APAC21 – Harmonizing the Future of Mobility

Harmonizing the Future of Mobility

3-5 October 2022

APAC21 was the fourth time that Australia was chosen to host this prestigious event

Photos: Kun Zuo RMIT, Mandy Parry-Jones Over the three days of this noteworthy conference attendees from 12 different countries shared the trends, the possibilities, the safety, the governance and a global view of mobility. Sharing was done in so many different ways both formal and informal; through keynote speakers, through conference papers, through panel events, through sponsors and their displays, and while mixing over lunches and dinners. Overall, the conference featured four keynote speakers, three panels, 69 presentations of which 55 were full papers and nine were abstracts, five were papers delivered by students. There were 12 countries represented and more than 180 participants. Day one and the conference was officially opened by Adrian Feeney, followed by Murli Iyer and Dr Raman Venkatesh Chief Operation Officer of SAE International. For more than 116 years the SAE has worked to revolutionize transportation and mobility with events such as these. “The theme of this year’s conference is Harmonizing the Future of Mobility,” said Mr Venkatesh in his opening address. “Mobility and transportation mean different things to different people from the movement of humans and goods to the critical infrastructure needed to make this a reality. “It is the mission of the SAE to advance mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. Our efforts are global and span all mobility sectors and allied technologies. There is no question that the definition of mobility continues to evolve. “SAE’s work in the mobility spaces crosses commercial, agricultural and military sectors among several others. This puts us in a unique position to identify solutions and technologies that overlap traditional boundaries.” He went on to say that sustainability is the prime topic, the most important as it impacts the future of the earth. After the opening addresses the first keynote address was delivered by Remi Bastien on Automated Driving for Sustainable Mobility followed by the first of three panel sessions, which was chaired by Gary White. Mr White introduced a positive focus to our local and global region and what’s happening across that landscape saying that we need technology, not for technology’s sake, but to deliver impact, solve problems and identify

solutions. As Murli Iyer had said in his opening address, engineers are here to serve the mobility community to help them serve the world. Kazu Kato of NHK Spring Company presented the second keynote address on the difficulties and solutions involved in the design of comfortable seating for autonomous vehicles. Following lunch four concurrent streams were available: Digital Transformation in Automotive Industry, Electric, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technology, Vehicle Dynamics & Control, and Formula SAE, EV & AV. Each stream consisted of papers delivered by engineers from Australia, Austria, South Korea, and from students from the universities of Swinburne, RMIT and Monash. Altogether attendees had the chance to learn from 16 subject matter experts. On day two there were another four concurrent sessions on the topics of Automated & Connected Mobility, Mobility Comfort, Vehicle Crash Safety, and Manufacturing & Materials with 33 presentations delivering ideas and research from countries such as South Korea, Australia, China, the Czech Republic and the US. Professor Thilo Roth welcomed us back into the plenary space and shared an exceptional view which brought together the academic, the entrepreneurial and the commercial. A snapshot of his presentation is in the following pages. David Young’s panel – Vehicle Technology in Australia: Trials, Policy and Regulation in Australia was well received as was the announcement of federal legislation to allow autonomous vehicle legal testing from circa, 2026.

Day three started with a panel chaired by Paul Nation from the ADF titled Defence – Land Assets which was followed by four concurrent sessions covering Emerging Transport Technology (Aviation, VTOL and Drones), Human Factors & Ergonomics, Emissions and Pollutants Caused by Vehicles, and Vehicle Software and Electronics. Two tours were available at the end of the final day one to Directed Technologies and the other to RMIT Digital Manufacturing facility. Finally at the conclusion of day three everyone met together for the closing ceremony during which the three-day event was summarised by Danielle Storey who had also invited attendees to share one word that to them summed up their experience of APAC21. The range of words was symbolic of the differing views offered by speakers and panels alike with the most used word ‘insightful’ but closely followed by informative, imaginative, invaluable, extraordinary, diverse, refreshing and gourmet.

A hidden gem for dinner

Tucked away and almost secret was the venue for the APAC21 formal dinner, a doorway next to and part of the Regent Theatre easy to miss but spectacular in its design when it caught your eye. In and down the first flight of stairs into a remarkable entrance hall and then down another short staircase into the first of the reception rooms – dark, moody and sumptuous in its design. Here dinner guests were treated to canapes and drinks and the chance to mingle before heading into the formal dining room. Tables were lavishly decorated, and the service was exceptional. A welcome to country started the formalities which were brief with the aim to allow guests to talk amongst themselves to network and to exchange ideas and information. An Aboriginal dance troupe entertained with a number of different traditional dances which were impressive for both Australian and overseas guests and conveyed the depth of the Aboriginal culture.