SAE International Launches New Energy Forum in Dearborn

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tSAE International will host its first Vehicle Energy Management and Advanced Powertrain Forum in Dearborn next week. The three-day event is comprised of three separate symposiums that relate to energy management, hybrid powertrain complexity and maintainability, and battery standardization.

t“We saw a need here in North America — specifically in Detroit — to talk about energy management,” says Patti Kreh, business unit leader for SAE International’s conferences. “We’ve received feedback from our customers — engineers, OEMs, and the supply base —  saying that ‘We’re very interested in what things we can do (about energy management), what challenges we have as an industry, and what solutions we can come up with.’ ”

tHeld at the Doubletree Hotel from Monday to Wednesday, the forum will include the following symposiums and keynote speakers:

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  • ttEnergy Management Symposium (Oct. 21-22), focuses on how systems and components will be designed to meet future demands for efficient vehicles with low consumption requirements. The keynote speaker is Martin Pischinger, vice president of electronics and controls at FEV in Auburn Hills. Plymouth-based Hella, a global supplier of automotive lighting and electronic components and systems, played a major role in organizing the symposium.
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  • ttHybrid Powertrain Complexity and Maintainability Symposium (Oct. 22-23), will address two growing concerns in hybrid electric vehicle production and adoption — maintainability and complexity of the hybrid powertrain. Keynote speakers include Takehtio Yokoo, chief powertrain engineer with Toyota’s Product Development Office at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, and Jeff Minter, executive director of technical training for Automotive Research and Design in Port Angeles, WA.
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  • ttElectric Vehicle Battery Cell Size Standardization Symposium (Oct. 23), will provide an open forum for attendees to participate in the debate surrounding standardization of battery cell size in hybrid electric and electric vehicles. The symposium will feature Neil Maguire, founder and CEO of JuiceBox Energy, an energy storage start-up in California that provides lithium-ion battery packs for solar and wind installations.

tMerging three events into one allows representatives from each interest area to come together for discussion, Kreh says. “One of SAE’s main values is to bring people together to talk and come up with solutions.”

tKreh says that if the event is successful, which it’s on track to be, she anticipates that forum with become an annual event. For more information, visit sae.org.