Nothing indicates the vitality of the global vehicle-engineering community more than the SAE World Congress’ technical program. Judging by the number of papers published, technical sessions, and panel discussions on tap for the 2010 event, it’s clear—despite the nagging impact of sour economies—that auto engineers remain undaunted in their work to improve vehicle efficiency, safety, performance, and driving enjoyment.
SAE International has received a total of 1119 technical papers for 2010, 1088 of them published in time for Congress. The total compares with 1369 papers published in 2009 and is deemed encouraging by the SAE technical staffs, given the industry upheaval during the past year.
For 2010, the Powertrain, Fuels, and Lubricants activity continues to lead the tech topic categories, with 468 papers published. Automobile Body is the second most popular activity, covered by 174 papers. Close behind in third place is Materials Engineering, the topic of 170 tech papers this year.
The other tech paper activity areas include: Automobile Chassis (73 papers); Integrated Design and Manufacturing (64); Thermal Management (35); Sustainable Development Programs (26); and Commercial/Military Vehicles (8).
The breakdown of papers by employer is as follows: 425 each (850 total, or 40%) authored by suppliers and universities; 222 (20%) authored by vehicle OEMs; and 47 (4%) submitted by government agencies.
North America led the world’s major engineering regions with 570 papers submitted, followed by Europe (300 papers), Asia (241), and Oceana and South America (4 papers each).
This year’s Congress continues to offer mobility engineering’s broadest and deepest selection of technical discussions and presentations in a single event. This week there will be 29 technical discussion keynotes, 16 panel discussions, and 20 Chat with the Experts sessions.