(cover image: the new Sportscar 'X' Concept from FORM3 will be exhibited at the show)

Autodesk will be showcasing their design software

First presented back in April 2008, the Automotive Designers Show will take place in Milan this April 7th, 8th and 9th.

The event includes both an exhibition and a conference and is dedicated to all aspects of interior and exterior vehicle design and styling and design studio technologies.

The Advance Programme for this event is now available. The speakers are a good mix of senior OEM designers (including Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Mindset, Lotus, Jaguar, and Mercedes Benz), independent design and styling houses (including I.D.E.A, Form3, EDAG, Bonetto, and Capoco) and studio technology suppliers such as Autodesk, Optis, Kolb, Geomagic and RTT.

The conference programme runs over the first two days of the event:

• Tuesday April 7th
  Dedicated to Design Studio Technologies, with some interesting papers relating to physical and digital modelling.
  
• Wednesday April 8th
  Focused on Concepts, Design and Prototypes. with presentations including some case studies of new concept vehicles, some of which are actually displayed in the exhibition area.

The ERA Concept by I.D.E.A, the will be on display in the exhibition

The programme has been designed to be of interest to designers and studio managers working on a variety of vehicles and includes a presentation on an award winning re-design of the iconic Routemaster London bus.

With visitors expected from across Europe and beyond, the conference presentations will all be in English.

Costs for the attending the conference as a delegate range from €150 - €200 per day depending on how soon you book however entry to the exhibition area is free of charge.

Delegate numbers for each day will be limited to approximately 150 and the full conference programme can be viewed here; http://www.automotivedesign-expo.com/F3.html or at the bottom of this page.

Design Studios and University Design Schools

Special display-only stands for design houses and design schools

Whilst several stands in the exhibition area will be quite large and have technology or vehicles on display there are also opportunities for design houses and universities with vehicle design departments to participate as well.

Special display only stands have been created for design or prototyping companies that wish to showcase their work but do not need to s display large items.

Theses stands are very much designed for companies as an all-inclusive option and for universities or design schools they could be used for perhaps displaying the recent course work of their students.

For design schools these stands start are available from just €750, for design and prototyping companies wishing to showcase their design capabilities prices start at €1500. More information on these can be found on the website.

A redesign of the iconic Routemaster from Capoco

Car Body Design, who will be at the event, will also be displaying design students work on its own stand in the exhibition area as will Assomotoracing.

About the Show

The main purpose of the Automotive Designers Show is to bring together the range of technologies and services required by vehicle manufacturers during the initial design stages.

It is scheduled to be an annual event although the location of the 2010 show is yet to be announced.

For more information on exhibiting, visiting or attending the conference as a delegate visit the website on www.automotivedesign-expo.com.

The organisers are currently running a competition offering a limited number of free conference passes if you get your visitor registration in before February 23rd 2009.

The Conference Program

Day 1 - Design Studio Technologies (Tuesday 7 April 2009)

• 10.00 - Deploying the next generation of immersive display technology into the virtual vehicle design process
  by NIGEL LOCKWOOD | JAGUAR LAND ROVER / STUART HETHERINGTON, HOLOVIS INTERNATIONAL
  An overview of the Jaguar Land Rover virtual reality suite recently commissioned for their Gaydon design and development facility in the UK.
• 10.25 - Intuitive Interaction in Mixed Reality Design Workflows
  by MIRKO BARONE RTT AG
  Virtual Reality is a well known means to save time and effort during prototyping and design processes. The aim of new generation 3D visualization tools is to offer more advanced features to support designers and engineers in developing and judging new products in virtual environments. During a comparison between new product versions and materials, designers are still bound to the regular and long winded road of navigating the 3D tool. While engineers and CAD designers are used to this workflow and appreciate full control over all small details, designers at a later stage have to focus on other issues. Easier and faster interfaces for their tasks had to be found. The next generation advanced VR tools now close this interface gap with new approaches such as augmented reality modules, integrating the virtual models into the real environment. Users can easily and naturally interact with their virtual prototypes without using mice or keyboards. Real physical materials and textures can be assigned to the virtual objects easily and swiftly.
• 10.50 Coffee Break
• 11.10 Total Creativity – The Concept for a Perfect Vehicle Design Studio
  by ANDREAS KOECK, MANAGING DIRECTOR | KOLB TECHNOLOGY GMBH
  Plenty of space, good light, an inspiring environment and a great creative team: These should be the major requirements for a state of the art design studio. Supportive to this should be digital and physical modelling, milling and scanning, layouting and reverse engineering. All this as an integrated solution that reconciles traditional methods with high-end technologies and without the limitation of a traditional measuring environment clears the way for total creativity.
• 11.35 Brand Differentiation through Expressive Surfaces:
  by MICHAEL MILLER, CHIEF OF DESIGN | FLOTEK DESIGN, GRAVUTEX ESCHMANN INTERNATIONAL
  A brief synopsis of Flotek design technology and advanced laser effects in an evolutionary 3D design environment; how this can be used to aid brand differentiation on vehicle interiors where confidence of new innovations can be gained through prototyping with advanced production tuned RP techniques. Show car and production vehicle case studies will be used to highlight how this technology can inspire and instigate trends for the future.

