Innovative Idea Generating Centre
Automotive Lightweighting 2025
November 19, 2025 (Eastern Daylight Time)
0845 Chair’s Opening Remarks
OPTIMIZING LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS PANEL DISCUSSION
09:00 The Shift Towards Sustainable Metals For High-Strength Automotive Body Structures
- Sustainable Lightweight Metals: Choosing the Right Material for High Strength Body Structures - 15 minutes. This talk explores the critical selection criteria for sustainable, lightweight metals in body structure applications. It evaluates how specific materials, such as aluminum, steel, and magnesium, perform in high-strength structures while meeting environmental and sustainability requirements.
- Evaluating Ultra High Strength Steel's Future in a Circular Economy - 15 minutes. This talk delves into the potential of ultra-high-strength steel in a circular economy. It examines sustainability strategies, challenges in recycling, and the material’s durability. Case studies show its future viability in reducing waste and carbon emissions within high-strength structural applications.
- Sustainable Materials in Automotive Design: The Role of Lightweight Metals in High-Strength Structures - 15 minutes. This presentation analyzes the shift towards using sustainable metals in automotive body structures, specifically lightweight materials such as aluminum, steel, and magnesium etc. It covers the evolving standards and OEM requirements for optimizing strength and sustainability in vehicle design.
- Optimizing Circularity: How Recycled Materials Are Shaping the Future of Structural Metals - 15 minutes. Focusing on the circular economy’s role in material selection, this talk reviews how recycled lightweight metals, such as aluminum and steel, are impacting automotive design. It includes insights on overcoming barriers to recycling and creating more sustainable, cost-effective high-strength body structures.
10: 00 Interactive Discussion
GREEN INNOVATION IN COMPOSITE
10:30 SOCA – Sustainably Optimised Composite Automotive
- Exploring low-carbon production methods for decarbonizing carbon fibre composite in automotive applications, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of carbon fibre manufacturing.
- Examining methods for efficiently recycling carbon fibre materials, minimizing waste, and supporting a circular economy in automotive manufacturing.
- Analysing available solution for near net-zero CFRP components for low-volume automotive application
Frederic Sicard Technical Specialist composite material & process Jaguar Land Rover
10:55 Questions & Discussion
11:00 Morning Refreshment Break
COMPOSITE MODELING
11:30 Composite Materials Simulation and Modeling for Enhanced Lightweight Body Structures
The presentation will highlight the latest advancements in materials and manufacturing processes designed to make lightweighting with
composites more cost-effective for body structures. It will also cover newly developed virtual modeling methods for accurately simulating the characteristics of these advanced materials.
Venkat Aitharaju Senior Researcher, Polymer Composites General Motors
11:55 Questions & Discussion
INTEGRATION OF MULTILATERAL STRUCTURE
12:00 Unlocking Ultimate Lightweighting: Recent Advances in Dissimilar Material Joining Technologies for Effective Integration of Lightweight Structures
In our pursuit of efficiency, performance, and sustainability, harnessing recent advances in dissimilar material joining technologies becomes paramount. In this talk we will explore how these innovations pave the way for the effective integration of lightweight vehicle structures, reshaping the future of automotive design.
- Exploring the possibilities of weight-optimized joining combinations
- Understand the latest innovations in multi-material joints
- Analyze joining technologies for optimum integration of multilateral BIW structure
- Evaluate future developments on dissimilar material joining for the next-generation BEV’s
Jose luis galaviz Chassis group frames technical lead Stellantis - North America
12:25 Questions & Discussion
LIGHTWEIGHT SOLUTIONS WITH INTEGRATED BATTERIES
12:30 Innovative Multi-Material Strategies for Battery Electric Vehicle Architectures: Integrating Battery with Body-In-White for Optimal Lightweighting
In this session, we will delve into the factors impacting multi-material selection for EV battery lightweighting and integration with Body-In-White. We will also explore how OEMs are addressing material requirements while contemplating issues related to the cost, strength, and weight of Battery Electric Vehicles (B.E.V.s).
