FISITA World Automotive Congress 2018 in India
India is hosting the FISITA World Automotive Congress for the first time at Chennai.
India is hosting the FISITA World Automotive Congress for the first time at Chennai.
Since its inception in 1947, the FISITA (Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies) World Automotive Congress is held every two years. Some 71 years latter India will host the global event at Chennai between October 2 and October 5, 2018. It would be the 37th edition of the Congress. and have the theme, ‘Disruptive Technologies for Affordable and Sustainable Mobility’. With 12 concurrent sessions, three executive tracks, five plenary sessions, two leader forums and 200 exhibition booths, the event, marking the fructification of four years of efforts, according to N Balasubramanian, Deputy Vice President, Product Engineering, Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India, and Chairman, FISITA 2018 Organising Committee, will be held at the Chennai Trade Centre. Said to be a big event that is being held in India for the first time, the Automotive World Congress is expected to create a new path for India to participate in the world automotive space. Attracting over 1000 research papers, which were subjected to a well-honed scrutiny process by experts, the event, held under the aegis of SAEINDIA, will focus on disruptive technologies in the automotive industry that are gaining significance. To air 350 papers selected out of the 1000 papers received, the Congress, will attract experts from India and abroad to address key
disruptions in connected, electric, autonomous, and shared mobility.
With 70 per cent of the 350 papers from India according to Murli Iyer, Global Advisor, SAE International and VP Americas – FISITA, the Congress will witness participation from various sectors like IT and software that are allied to the auto industry and instrumental in disruptions. Drawing participants from across the globe, the event, said Bala Bhardwaj, Managing Director, Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre, and President – SAEINDIA, will create value in mobility, which includes vehicles, planes and off-highway equipment. Stating that their task was to create activities and programs that make a good learning platform, help share best practices, and to support collaboration, Bhardwaj expressed that the Congress will help build a better bridge between various organisations. Pointing at the government’s vision for electric mobility, he said, “As an organisation we want to lead the initiative rather than follow it.” With the concluding panel discussion at the event on policy frame for disruptive technologies, the two leaders forums would find answers to major questions that are in front of the auto industry. Apart from the presentation of research papers through 75 technical sessions, the event will also include Student Congress. The Student Congress will witness 30 top notch researches done by students from National and International Universities. Drawing attention to the World Congress garnering support of major players in the automotive and mobility space, Aravind Bharadwaj, Chief Technology Officer, Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Chairman, FISITA 2018 Steering Committee, mentioned that the event will provide an opportunity to interact with automotive leaders.
An educators event as part of the World Automotive Congress will focus on how to bridge the gaps between the academia and the industry. Said Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, and the Patron for FISITA 2018 Steering Committee, that the FISITA Congress is like an automotive ‘Olympic’ event. To get it to India is a big development, he averred. Stating that the event will provide an opportunity to showcase India, Goenka explained that the event will also provide engineers in the automotive and mobility space a chance to share their work with their peers. Drawing attention to the change where engineers prefer R&D over shop floor unlike a few decades ago, Goenka mentioned, “SAE in India has taken a lot of efforts to make technology mainstream.” “Consider for example
SAE Baja where 8000 to 10000 engineering students participate every year, and who are designed and running their own vehicles,” he added. Stating that SAEINDIA is working in the mobility space, and the World Automotive Congress will highlight this, Goenka expressed that the Indian automotive industry is catching up with the rest of the world. “It would have done that by the 2020 when the BSVI emission norms will come into force,” he explained. Hinting at most research papers delving upon (IC) powertrains, he opined that the Automotive World Congress will prove to be a catalyst; help engineers in the Indian mobility space to know more of what is happening in other parts of the world. Likewise, engineers from other parts of the world will be able to witness what work is being done in India, and the infrastructure that is available. The engineers from other parts of the world will also be able to lok at the knowledge that is being amassed as well as leveraged, he concluded.