Research team from Infineum, Leeds & Manchester universities, and Diamond working on the Core EXAFS beamline (B18) at Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. L/R; Steve Parry, Senior Support Scientist (Diamond), Pete Dowding, ( Infineum ), Sin-Yuen Chang ( Manchester University ) and Anna Kroner, Senior Industrial Liaison Scientist - X-Ray Spectroscopy ( Diamond) Back row; Sven Schroeder, (Leeds University ), Colin Willis ( Infineum ), Andy Price ( Infineum ), Rob Hooley and Samuel Booth
© Diamond Light Source
The dates for the Illuminating Challenges in Automotive Research (iCAR) 2015 Conference have been announced, with the two-day event set to take place on 4th-5th November at Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire.
iCAR 2015 will address the most pressing challenges facing the global motor industry today, providing a platform to showcase the cutting-edge research to overcome these issues and the opportunities that they present.
The event will be jointly hosted by
Infineum UK Ltd, one of the world leaders in the formulation, manufacture and marketing of petroleum additives for fuels and lubricants, and
Diamond Light Source, which offers state-of-the art experimental facilities that are instrumental in keeping the UK at the forefront of scientific research.
Bringing together international scientists and engineers, industry leaders and journalists, this year’s conference will promote the benefits of closer collaboration between science and the automotive industry.
Yann Cramer, General Manager Innovation & Technology Sourcing, Shell Lubricants will give the Keynote address, highlighting the technical challenges facing the automotive industry as a whole over the coming years.
Confirmed speakers also include Prof. Richard Dashwood, Academic Director and CTO, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Dr. Penny Atkins, Principal Engineer, Ricardo and Prof. Sven Schroeder, University of Leeds who will outline their perspectives both on the technical demands facing the industry and opportunities for innovation through research and development. Jeremy Webb, Editor-in-Chief at the New Scientist, has been announced as the event’s after dinner speaker.
The inaugural iCAR event was held in 2013 and featured over 20 speakers, including Chris Beddoes, former Director General of CONCAWE, who provided commentary on researching key environmental issues such as improving fuel efficiency at a molecular level to advance industry specifications.
Chris Locke, Executive Vice President Marketing and Technology at Infineum, said: “With a growing and diversifying global vehicle population, stricter emissions regulations and a demand for greater efficiency, the automotive industry is under great scrutiny to deliver. iCAR 2015 presents the opportunity for the industry’s leading lights to share best practice and the latest research designed to tackle these issues.”
Diamond was chosen as the ideal venue for the conference as it is one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world. The synchrotron machine is made up of particle accelerators which speed up electrons to within a fraction of the speed of light to produce X-rays that are 10 billion times brighter than the sun. Scientists can use this light to study anything from engines, new materials and formulations to viruses and vaccines.
Andrew Harrison, Diamond’s Chief Executive, commented: “As a national science facility, we know there are significant mutual benefits to be gained when academic and industrial scientists come together to discuss challenges in a particular field. Following on from the success of iCAR 2013, this year’s conference promises to deliver stimulating talks and discussions that should lead to fruitful collaborations, enabling the automotive sector to find efficient and cost effective ways to develop innovative technologies to the satisfaction of customers and regulators alike.”
A brighter light for science