• Materialise uses Additive Layer Manufacturing for creating concept vehicles

  12.00 Additive Layer Manufacturing – A Revolution for the Making of Concept Vehicles
  by JURGEN LANDUS | MATERIALISE B.V.
  Additive layer manufacturing is the use of layered based manufacturing technologies like stereolithography, Laser Sintering and Fused Deposition Modelling to produce final production components. More and more vehicle manufacturers start to see the benefits of using additive layer manufacturing in the making of concept vehicles. First of all it opens a whole new world of design freedom. Secondly the use of these technologies allows building concept vehicles faster than the traditional methods. Furthermore it becomes possible to personalise designs. Examples of recent concept vehicles that used additive layer manufacturing are given.
• 12.25 Lunch Break
• 13.25 The Inside Story – From Sketch to Reality
  by ED MARTIN, INDUSTRY MANAGER | MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS DIVISION, AUTODESK Manager
  Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are increasingly recognizing the value of well designed and well crafted interiors that appeal to consumers. Developing interiors that create purchasing preference and customer satisfaction requires a combination of designer skill supported by the right tools and processes. Autodesk will show how Digital Prototyping supports the creative process from initial sketching through surfacing, visualization and decision making, and continues with solutions for engineering and manufacturing of a finished interior.
• 13.50 Dassault System
  by SPEAKER AND TOPIC TO FOLLOW
  Presentation overview to follow
• 14.15 The Future for Vehicle Surface Design
  by SIMON ALFORD, PROJECT MANAGER | NX PRODUCT DEFINITION, SIEMENS PLM SOFTWARE
  Feature-Based Modelling. Historically, vehicle interior and exterior surface data have been created using specialist stand- alone software. Any changes to the vehicle form result in lengthy CAD re-work. Often deleting and recreating the data is the most viable route forward. For many years now, mechanical design has used parametric software (storing commands as features in the part’s history) to enable rapid creation and modification of data via rules (or parameters). Due to the nature of automotive surface design – freeform organic shapes – it was widely perceived that a feature-based parametric approach was not feasible ...until now.
• 14.40 Coffee Break
• 15.00 Optical Measurement in Vehicle Design
  by GERD SCHWARDERER, GENERAL MANAGER, GEOMAGIC GMBH Using optical measurement hardware in the Design Studios is a mainstream application these days. Properly taking advantage of the data and post processing technology can still dramatically leverage this investment. This presentation will showcase case studies and independent information.
• 15.25 Advanced Simulation Solutions for Optimizing The Drivers Vision
  by PATRICE DORÉ | OPTIS WORLD
  This presentation will introduce the latest CATIA V5-integrated SPEOS simulation software developed by OPTIS, enabling interior designers to physically simulate materials, light sources, and colours exactly as they will be seen by the driver in order to detect potential nuisance reflections, areas of low visibility and environmental glare.
• 15.50 Windshield Simulation for Vehicle Prototypes
  by MICHAEL MEYERS, PROCESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER | AGC AUTOMOTIVE EUROPE
  In a context of growing complexity and size of vehicle glazing, especially windshields, AGC Automotive Europe has developed a complete and powerful expertise based on experimental prototypes and numerical simulation model. The numerical simulation model offers a quick and complete investigation going from the design suggested by the vehicle manufacturer, to the process ability of the final product including quality aspect evaluation (optics, wiping, ). With this complete expertise based on simulations and internal know-how it is possible to offer a co-design expertise to vehicle manufacturers for more complex products.

