TROY, (DETROIT) MICH. – The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) today announced the date, location, and theme for its 43rd-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. This year’s event will be held Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at Burton Manor (www.burtonmanor.net) in Livonia, Mich.
Jeffrey Helms, global automotive director, Ticona Engineering Polymers, who returns as the 2013 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards chair said, “The automotive industry faces extremely challenging emissions and fuel-economy standards over the next decade in most major markets, so materials that reduce part mass and cost while improving durability, aesthetics, and functionality are going to be key to helping OEMs meet requirements while producing vehicles that consumers want to buy and drive.
Events like the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala have long focused a spotlight on cutting-edge technology and the many benefits that polymeric materials can bring to cars, light trucks, and other types of ground-transportation as this year’s event theme, Plastics: Kick the Metal Habit, help to underscore.”
SPE’s Automotive Innovation Awards Program is the oldest and largest competition of its kind in the world. Dozens of teams made up of OEMs, tier suppliers, and polymer producers submit nominations describing their part, system, or complete vehicle and why it merits the claim as the Year’s Most Innovative Use of Plastics. This annual event typically draws over 700 OEM engineers, automotive and plastics industry executives, and media. As is customary, funds raised from this event are used to support SPE educational efforts and technical seminars, which help educate and secure the role of plastics in the advancement of the automobile.
The mission of SPE is to promote scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics worldwide and to educate industry, academia, and the public about these advances. SPE’s Automotive Division is active in educating, promoting, recognizing, and communicating technical accomplishments for all phases of plastics and plastic based-composite developments in the global transportation industry. Topic areas include applications, materials, processing, equipment, tooling, design, and development.
For more information about the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala or to download nomination forms and rules for this year’s competition, please visit the SPE Automotive Division website at http://speautomotive.com/inno .For more information on the Society of Plastics Engineers or other society events, visit the SPE website at www.4spe.org.