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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'S NEW...

 ACCE DATE CHANGE: In response to tighter travel and budgetary restrictions at most companies, the ACCE has been compressed from 2.5 days of programming to 2 days. The program will start earlier and run later on Sept. 15 and 16 to help more people attend the complete conference by reducing some travel costs and time away from the office. We expect to be able to post our preliminary conference program schedule early-to-mid July.

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, Maria Ciliberti at (e-mail: auto-div-chair@speautomotive.com ). You can find a calendar of events (including board meetings) if you Click HERE.

RESOURCE CENTER: The webpage called Resource Center, which previously housed both the Innovation Awards Nomination Modules as well as the Automotive Composites Conference program guides and electronic proceedings, had gotten too large to be easily accessible. That page has been renamed Awards Modules and now contains only the 1999-2008 Innovation Awards Competition part nomination modules. The content from the Composites Conference has been moved to a new page now called ACCE Archive. We apologize for any confusion this may cause and hope that the change makes both collections of material easier to access. To visit the Awards Modules, please Click HERE. To visit the Composites Archive, please Click HERE.

'09 SPE AUTOEPCON PHOTOS AVAILABLE: To view and download photos from the 4th-annual SPE Automotive Engineering Plastics Conference (AutoEPCON), April 28. please Click HERE.

LATEST AUTOMOTIVE DIVISION NEWSLETTER posted (March 2009). To download this or other division newsletters, please Click HERE.


SPECIAL OFFERS FOR OUR MEMBERS

DISCOUNT ON EUROPEAN AVK COMPOSITES SHOW: Click on the button to receive the AVK member discount (200 Euros) to attend this year's AVK (German Federation of Reinforced Plastics) Conference, October 26-27, 2009 in Stuttgart, Germany. When prompted for an allowance code, please type in SPE member to receive the discounted rate.



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.



FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO AUTOFIELDGUIDE eNEWSLETTER: Click on the banner to sign up for a free subscription to Automotive Design & Production magazines's bi-monthly eZine, AutofieldGuide. The Auto Fieldguide e-mail newsletter provides a twice-monthly look at what's really happening in the automotive industry.



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.

Click HERE for another resource for members in the Metro Detroit area -- a link to a job bank on Automation Alley's website.

SAVE THE DATES...

Sept. 14, 2009: The 2nd-annual SPE / ACA Annual Golf Outing will take place at Fieldstone Golf Course in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For more information, please Click HERE.

Sept. 15-17, 2009: The 9th-annual SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) will take place in Troy, Michigan. For more information, please Click HERE.

Oct. 4-7, 2009: The 11th-annual SPE Automotive TPO Global Conference will take place in Sterling Heights, Michigan. For more information, please Click HERE.


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, Maria Ciliberti, (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.