SAE International's Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress set for Oct. 2-3

WARRENDALE, Pa., July 11, 2012 - SAE International's 2012 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress- Total Vehicle Integration: Engineering the Next Vehicle Revolution - is set for Oct. 2-3 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.

The two-day convention – known familiarly as COMVEC – features technological seminars addressing engineering issues for on-highway, off-highway and military commercial vehicles.

The 2012 event’s executive leadership is sponsored by Navistar International Corporation. Ramin Younessi, group vice president of product development and strategy for the Navistar Truck Group, will serve as COMVEC’s executive chairman.

“We’re seeing a recovery and resurgence in the commercial vehicle market, and it’s critically important that we continue developing innovations in vehicle safety, fuel efficiency and engine emissions,” said Andrew Smart, SAE International’s Director of Industry Relations and Business Development. “This needs to be delivered while meeting customer needs, internal and supplier capabilities, and regulation-driven systems. COMVEC is the conference of choice for on- and off-highway engineering professionals, and an ideal forum for sharing technical knowledge and networking.”

Smart said COMVEC has been adapted this year to better accommodate attendees. Dedicated exhibit hours will be held over lunch and evening receptions, avoiding a conflict with technical sessions. In addition, the sessions have been arranged so attendees with a particular area of technical interest will not have to make difficult choices.

Daniel C. Ustian, chairman, president and chief executive officer for Navistar, will deliver the address at the Industry Keynote and Awards Banquet on Oct. 2. Ustian is leading Navistar’s three-pillar strategy to reach a revenue goal of $20 billion by 2015.

COMVEC’s Executive Management Focus Panels will include:

• Integration Relative to Customer Needs: The panel, moderated by John Stark of Stark’s Truck & Off-Highway Ledger, will discuss best practices, processes and common tools to lessen the hardships of electronic integration while reducing overall risks.  
• The Integrated Vehicle Evolution and the Engineering that Makes it Happen: Moderated by Dee Kapur, vice chairman and chief product officer at Navistar Truck Group, the panel will review how several industry leading companies address the challenges of designing an integrated system. Participants will discuss lessons learned from past and current practices.  
• Blue Ribbon Panel: 24 Volt for North America: This panel will explore the opportunities and barriers of moving to a 24-volt system for commercial vehicles. Dr. Wilfried Achenbach, senior vice president for engineering and technology for DTNA, will moderate the panel.  
• Telematics Data Management: Gaining Value from Data Streams: Moderated by Mike Ueno, executive vice president and chief technical officer of Komatsu American Corporation, this panel will focus on the practical and realistic approaches to gain customer value from telematics data that are commercially feasible for on- and off-road truck applications.  

For more information on SAE’s 2012 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress, visit http://www.sae.org/events/cve/, or contact SAE International customer service at 1-877-606-7323 or customerservice@sae.org.

SAE International is a global association of more than 133,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™.

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