Focus on hybrid fuels and safety engineering concepts

18 January 2008

New Delhi: Aiming at a better future for the Indian automotive industry, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), organised a seminar on Future Vehicle Technologies at the India Habitat Centre as part of the Auto Expo '08. The seminar was organised in association with MIRA UK, a leading independent provider of product engineering, testing, consultancy, certification, research and information,

Outlining the objectives of the conference, Surajit Mitra, joint secretary, ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises said, "We need to focus on five aspects of automobile industry, like intelligent vehicle that could minimise human error while driving, upgrading safety standards, and fuel consumption, commercial availability of alternate fuels such as hydrogen and solar energy, and environment-friendly technology."
 
He added that as there had been a relocation of production of automobiles worldwide, now it is the time when research and development would be relocated to countries like India.

Echoing his views, Terry Spall, vice president Asia MIRA stressed upon the urgent need for hybrid fuel. "Things are changing and people are becoming aware of hybrid technology. Unfortunately, it is very expensive, but I am sure the situation would change soon", he said.

A Ramasubramanian, chief executive, Eicher Motors said the developments in the sector over the last twenty years have been very significant, and would be even faster now.

The programme was attended by a delegation of technocrats from the UK and automotive experts from India who participated in the following technical sessions.

David Ward, technical manager, MIRA, and Roy Quinney, senior engineer, MIRA, both acknowledged industry experts, spoke on an emerging concept of safety engineering addressing Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) and functional safety rights.