Welcome to the Automotive Division of SPE

Welcome to the Internet home of the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers International (SPE), a not-for-profit engineering society.

WHAT INTERESTS YOU? Please Give Us Feedback!

WHAT'S NEW...

SEE OUR NEW BLOG: A bit less formal than our eBlasts and a bit more in-depth than our Tweets, our new blog contains updates on our activities and commentary on industry happenings. To visit it, please click on the blue button above. On the right side of the page, there's a link to subscribe if you find value in the information.

SPE AUTOMOTIVE DIV. NOW ON TWITTER: Follow our automotive plastics "tweets" here

.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-MAIL UPDATES: If you're not a member of the SPE Automotive Div. you can still receive our eMail updates by clicking on this LINK and adding your eMail address.

.
LATEST AUTOMOTIVE DIVISION NEWSLETTER posted (March 2012). To download this or other division newsletters, please Click HERE.

MEMBERS OF OUR BOARD: Curious to put faces to our names? Want to see who serves on our Division's board of directors? We now have photos up on the Members of Our Board page, which can be found if you Click HERE. If you are interested in joining our board or just attending our meetings, please contact our Division Chair, Jeff Helms at (e-mail: auto-div-chair@speautomotive.com ). You can find a calendar of events (including board meetings) if you Click HERE.

SAVE THE DATES...

Sept. 11-13, 2012: The 12th-annual SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) will take place in Troy, Michigan. For more information, please Click HERE.

Sept. 30-Oct.3, 2012: The 14th-annual SPE TPO Automotive Engineered Polyolefins Conference will take place in Troy, Michigan. For more information, please Click HERE.

Nov. 7, 2012: The 42nd-annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala -- the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries -- will take place in Livonia, Michigan. Tickets (for individual seats or tables of 10) are on sale now. For more information, please Click HERE.

SPECIAL OFFERS FOR OUR MEMBERS

ATTEND 2 SAE COMPOSITES EVENTS IN ITALY THIS JUNE AT A DISCOUNT:
Through a special arrangement with SAE International, SPE members can attend SAE 2012 Economics of Composites, 20 June 2012, and SAE 2012 Design, Tooling and Manufacturing of Composites, 21-22 June 2012 at the SAE Classic Member Rate. Both events will be held at the Torino Incontra Conference Centre, Torino, Italy, and will bring together audiences from the North American and European composites industries. Attend one or both events at a discount. Click on the banner above for more details on pricing and to register online. Registration instructions are available by clicking HERE. Don’t wish to register online? Here are the alternatives:

By Phone: 1-877-606-7323 (U.S. & Canada only)
Or 1-724-776-4970 (Outside of U.S. and Canada)
By Fax: 1-724-776-0790
By Email: CustomerService@sae.org

SPE MEMBERS SAVE 10% AT WARD'S AUTOINTERIORS SHOW: SPE members can save $50 USD off the $470 USD entry fee for the Ward's AutoInteriors Show, May 17 in Dearborn, MI. Hear keynotes from Jens Manske, Executive Design Director at Volkswagen, and Kevin Hunter, President of Toyota’s CALTY Design. Attend panel discussions on your choice of 8 topics, from innovative materials to consumer wants and needs. Get inside winning vehicles at the Ward’s 10 Best Interiors awards ceremony. Network with peers, and check out products from exhibiting suppliers. Limited seating available, so best to register today.

The Molding Blog is a news site focused on the latest in advanced plastics technologies that is written by Doug Smock, who has been following plastics technology for more than 25 years. Click on the link above to browse the latest on interesting plastics molding technologies. Sign up to receive eMail updates on the right side of the page, or, for Kindle users, subscribe to the blog for just $0.99 USD.

Prototype Today offers news, links, an industry directory, metric conversions, events and jobs listings, videos, and a discussion forum on the latest advances in prototyping technology. Click on the banner above to visit the site and start accessing its content today.

PLASTECH - Plastics & Packaging Business Platform: SPE members are invited to take advantage of Plastech's Virtual Platform for Real Business, including Business Directory, B2B Offers, News, Events, Finances Forum, & Expert Blog by clicking on the above web banner.

FREE TRIAL COPY OF TPE MAGAZINE: SPE members can receive a free sample copy of TPE Magazine from Germany by clicking on the above banner and filling out the online form.

DISCOUNTED SUBSCRIPTION (FOR SPE MEMBERS) TO TPE MAGAZINE: Once you've received your trial copy of TPE Magazine , you can subscribe to it by clicking on the above banner. SPE Members receive a 20% courtesy discount from the publisher.

FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO CHINA PLASTIC & RUBBER JOURNAL: SPE members can receive a free subscription to China Plastic & Rubber Journal by clicking on the above banner and filling out the online form.

FREE 3-MONTH TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION TO POLYMOTIVE MAGAZINE: SPE members can receive a free 3-month subscription to the electronic version of Polymotive Magazine , the world's leading automotive-plastics publication, which had readers in 114 countries around the globe. Click on the above banner to fill out a form to receive 3 issues of the magazine in PDF format. Once the trial subscription is over, you will be contacted and offered the opportunity for a paid subscription.

KEEP UP TO DATE ON COMPOSITES TECHNOLOGIES: Learn about JEC Group's new Americas Composites Conference in Boston, MA, Nov. 7-9, 2012 in cooperation with the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). JEC is the world's largest composites-industry organization and is offering SPE members a 5% discount on booth space at the show. For more details, please click on banner above.

FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO AUTOFIELD GUIDE BLOG: Click on the above banner to review and sign up for a free subscription to AutoField Guide's blog, which provides "quick insights on automotive management."

FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO AUTOFIELDGUIDE eNEWSLETTER: SPE members can also sign up for a free subscription to Automotive Design & Production magazines's bi-monthly eZine, Autofield Guide. The e-mail newsletter provides a twice-monthly look at what's really happening in the automotive industry. Click on the above banner to view the latest issue.

FREE SAMPLES OF 18 OF THE WORLD'S TOP ENGINEERING JOURNALS: By special arrangement, SPE members can preview and order free samples of technical journals produced by Professional Engineering Publishing of the UK. Just click on the above banner to visit the site and browse through the selection.

TRIAL OFFER TO PLASTICS DATABASE: Click on the banner to register for free access to datasheets through PLASPEC Basic, which includes a 7-day FREE trial of PLASPEC Complete. PLASPEC Global is an online database of single-point and multi-point properties of plastics materials, including ASTM, ISO, and CAMPUS data. PLASPEC also contains processing data, a tradename index, applications library, biopolymers database, and links to technical literature on materials.. SPE Members can also login to their Member Benefits page for a special trial offer from PLASPEC Global.

HELP FOR UNEMPLOYED SPE MEMBERS
Did you know that if you become unemployed, SPE can help? Unemployed benefits include:

Waiver of dues for renewing members for up to 2 years while you seek employment.
Continuation of all SPE benefits during that time.
Free resume posting and job searching at SPE Career Solutions
Job-seeking advice -- including tips on how to write a resume, negotiate an offer, etc. -- are available at SPE Career Solutions.
Placement of 3 free position-wanted ads in Plastics Engineering magazine (to learn more about this option, contact our advertising department).
Networking opportunities through attending events sponsored by geographic Sections and technical Divisions.

You can notify SPE headquarters of your unemployment status by contacting Customer Relations (+1.203.740.5403). From there, you will be transferred to other departments.

Please also see SPE's other unemployment services offered members http://www.4spe.org/spe-unemployment-services. WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO...

The Automotive Division of SPE is dedicated to recognizing and communicating technical accomplishments in all phases of new automotive plastics and plastic-based composite applications and has over 1500 members worldwide. Ours is one of 22 divisions or sections within SPE. It was chartered on September 9, 1970 to communicate with Division members as well as to industry and the public about current and developmental automotive and ground-transportation uses of polymeric materials, such as rigid and elastomeric thermoplastics and thermosets, rigid and flexible foams, composites, nanocomposites, films, and more.

The Division presents technical sessions at ANTEC (SPE's ANnual TEChnical Conference) and organizes topical conferences (such as our popular Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) and our new Automotive Engineering Plastics (AutoEPCON) Conference), and works with other technical societies to increase knowledge about current and future automotive plastic applications. We fund college scholarships and sponsor and participate in additional educational outreach programs for school children through the PlastiVan Program from the National Plastics Center & Museum in Leominster, Mass. http://www.plasticsmuseum.org.

SPE members are invited to attend board meetings and are welcome to participate on committees organizing any of the annual events. Meet at 5:00 pm for networking and dinner and then stay for the meetings, which typically run from 5:30-8:30 pm. Please contact our current Automotive Division chair, Jeff Helms, (e-mail: auto-div-chair@speautomotive.com ), in advance if you are interested in attending a meeting.

In addition to educational activities, the Division sponsors the oldest and largest awards competitions in the automotive and plastics industries to recognize the year's Most Innovative Use of Plastics in ground-transportation applications. Winning teams are recognized at our annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, a glittering evening of celebration to recognize excellence in automotive plastics engineering and executive leadership.