The second international conference and exhibition on heat treatment and surface engineering on the  theme of automotive materials and manufacturing opened today in Chennai. 

Organized by ASM International’s Chennai chapter, the three-day conference will have 50 keynote and plenary talks which will detail the importance of heat treatment, surface engineering and automotive materials and manufacturing in the engineering industry.

Heat treatment and surface engineering play a key role as they help make machines and systems work in modern manufacturing and engineering areas. The conference will deliberate on current and future trends in automotive materials, automotive lightweighting needs and application, advanced and future automotive materials, current and future trends in automotive manufacturing, advanced automotive manufacturing to meet high demand and timely supply and other technical aspects in automotive materials and manufacturing.

In his inaugural address, R Sivanesan, senior vice-president, CQ & S&SC, Ashok Leyland, drew the delegates’ attention towards international global economic trends and its impact on material resources. He said, “Amid global economic growth, there will be an adverse impact on natural resources including oil, gas, coal, uranium, zinc and silver. If the world continues to consume them at the current rate, by 2050, the world will exhaust most of the material. This is a real concern and therefore we need to work towards conserving our natural resources.”

He added that the automobile industry consumes a lot of natural resources like iron, steel and fuel and the focus of the industry should be on three key areas – improving fuel economy, reducing weight and improving reliability and durability to improve its efficiencies. He shared the steps Ashok Leyland is taking to achieve the desired objectives and said there is much research work currently underway.  

Dr T S Sudarshan, member, board of trustees, ASM International, USA, in his special address, said: “India has a large, young engineer base and they should be encouraged to participate and think of futuristic ways of how you can apply surface engineering. Surface engineers have lots of tools to improve the living standards of society and waste little material, conserving resources and keeping costs down.”  

The concurrent heat treatment and surface engineering expo has 50 exhibitors displaying their products and technologies. The three-day conference is likely to attract more than 1,000 delegates and business visitors.