Categories
2022-2023

GM Heritage Center Comes to Grand Blanc!

Speaker: Kevin M. Kirbitz, Director – Heritage Operations. General Motors Heritage Center, General Motors Archives, and Durant-Dort Factory One

Monday, Apr. 17, 2023
Durant-Dort Factory One, 303 W Water St, Flint, MI 48503
5:00 PM Social
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Program

GM Heritage Center

Kevin Kirbitz’ engineering expertise, Buick pedigree and deep knowledge of General Motors have converged into an automotive historian’s dream job: witnessing the transformation of the 19th century Durant-Dort Carriage Company Factory One in Flint, Michigan, into a modern community resource that also honors the innovators and risk-takers who helped make GM possible. The newly renovated facility, once one of the largest carriage factories in the world, is considered the birthplace of GM. In addition to Factory One, Kirbitz was also named manager of the General Motors Heritage Center, formerly located in Sterling Heights, Michigan, but now in the process of moving to Grand Blanc, Michigan. The Heritage Center serves as a display location for a portion of GM’s impressive collection of historic experimental and production vehicles along with a large collection of original documents and artifacts spanning the company’s history.

Kevin Kirbitz

Kevin Kirbitz currently serves as director of the General Motors Heritage Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan, which houses a portion of GM’s extensive collection of historic vehicles as well as the GM Archives, and the renovated Durant-Dort Factory One in Flint, Michigan, once one of the largest carriage factories in the world and considered the birthplace of GM. Kirbitz has put his stamp on the company through more than 43 years in manufacturing, quality, product development, and communications. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing management from General Motors Institute, now Kettering University.

Categories
2022-2023

GM Electrification

Speaker: Dan Nicholson, Vice President of Electrification, Controls, Software & Electronics, General Motors
Monday, Apr. 17, 2023

Durant-Dort Factory One, 303 W Water St, Flint, MI 48503
5:00 PM Social
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Program

We’re electrifying the automotive industry, engineering EVs with purpose built, ground-up design, powered by our Ultium Platform1 technology. And because entertainment has a huge impact on culture, Netflix is joining the movement by increasing the presence of EVs in some of their original content. GM and Netflix are joining forces to give EVs the stage they deserve, reflecting society’s increasing excitement about an all-electric future.

Dan Nicholson was appointed General Motors Vice President Global Propulsion Systems in December 2014 and became Vice President of Electrification, Controls, Software & Electronics in 2019. Prior to that, Dan was the Executive Director for Global Powertrain Embedded Controls at GM. In that role Dan ran the day-to-day operations of the global engineering team responsible for all powertrain controllers and software as well all powertrain calibration.

Nicholson began his career with General Motors as a co-op student at Buick Motor Division in 1982. He has an extensive background in Product Engineering and subsequently progressed through a series of leadership positions including engineering group manager, director of controller integration, director of engine calibration, chief engineer for V8 engines, managing director of GM Powertrain-Germany GmbH where he led all powertrain operations for the country unit, and Vice President of Global Quality.

Nicholson earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University, a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University, and a master of business administration degree from Stanford University.

Categories
2022-2023 Detroit Section Event

GM Heritage Center Tour

Thursday, November 10
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Sterling Heights

Back by popular demand! SAE members can join us for an exclusive tour at the GM Heritage Center, which normally is only open to GM employees, analysts, and the media.

The GM Heritage Center is not just a museum, but a cross between the ultimate automotive enthusiast’s garage and a living repository of automotive history. More than 150 vehicle exhibits and historical memorabilia representing 10 decades are represented.

The vehicle collection displays a wide range of GM design, technology, and innovation. Members and their guests will have the opportunity to see past and current concept vehicles, muscle cars, as well as historically significant vehicles from various eras.

Important Note: The tour is limited to SAE members and their guests. Pre-registration is required. Registration will close November 8. No onsite registration or refunds after October 27.

For more information, email Roxanne Loeffler or call (248) 324-4445 ext. 3.

Categories
2022-2023

Collegiate Chapter Project Presentation Competition

Speaker: Collegiate Student Leaders
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023
5:00 PM Social
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Program

We observe “National Engineers Week” with a banquet and technical program featuring presentations by students from Central Michigan University, Kettering University, Saginaw Valley State University, and The Kettering University AutoDrive Challenge Team. The students are members of SAE Collegiate Chapter project teams which compete in the SAE Collegiate Design Series http://students.sae.org/cds/ The design series has grown from a national competition to an international competition featuring students from Asia, Europe, North and South America. During this year’s banquet, the teams present will compete for the annual “SAE Collegiate Cup” presented by the Mid-Michigan Section. This event’s competition will be judged based upon the quality of the oral presentation of the team’s “Design Series” project.

Bavarian Inn Lodge Conference Center, Frankenmuth, MI 

Reservations required by Feb. 16, 2023 by emailing ms037@email.sae.org

Categories
2022-2023 Detroit Section Event

Bird’s Eye View to Solve Road Fatalities

Meeting cancelled by hosting organization.

Join us for a discussion on !important Safety Technologies’ Vulnerable Road User detection and protection solution. Using smartphones and other connected devices, !important pinpoints the locations of users, discerns their mode of transport, and predicts their future paths and the risk of collision between them and any other users.