Simon Xu Engineering Group Manager - Vehicle Optimization, Architecture Strategy General Motors
12:55 Questions & Discussion
13:00 Lunch Break
OPTIMIZING LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS PANEL DISCUSSION
14:00 Smart Material Strategies For Cost-Effective, Lightweight, Multi-Material Vehicle Structures: Optimizing Performance, Safety, And Integrity
- Smart Material Strategies for Cost-Effective, Lightweight, Multi-Material Vehicle Structures with Optimized Performance and Integrity - 15 minutes. This session will explore cost-effective strategies for integrating lightweight, multi-material systems into vehicle design. Emphasis is placed on structural optimization, material selection, and advanced joining techniques to reduce weight and cost without compromising performance, safety, or durability.
- Practical Strategies for Integrating Mixed Materials in Vehicle Structures for Lightweight, High-Performance Designs - 15 minutes. This talk will examine effective, real-world approaches to combining mixed materials in critical vehicle structural zones. Learn how to optimize weight reduction and enhance performance by leveraging advanced integration techniques, material compatibility insights, and design innovations tailored to modern automotive engineering demands.
- Balancing Performance in Multi-Material Automotive Designs for Lightweighting, Durability, Safety, and Structural Optimization - 15 minutes
- This talk explores strategies to effectively balance performance in multi-material automotive structures, focusing on lightweighting, structural efficiency, and safety. It highlights design trade-offs, material integration challenges, and innovations driving sustainable, high-performance vehicles in a competitive automotive engineering landscape.
- Fatigue Analysis and Lightweight Design: Optimizing Reliability, Reducing Costs, and Enhancing Component Lifespan - 15 minutes. This presentation delves into the power of fatigue analysis and automotive lightweight design. Learn how to quickly identify fatigue-related issues, streamline development, and reduce testing costs. The session highlights advanced analysis capabilities for both metallic and non-metallic components, including welds and spot joints, to enhance reliability, optimize design, and extend component lifespan.
15:00 Interactive Discussion
15:30 Refreshment Break
CAE MATERIAL OPTIMIZATION
16:00 Evaluating CAE Material Cards, Simulation Data And Adhesive Bonding Innovations: Addressing Challenges in Vehicle Manufacturing and Performance Optimization
Discover the upcoming challenges and demand for developing CAE material cards and simulation data in vehicle manufacturing and performance domains. Learn how to apply expand foam adhesive that involves surface treatment and mechanical evaluation.
Okan Otuz CAE/ Materials Specialist Mercedes-Benz Turk A.S.
16:25 Questions & Discussion
END-OF-LIFE STRATEGIES
16:30 Embedding End-of-Life Strategies to Drive Sustainable Future For Lightweight Automotive
Dervis Eren Unsal Product Sustainability Engineer Ford Otoson
16:55 Questions & Discussion
OPTIMIZING MULTI-MATERIAL ARCHITECTURES IN CRASH ZONES
17:00 Enhancing Vehicle Safety And Weight Efficiency Without Compromising Performance
- Optimizing Multi-Material Architectures in Crash Zones for Enhanced Safety and Weight Efficiency - 15 minutes. This talk will focus on how multi-material combinations can be optimized for use in crash zones and crash structures. It will highlight innovative ways to integrate lightweight materials safely, improving vehicle safety without compromising performance, efficiency, or cost-effectiveness.
- Discover innovative hybrid material applications for reducing vehicle chassis weight without compromising on durability - 15 minutes. This talk covers the latest advancements in hybrid material technologies for vehicle chassis. Learn how combining materials such as composites and metals can reduce vehicle weight while ensuring high strength and durability, benefiting both performance and sustainability.
- Analyzing Lightweighting Potential Across Vehicle Structural Zones Using Mixed Materials for Cost and Performance Optimization - 15 minutes. This talk explores the opportunities and challenges of lightweighting vehicle structures by strategically using mixed materials across different vehicle zones. It compares the cost and performance metrics of lightweighting strategies, emphasizing the benefits of material selection to optimize structural integrity, safety, and overall vehicle efficiency. Attendees will gain insights into practical approaches for applying multi-material solutions to meet modern automotive demands.
- Leveraging Simulation-Driven Design to Optimize Multi-Material Lightweight Vehicle Structures for Enhanced Performance - 15 minutes. Explore how simulation-driven design transforms the development of multi-material lightweight vehicle structures. This talk will demonstrate how advanced digital simulations optimize material layout, enhancing performance while minimizing production costs. Learn how integrating simulations into design processes allows for the creation of innovative, efficient vehicle components that meet stringent weight and strength requirements, ultimately revolutionizing the automotive industry.
18:00 Interactive Discussion
18:30 End of the conference
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