Reed Business Information's Design News Announces Mechatronics 2.0 Expo in Detroit on Sept. 9th 2008
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Keynote speakers to include David Cole, Chairman, Center for Automotive Research and Tom Watson, VP of Engineering and Technical Planning, Light Vehicle Systems, ArvinMeritor
WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 27, 2008 - Design News (www.designnews.com) along with sister publications, Control Engineering, EDN and Test & Measurement World, have announced Mechatronics 2.0: Driving Innovation in the Auto Industry, an expo and conference on September 9th in Dearborn, Michigan at the Ford Motor Co. Event and Conference Center.
This free event will take place from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and address the fundamentals of mechatronics in automotive systems. Speakers will tackle some of the major integration challenges facing automakers, suppliers and engineers today. Space is limited and advance registration is encouraged (www.mechatronicsexpodetroit.com).
Keynote speakers will include David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, and Tom Watson, vice president of Engineering and Technical Planning Light Vehicle Systems at ArvinMeritor. Watson is known for his work as the lead engineer on Ford Motor Co.'s hybrid, which earned him Design News's prestigious Engineer of the Year award in 2006.
Engineers will also have the opportunity to learn solutions to the challenges implementation of mechatronics presents in real life. Rich Swortzel, VP of Business Development for MotoTron, Corp. a Brunswick Co., will present a workshop on mechatronic control solutions in hybrid vehicle systems.
Wensi Jin of The MathWorks will speak on model-based design -- the emerging safety standards in the automotive industry -- and how mechatronics is increasingly used in safety-critical systems.
Engineer Gereld Deren of Siemens PLM will explore the role of PLM, Product LifeCycle Management, in embedded software development. A Ford Motor Co. case study on its implementation of the Siemens Teamcenter product will be presented.
About Mechatronics
Mechatronics -- the integration of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering into one system -- has been practiced in Asia, Europe and Australia since the 1960s. With a strong consumer demand away from SUVs towards more green, fuel efficient vehicles and robotic systems, mechatronics has never before been so important to the U.S. Auto industry.
"Long gone are the silos of electrical, mechanical and computer engineering. Today's automobiles are made with complex embedded systems," says John Dodge, editor-in-chief of Design News. "In fact, it's hard to find a system in an automobile that doesn't have dozens of microprocessors."
According to Dodge, "Automotive design is the very embodiment of mechatronics, involving mechanical, electrical, control and software engineering. That's why there isn't an automotive engineer in the greater Detroit area who should miss the mechatronics expo."
With the rise of global competition, a focus on developing fuel-efficient cars, and the current weak economy, automakers, manufacturers and distributors are forced to adapt new engineering approaches. Mechatronics is one method that many in the auto industry are turning to as the next generation of automotives in the United States emerges. To help engineers adapt to this changing industry and learn mechatronics, our editors are hosting a series of seminars and workshops with the help of some of Motor City's most innovative industry professionals. They will share multi-disciplinary design strategies that will help expo participants design smarter, more cost-efficient automotives.
To address the information needs of our readers on this topic, Reed Business Information launched a dedicated microsite, www.MechatronicsZone.com. By creating a website that communicates the importance of mechatronics, our editors provide content that targets an audience of engineering managers, project managers and engineers. The program also includes a quarterly webcast series, monthly e-newsletter, two print supplements, a new monthly Design News column and an in-person educational expo.
About Design News
Design News (www.designnews.com) is the leading technical resource for design engineers who create everything from planes, trains and automobiles to cellular phones, medical devices and just about every other product on the planet. The magazine provides highly useful and practical editorial content, both in print and online, to more than 170,000 subscribers.
About Reed Business Information
Reed Business Information (www.reedbusiness.com/us) offers business professionals in the media, publishing, manufacturing, electronics, construction and retail industries more then 80 market leading business-to-business publications, 80 websites, custom publishing, directories, research and direct-marketing lists. Reed Business Information is a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc -- a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, and business-to-business industry sectors.
