South Korea and Australia are leading the early count in a global field of papers for APAC21, the 21st biennial Asia Pacific Automotive Engineering Conference.
To be staged in Melbourne 3-5 October 2022, APAC21 is hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A), the Asia Pacific professional body for automotive and mobility engineering.
CEO and President Adrian Feeney said the strongest contributor so far had been Hyundai Motor Company, closely followed by Australian academic and industry researchers.
Hyundai has submitted abstracts on such topics as highly heat-conductive aluminium die-casting alloys and high-strength structures without B pillars for autonomous cars.
Mr Feeney said the diversity of topics highlighted how engineers saw autonomous cars evolving far beyond the simple concept of drivers taking their hands off the wheel.
"Creating strong, safe structures without B pillars is a classic illustration of how engineers are making it possible for lifestyle dreams to come true," he said.
"Just last week, Hyundai showed us how these structures can give wide-open access to a club lounge interior in the SEVEN concept shown at Automobility LA.
"With its Pillarless Coach Doors and spacious interior, it is the fantasy that engineers will soon turn into reality – and at APAC21 we will learn more about this breakthrough technology.
"To highlight how diverse future mobility can be, we will also see Australia's WayM8 leaning car, designed to reduce emissions through compact size, aerodynamics and light weight."
APAC21 technical chair, Prof Mohammad Fard of RMIT University, said industry and academia had shown strong interest in contributing to the conference theme of Harmonising the Future of Mobility.
"We will have papers from Germany, Japan and China, among other countries, and they cover a wide spectrum of topics in both technical and regulatory areas," he said.
"Registrations are also growing steadily as people become confident that this will be one of the first major international conferences to be staged face-to-face in the post-Covid era."
… ends
More details:
Adrian Feeney
Secretary@sae-a.com.au
0432 689 114
Mohammad Fard
mohammad.fard@rmit.edu.au
0409 342 986
Media/images:
Greg Shoemark
Media@sae-a.com.au
0412 316 928