, Haartz Corp. and Dr. Laura Shereda, Inteva Products LLC.

About the TPO Conference

Since 1998, the SPE TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference has highlighted the importance of rigid and flexible polyolefins throughout the automobile – in applications ranging from semi-structural composite underbody shields and front-end modules to soft-touch interior skins and bumper fascia. Engineered polyolefins have been the fastest-growing segment of the global plastics industry for more than a decade owing to their excellent cost / performance ratio. The show typically draws more than 500 attendees from 20 countries on four continents who are interested in learning about the latest in rigid and elastomeric TPO as well as TPE and TPV technologies. Fully a third of conference attendees say they work for a transportation OEM, and roughly 20% work for a tier integrator / molder, with the balance from materials or reinforcement suppliers, equipment OEMs, industry consultants, and members of academia. A variety of sponsorship packages are available for companies interested in showcasing their products and / or services. The show is organized by volunteers from the Detroit Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).

For more information about the SPE TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference, to view the conference’s evolving technical program, or to register to attend the event, please visit http://auto-tpo.com/ or http://speautomotive.com/tpo.htm.

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The Safety category winner at the 2012 SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards Competition is the Integrated Headlamp / Hood Bump-Stop Bracket on the 2013 model year Ford® Fusion® sedans by Ford Motor Co. The winner was announced on Nov. 7 at the 42nd-annual SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards Gala held at Burton Manor in the Detroit suburbs. Tier supplier/processor, Magna Exterior & Interior, materials supplier, Styron LLC, and toolmaker, Advantage Mold, Inc. were also named on the award.

For more information, see http://speautomotive.com/inno and http://speautomotive.com/awa .

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers. All other trademarks are the property of their owners.

High-resolution digital part photography for all of the 2012 nominations may be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/speautomotive/collections/72157631799956738/.

In the Process / Assembly / Enabling Technologies category, the Direct Extrusion of Bulb Seal on Cowls nomination on the 2013 model year Ford® C-MAX® HEV by Ford Motor Co.  was named the winner of the 2012 SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards Competition by a panel of Blue Ribbon judges. The winner was announced on Nov. 7 at the 42nd-annual SPE® Automotive Innovation Awards Gala held at Burton Manor in the Detroit suburbs.  Tier supplier/processor, Windsor Mold Group, materials supplier, ExxonMobil Chemical, and toolmaker, Reis Extrusion GmbH were also named on the award.

For more information, see http://speautomotive.com/inno and http://speautomotive.com/awa .

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® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers. All other trademarks are the property of their owners.

High-resolution digital part photography for all of the 2012 nominations may be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/speautomotive/collections/72157631799956738/.