Relevant Websites

www.fe-net.org

Website of the NAFEMS Coordinated FENet project, which was completed in July 2005. Of particular interest to the autosim project will be the findings of the Land Transport sector

www.simdat.org

SIMDAT focuses on four application areas: product design in the automotive, aerospace and pharma industry as well as service provision in meteorology. For each of these application areas a challenging problem has been identified which will be solved using grid technology, e.g. distributed knowledge discovery for Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) or Crash Behaviour of multiple cars based on the same platform. Grid technology will allow seamless access to design data for all engineers of the development centers of large multinational car manufacturers. This will enable to find the reason for differences in the NVH or Crash Behaviour of multiple cars based on the same platform using advanced distributed knowledge discovery methods.

www.eucar.be

EUCAR was established on 27 May 1994, evolving from the previous Joint Research Committee (JRC) of the European motor vehicle manufacturers. Following on from the scientific cooperation carried out by the JRC, EUCAR has begun to foster strategic cooperation in research & technological development (R&TD) activities.

EUCAR developed an Automotive R&TD Master Plan in 2000 in order to define a European approach to technologies for automotive development. In 2001, a Position Paper was published, presenting the major R&D challenges the automotive industry is facing along three dimensions:

• Energy, Environment & Resources
• Road Safety
• Mobility & Transport

The objective of this common approach is progressively to achieve technologies for the optimisation of the motor vehicle of the future. This continuous process will also provide intermediate solutions for substantial improvements in the short and medium term.

The members of EUCAR represent the major European motor vehicle manufacturers: BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford in Europe, Opel, Porsche, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Renault, Volkswagen Group, Volvo.

CARS21

The CARS 21 High Level Group has adopted a 10 year roadmap for a competitive EU car industry. The Group has agreed on a number of recommendations to make cars cleaner, safer and to simplify the legal environment for EU car makers. The recommendations aim to enhance the automotive industry’s global competitiveness and employment while sustaining further progress in safety and environmental performance at a price affordable to the consumer. In line with the better regulation principles, this roadmap will provide industry with a predictable regulatory framework for the near future, while it is recognised that it should not stifle discussions on new developments. In 2006 the Commission will come forward with proposals on the follow-up to the CARS 21 recommendations. There will be a mid-term review in 2009 in view of the progress made and the technological developments.