Past Meetings
2008 Calendar

June Event
Automotive Materials Panel
National Press Club at Noon

The WAPA Automotive Materials Panel on June 18 will feature subject matter experts from the aluminum, magnesium and composites industries who will discuss how they currently use lightweight materials and what the future holds for lightweighting in the automotive industry.

With soaring gas prices expected over the long term, leading car companies have indicated their renewed interest in reducing vehicle weight through greater use of lighter weight materials to boost fuel economy and cut emissions. Against this backdrop, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently proposed for tough new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. There are questions by some about whether or not the auto industry can achieve DOT’s targets by power train advances alone – and they argue reducing vehicle weight is a vital complementing other vehicle improvements. To answer what this might mean for future vehicle design, WAPA has assembled top execs in the various low weight materials industries for a panel discussion. The panel will address today’s trends and tomorrow’s potential in the context of fuel economy, emissions, recycling, safety, performance and cost.

May Event
Challenge X
Smithsonian Institution Castle Building - Commons Room
1100 Jefferson Drive SW
Washington, D.C.
Metro Station: Smithsonian (Mall exit)

WHO:
• Cristián Samper, Acting Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
• U.S. Department of Energy Representative
• Elizabeth Lowery, Vice President, Environment and Energy, General Motors Corporation

WHAT:
Co-hosted with the Smithsonian Institution, General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy and other sponsors the May luncheon for the Washington Automotive Press Association will feature results from the culmination of the four-year university engineering competition, Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, and will outline the next multi-year competition, EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, including the announcement of the universities chosen to participate.

In the Challenge X engineering competition, 17 university teams from across North America received the opportunity to follow the vehicle development process to create advanced propulsion technology solutions that will increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Each team has re-engineered a Chevy Equinox with a range of hybrid, plug-in or fuel cell propulsion systems, powered by alternative fuels such as biodiesel, ethanol and hydrogen.

EcoCAR is the latest advanced technology vehicle competition. The goal of the program is to develop and demonstrate a wide range of advanced technology vehicles that dramatically reduce energy consumption and are capable of production-vehicle performance levels. The vehicle development will be based on addressing the California Air Resource Board’s (CARB) zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) regulations.

Through both programs, the students involved are gaining real-world engineering skills and hands-on learning that will better prepare them for their future engineering careers and will help seed the industry with engineers who are committed to advancing vehicle technology to address the energy and transportation challenges of the 21st Century.

In additional to luncheon:
10:30: Brief Program and Winner Announcement as Challenge X Vehicles Cross the East Coast Road Rally Finish Line at Department of Energy (across from Smithsonian Institute)

11:00-11:45: Opportunity for media ride and drive in Challenge X (at Department of Energy across from Smithsonian Institute)