PlasticsToday has announced its inaugural Lightweighting AutoPlastics 2012 conference to take place between November 14th – 15th in Troy, Michigan, US. The conference is a  technology-focused event that gathers industry thought leaders in the automotive and plastic industries to collaboratively drive innovation for future lightweight and fuel-efficient vehicles.

The event has been organized to discuss vehicle lightweighting strategies that address the recent CAFE fuel-economy mandate of 54.5 MPG. The new standards put significant pressure on global automakers to reduce vehicles’ physical weight and as a result, plastic-based materials are increasingly seen as a feasible source of alternatives to conventional metals in auto parts.

Yet, incorporating more plastics into car structures to achieve light weight requires cross-industry collaboration, a smart strategy for mass-production and a thorough understanding of plastic performance. To help facilitate a productive dialogue between automakers and plastic manufacturers, Lightweighting Autoplastics sets out to provide a forum to contribute to the lightweighting movement.

Taking place at Altair‘s headquarters and featuring speakers from Honda, Ford, BASF, Faurecia, the NHTSA- Department of Transportation and many others, the Lightweighting AutoPlastics 2012 Conference is a unique industry forum that brings together the automotive and plastic industries to address mutual challenges and drive innovation in lightweighting for future fuel-efficient vehicles.

Highlights of the Lightweighting AutoPlastics 2012 Conference include:

• Sustainability pressures and CAFE—Understand NHTSA and IIHS’ expectations and the implications for future vehicle design, plastic materials and the potential of carbon fiber
• Auto OEM’s perspective on plastics—Review design challenges and opportunities with plastic composites to achieve weight reduction
• Optimization of cost and performance—Devise a mass-market strategy for carbon fiber production for automotive applications
• Cross-industry collaboration vision—Adopt a material-focused approach to weight reduction and promote productive partnership
• Technology update—Explore advances in the molding cycle, automation, density reduction and high performance engineering plastics

Find out more about this event at www.lightweightautoplastics.com