TROY—Gulay Serhatkulu, senior vice president for performance materials North America at BASF Corp., will deliver a second keynote address at the 19th annual Society of Plastics Engineers Detroit Section Automotive Composites Conference and Expo.
The event will be held Wednesday, Sept. 4 through Friday, Sept. 6 at the Suburban Collection Showplace, 41600 Grand River Ave. in Novi.
Serhatkulu will deliver an address titled “Chemistry-Driven Composite Innovation—The Future Is Now.” The presentation will outline the challenges facing composites solutions in the automotive industry and what needs to happen to increase adoption. She will also highlight examples from BASF and how they are using chemistry to drive composites innovation now and in the future.
“Chemistry-driven innovations drive BASF technology advancements in automotive applications, making BASF the No. 1 chemical supplier to the automotive industry ,” said Serhatkulu. “Increasing desire for stronger, lighter, more sustainable material solutions can only be achieved with new chemistries together with creative product designs. This leads to a different way of working, bringing the company offering new chemistries and the part designer closer than ever before.”
In addition to daily keynote presentations, the three-day ACCE features approximately 80 technical presentations, panel discussions, and more than 100 sponsors with approximately 80 exhibiting advances in materials, processes, and equipment for both thermoset and thermoplastic composites in a wide variety of transportation applications. Daily networking breakfasts, lunches, and cocktail receptions enhance the value of the event that attracts over 900 attendees worldwide. The Automotive and Composites Divisions of the Society of Plastics Engineers jointly produce the ACCE to educate the industry about the benefits of composites in automotive, light and heavy-duty truck, off-highway vehicles, and other ground transportation applications.
The technical presentations, each 30 minutes in length, are organized into the following categories: Advances in Thermoplastic Composites, Advances in Thermoset Composites, Virtual Prototyping, Testing & Modeling, Reinforcement Technologies, Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing, Nanocomposites, Enabling Technologies, Sustainable Composites, Bonding, Joining & Finishing, Opportunities & Challenges with Carbon Composites, and Business Trends & Technology Solutions.
“Composites – Forming the Future of Transportation Worldwide,” is the theme for this year’s event, reflecting the growing global interest transportation OEMs have in learning about the latest plastic composites technologies. The 2019 ACCE is co-chaired by Alper Kiziltas, technical expert, Ford Motor Company and SPE Automotive Division vice-chair and education committee chair, and Matthew E. Carroll, materials engineering, General Motors, and former SPE Automotive Division chair.
The technical program is co-chaired by David Jack, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Baylor University and Leonardo Simon, professor of chemical engineering at Waterloo University.
For more information see www.speautomotive.com/acce For more information on the Society of Plastics Engineers, see www.4spe.org.