Chairman‘s Welcome Address

The role of transmissions with new characteristics

Transmissions act as converters between a vehicle's overall power demand and the power the engine(s) can supply. This is why all drives – whether conventional or alternative – need tailor-made transmissions. Much more: during the process of converting torque and speed, transmissions also handle a wide range of control tasks along with the engines, which they sometimes incorporate. So in effect, they become 'traction force managers'. As a result, transmissions will definitely remain a focus topic in automotive engineering. In some concepts, they will even adopt a leading role and become the key to efficient drives.

The 9th International CTI Symposium will discuss developments and issues dealing with automotive transmissions and drives and focus on the following topics:

What improvements to customer-relevant vehicle characteristics can be achieved using new or improved concepts for drives, transmissions and components?
What are the challenges and opportunities of conventional and electrified drives, what is the role of the transmission?
Which transmission concepts and strategies make sense for which markets?
What are the tools for efficient transmission and power train developments?

The established introductory day to the symposium will provide newcomers and people from other sectors with interdisciplinary and basic knowledge plus practical experience in terms of conventional and electrified drive trains and different transmission concepts.

Students or those who have just completed their studies or PhD degree will present their excellent work in the field of transmission and drives development and receive the CTI Young Drive Experts Award.

The panel discussion will address current issues relating to transmissions and electrified drive trains, e. g. focussing on the environmental discussion and new market potentials.

Poster sessions are new in 2010: there will be brief presentations on additional topics in the series of presentations. In the breaks, the presenters will be available for talks and discussions in the “Poster Area”.

With its extensive programme including the CTI Test Drive and the trade exhibition Transmission Expo, the 9th CTI Symposium will again offer the perfect opportunity for international transmission and power train experts to exchange experience and opinions.

I look forward to your participation and hope you will get new ideas and benefit from the discussions.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ferit Küçükay
Managing Director Institute of Automotive Engineering,
Technische Universität Braunschweig