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Conference on Automotive Textiles to be held from Nov 14

18 Mar '13

3 min read

With the most valuable market for technical textiles worldwide being the automotive industry and with the industry making a strong recovery from the recent fiscal crisis, the time is right to hold a major meeting looking at the latest developments in automotive textiles, and the likely future of the industry.

The location chosen for this event is right in the heart of the “Southern automotive industry” in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with major OEMs such as BMW, Mercedes, VW, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota along with numerous 1st and 2nd tier suppliers, fabric producers, research facilities and design centres located within 200 miles. On-going investment shows the importance of Atlanta and the Southern area to the industry.

Conference on Automotive Textiles, CAT13 will be held in the first-class purpose-built conference facilities of the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 14-15 November 2013.

Sponsored by Industrial Textiles Associates, Technical Textiles International magazine and International Newsletters Ltd, CAT13 will reflect the growth and increasing globalisation of the automotive industry, featuring presentations by industry experts from a range of countries worldwide.

Textiles play a major part in automotive concept and design with benefits of cost and weight reduction, new developments in function as well as aesthetical considerations. While the main emphasis of this conference will be on automotive interiors; safety aspects, working textiles and composites will all feature as well as rapid advances in smart fabrics.

The main areas of discussion will be:
Markets and trends in textile usage by region and by end-use, including global trends; textiles' impacts on environmental issues; fuel economy; rise of Asian producers; effects of the financial crisis; growing use of electric vehicles; impact of costs of raw materials and use of recycled materials.

Interior textiles, especially materials (nonwovens, knits, and woven fabrics) for “visual” or aesthetic applications such as seating, headliners, carpeting, side panels, trunk liners and mats. We will also consider the impact of recycling and sustainability initiatives on textile choice.

Safety, including developments in airbags, seatbelts; smart fabrics for sensor technology; fire-retardant materials.

Components and “working textiles”, including tire cords/reinforcements; hoses; drive belts; liners, substrates, trim, carpet- and mat backing; thermal and acoustic insulation, filters for areas such as cabin-air; oil/fuel, engine and transmission.

Composites, including mass production technologies for carbon fibre-reinforced composites and the use of natural-fiber composites to reduce weight and cost.

CAT13 will be a practical and intensive two-day meeting of senior managers from all parts of the industry worldwide, including suppliers, processors and end-users.

The conference will consist of four sessions over two days, and will include extended workshop sessions to ensure maximum audience participation and networking opportunities.

The Center is within easy reach of the international airport and Atlanta's leading hotels. Conference organisers, International Newsletters Ltd, already have many successful technical textile events under their belt. Feedback from the last conference in November 2012 on textiles coating and laminating included comments such as “I have enjoyed all the presentations and feel that it was a good mix of both commercial and scientific approach.”

“Thanks again for the well-organized TCL 2012 in Valencia. It was a pleasure attending and presenting my paper”.

One of the exhibitors at the conference, also commented, “We are very happy with the feedback we got from the conference. New ideas, good networking, nice place to be. We will certainly participate again.”

Industrial Textiles Associates