Automotive Diary

Originally titled the "International Pacific Conference on Automotive Engineering-IPC" the first IPC was held in November of 1981 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Joining all existing SAE member societies in countries surrounding the Pacific. Because of the event's success, the FISITA Pacific member societies chose to organise this one-of-a-kind event every two years, increasing participation to 11 societies in the Asia Pacific region. Changing the name to reflect a broader audience, the Asia Pacific Automotive Engineering Conference - APAC still embodies what the original IPC stood for.

The 1st IPC was held from November 16 -19 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

The Conference was cosponsored by FISITA member societies of SAE of Australasia, IATO (SAE ) Indonesia, SAE of Japan (JSAE), and SAE of the United States.

SAE of the United States took the responsibility for preparation as the host society. With 67 papers presented and 440participants attending from 15 nations, the conference was a great success. It was therefore agreed that this event be held every two years.

SAE-China and SAE-Korea (KSAE) participated in the event as observers. Thus, all existing SAEs in countries surrounding the Pacific met together at the 1st IPC. In Honolulu, SAE of Japan was elected to host the 2nd IPC in Tokyo, Japan.

In Detroit, in February 1982, SAE of China and SAE-Korea were invited to join the IPC as co-sponsor and as the result, the 2nd nd IPC had participation by six SAEs In 1990s SAE-Thailand, SAE-IAE Vietnam, and IAE-Sri Lanka joined IPC. SAE-India joined in May 2004 and SAE SAE-Iran joined in November 2005.

To encourage more members from Asia to join IPC in future it was necessary to change the name to APAC, Asia Pacific Automotive Engineering Conference. The new conference name began with APAC- 14 in 2007.

Braking technology is an area of renewed focus for the automotive and transportation industries world-wide. The pressure to conserve energy while improving safety and driving pleasure is leading to exciting developments in foundation braking systems from NVH tools and solutions to new materials like carbon ceramic rotors and other lightweight design concepts.

Added to this, advanced integrated chassis control systems increasingly call for sophisticated braking mechatronics, from brake preconditioning to autonomous emergency braking. Meanwhile the trend towards hybridisation and electrification of vehicle powertrains poses major challenges for brake system designers. How to recover the maximum available energy, whilst preserving a natural intuitive feel for the driver? Then there is the important task of engineering effective braking systems for the emerging breed of compact, ultra-low cost vehicles aimed at first-time purchasers in developing markets. How do we think differently to make safe braking affordable for every driver in every market?

These are the challenges which inspired us to create the EuroBrake conference, and the world’s braking community responded enthusiastically.

EuroBrake 2012 in Dresden was a huge success, attracting 675 delegates from 37 countries. With more than 100 technical presentations and 50+ exhibitors, it was the largest dedicated braking conference in the world, bringing together experts from the passenger car, commercial vehicle, motorcycle, rail, aerospace and wider industrial fields. Participating in EuroBrake is your opportunity to connect with a powerful, international network of braking specialists from every corner of the industrial and research communities.

I trust you will find plenty to interest you at EuroBrake 2013 and I look forward to welcoming you in Dresden.

Harald Abendroth
Chairman, EuroBrake 2013