About 250 vehicle development experts met at Apply & Innovate in Karlsruhe on September 11 and 12 to discuss the challenges in the automotive industry. At the two-day networking event hosted by IPG Automotive, customers and partners shared project results and success stories from various areas of vehicle development, ranging from safe assistance systems to driving simulators to robot drivers.

In the year of its 40th anniversary, IPG Automotive, simulation expert from Karlsruhe, Germany, invited its international customers and partners to present insights from projects in the market, share knowledge and thus create synergies. In 37 presentations from international automotive OEMs, suppliers as well as research institutes, participants talked about different topics that will shape vehicle development today and in future.

The event started with a keynote from Zhiqiang Zhang, Chief of Intelligent Driving Division at CATARC, on safety standards of intelligent and connected vehicles (ICV). The following speakers presented projects and research results from the fields of ADAS, test processes and automation, powertrain, virtual reality and driving simulators as well as vehicle dynamics, all implemented using the simulation solutions from IPG Automotive. The speakers provided insights into development projects around the globe – from numerous German cities to Italy to Malaysia. The opening keynote on the second day was held by Ulrich Schulmeister, Vice President Technology and Engineering at Robert Bosch GmbH. He described how the credible simulation approach supports the development of critical safety functions. The third keynote by Gustavo Oyervides Zerrweck, Senior Practice Director AD at KPIT, focused on the validation of level 3 automated driving functions at Honda with simulation solutions from IPG Automotive.

The international exchange across companies and organizations took place during the presentation program as well as the accompanying trade exhibition, where 13 industry pioneers showcased their solutions. An additional opportunity to network was given at the evening event, which was also a great setting to jointly celebrate the 40th anniversary of IPG Automotive.

President & CEO Steffen Schmidt was delighted about the in-depth exchange: “The field of virtual vehicle development is evolving dynamically. This is why we need occasions like these where we can exchange ideas, get inspired and learn from each other. By providing our customers and partners this platform, we are contributing to improved and more efficient workflows in our industry during these challenging times.”