When a collision is predicted, a message is sent to the involved vehicle’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) or Advanced Driving System (ADS) and can be used for a driver alert or even fused with systems such as Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), or Blind Spot Detection (BSD). !important’s cloud-based, SW-only solution is low-cost, universal, scalable, and offered via standard American Petroleum Institute (API) and Software Development Kit (SDK).

This V2X system addresses an urgent and growing concern – pedestrian and other Vulnerable Road User fatalities have increased dramatically over the past years. This presentation will include updates on !important’s pilots in Michigan and Nevada, an overview of their 2021 independent system testing, and new developments.

Moderator:
Scott McCormick, President and CEO, Connected Vehicle Trade Association and Teleoperations Consortium

Presenter:
Romain Delhaye, Chief Product Officer, !important Safety Technologies

Important Note: You must register in advance to receive a personalized link.

For more information, email Roxanne Loeffler or call (248) 324-4445 ext. 3.

Categories
2022-2023 Joint Presentation with AFS

General Motors Autonomous Technology

Speaker: Jason Fischer, Executive Chief Engineer for Autonomous Programs at General Motors
Program Chair: Sue Manyen, AFS
Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022
6:00 PM Social
6:45 PM Dinner
8:00 PM Program

Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth, in the Downhill Room, Downstairs

Newsletter-Oct.-6_v01Download

This is the Annual Joint Engineering Society dinner meeting with AFS, ASM, & Mid-Michigan Section SAE at Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth, 730 S Main St, Frankenmuth, MI 48734. 
Enjoy the Famous Family Style Chicken (fried and broiled) dinner with liver and soup before.

cruise

Jason will discuss:

– GM Autonomous Vehicle Program (Cruise Origin)

  • Responsibility for all technical engineering, including manufacturing, while being wholly responsible for overall budget.
  • Transforming the transportation industry in the mobility realm and lead future autonomous programs by creating culture change within General Motors, Cruise, and Honda.
  • Providing leadership to cross functional teams in the areas of engineering management,program management (vehicle timing and global development process), finance, purchasing, human resource balancing, program quality, creative design, architecture management and enterprise cost decision making.
  • Making informed and accurate decisions in a timely fashion with an ability to provide clear direction and vision while making appropriate tradeoff balances.

Jason Fischer, is an Engineering graduate of Michigan State University with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He is the Executive Chief Engineer for Autonomous Programs at General Motors.

Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth, 730 S Main St, Frankenmuth, MI 48734.

Categories
2022-2023

The Lingenfelter Collection

Tom Peters co-curated the Ed Roth / Rat Fink exhibit at the National Corvette Museum

Speaker: Tom Peters
Retired GM Design Chief, Consulting Curator of Exhibits at the National Corvette Museum
Program Chair: Mark Pope
Monday, Sep. 12, 2022
5:30 – 7:30 PM Tour & Meal
7:45 PM Program

The Lingenfelter Collection7819 Lochlin Drive, Brighton, MI

There is a tour of the Lingenfelter Collection. This is the premier car collection in the Mid West. It is not open to the public but it is available for special events. This event is scheduled for Monday Sept. 12, 5:30 pm to 9 pm, at 7819 Lochlin Dr. in Brighton, Michigan. View classic, exotic, and unique automobiles as Brian Baker discusses the legacy of Corvette and the National Corvette Museum. A lite meal of Michigan Pasty and beverage will be included with ticket purchase.

Ken Lingenfelter

Do not miss this opportunity to visit the Lingenfelter Collection and meet Ken Lingenfelter. What started out as five cars packed into a modest three-car garage has grown into a huge, beautiful collection of unique cars in a 40,000 square foot space. Included is an outstanding collection of rare Corvettes While the collection is not open to the public, it is available for corporate and charity events. Ken supports the American Cancer Society with moneys from tour events. This tour is a charity event.

Tom Peters

Tom Peters is the Retired GM Design Chief and Consulting Curator of Exhibits at the National Corvette Museum

Tom is no stranger when it comes to assisting with Museum exhibits, having co-curated ‘Car-toon Creatures, Kustom Kars and Corvettes: The Art and Influence of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’, a special exhibit that officially opened in January, 2020 and continues through April, 2021.
“Sean had the thought to see if Tom would be interested in being involved with the Museum in a more official capacity after his co-curation of the Rat Fink exhibit,” shared Derek E. Moore, Director of Collections / Curator at the Museum. “Of course, his design background with GM is huge and we figured the best use of his talents would be in aiding us in the overall visual experience of our exhibits at the Museum.”

Before the presentation, enjoy a genuine Upper Michigan Pasty prepared by Jason Edberg.

The Lingenfelter Collection7819 Lochlin Drive, Brighton, MI

Categories
2022-2023

American Battery Solutions

American Battery Solutions Mfg Line

Speaker: Josh Payne
Director of Product Engineering, American Battery Solutions
TBD
Location TBD

6:00 PM Social Hour
7:00 PM Dinner
8:00 PM Program

As electrification creeps into the realm of performance vehicles, a new Detroit-area supplier is preparing for low-volume production of batteries for the segment.

American Battery Solutions, formed in late May, plans to design, integrate, test, validate and assemble battery packs using cells from other battery manufacturing companies, said Subhash Dhar, the company’s founder and CEO.

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