Day 2 - Concepts, Design and Prototypes (Wednesday 8 April 2009)

• 10.00 Nissan Design Story
  by ALFONSO ALBAISA / MARTIN UHLARIK, SENIOR DESIGNER | NISSAN DESIGN EUROPE
  Presentation overview to follow.
• 10.25 Alfa Romeo - The Design Renewal
  by CHRISTOPHER REITZ, DIRECTOR OF DESIGN | ALFA ROMEO
  Presentation overview to follow.
• 10.50 Coffee Break
• 11.10 Concept Car Review – ERA
  by PIETRO LARDINI, PRESIDENT | IDEA INSTITUTE SPA
  Era is a two-seater roadster show car designed and built by I.DE.A Institute featuring classic Italian styling in a sports car. It s the first of new models representing the renewal of I.DE.A: it s the working result of a new young designers team, modellers and show cars builders. The car has an elegant yet powerful appearance and a simple interior typical to sports cars. ERA has been designed to carry a 4/6 cylinder front engine and has the following dimensions: length 4300 mm, width 1840 mm, height 920mm, wheelbase 2560 mm.
• 11.35 Concept Car Review; Light Car
  by JOHANNES BARCKMANN, STYLING DIRECTOR | EDAG
  The EDAG “Light Car” is a vision of an environmentally friendly and attractive car for everyday and leisure use. The purely electric vehicle shows for the first time how light can be used as an individually modifiable design feature and communication device. For the bodywork concept EDAG employs basalt fibres, a light, 100% recyclable material with high stiffness.
• 12.00 Concept Car Review – Sportscar ‘X’
  by JOACHIM BOFFINGER | FORM3 DESIGN
  This presentation is a case study of Sportscar ‘X’. A new concept of a powerful two seat offroadster, lightweight, economic and with a sophisticated design. Amongst the many surprising features of this vehicle is a unique multi functional roof concept. The presentation outlines the design process of Sportscar ‘X’ covering ideation, sketching, packaging, styling and physical and digital modelling of the vehicle.
• 12.25 Lunch Break
• 13.25 Road To The Future
  by FRANCESCA SANGALLI | MERCEDES BENZ ADVANCED DESIGN
  Present a look at how the Mercedes-Benz brand envision the future of its cars (and brand Values) and in particular how to combine the classic core competence of Mercedes-Benz of Luxury Mobility with a vision of a sustainable future. A particular attention will be given to the future customer and his idea of Luxury in a context where status and taste will become more important than horsepower and engine size.
• 13.50 OEM Design Review; Lotus Evora
  by RUSSELL CARR, HEAD OF DESIGN | LOTUS
  A presentation looking at the design of the latest sports car from Lotus.
• 14.15 Time for a Change
  by DAVID WILKIE, DESIGNER | MINDSET
  Missing Mindset! Car design today is stuck in a rut. It’s true that cars are more sophisticated and reliable than ever before. It’s also true that nearly all cars on the market have the capability to go at speeds way beyond the legal limits. Why do companies use money developing this.. Mindset wants to build an alternative. Just putting an electric motor on any existing car would miss so many wonderful design opportunities given by a new healthier drive train. With Mindset, we want you to feel you are in something special. An experience other than speed. a Design experience! We want to develop materials other than the traditional plastics. With the exterior, we want to create a car you’d love to own and care for. We want people to relate to Mindset with the passion that one gives to a special or historic car. A car you’d love to wash! Mindset is one of the few Electric vehicles that has been designed from the ground up, for real life...
• 14.40 Coffee Break
• 15.00 A New Bus for London
  by OWEN EVANS, SENIOR DESIGNER | CAPOCO DESIGN LIMITED
  A New Bus for London is the current project to develop an innovative bus design for the city. It follows on from the design competition that was held in 2008. Capoco not only won the competition, but also triggered the great interest in the project. Capoco presented a speculative re-design of the classic Routemaster bus in late 2007. Our presentation takes the story thru this exciting blend of old and new. The work covers both the visual concept and also the engineering packaging so defines the complete new vehicle design.
• 15.25 Commercial Vehicle Design
  by MARCO BONETTO, PRESIDENT | BONETTO DESIGN
  A look at the latest design trends relating to commercial vehicles with an insight into recent projects undertaken by the Bonetto design studio.
• 15.50 No Time for Preconceptions
  by PETER STEVENS, PETERSTEVENS DESIGN
  Presentation overview to follow Day 2 | Wednesday April 8th 2009

(Source: Automotive Designers Show)