Time for reinvention

This fall's Convergence event takes a broader focus for a new era.

The advances have been remarkable since microprocessors first became part of automotive technology in the 1970s, but these developments have only set the stage for what is coming. Under the theme “Convergence Reinvents the Automobile,” this fall's Convergence Conference and Exhibition, which runs from October 16 to 18 at Cobo Center in Detroit, addresses the dramatic changes expected over the next decade as many trends come together.

The most recent Convergence conference in 2004 was the 30th gathering, and SAE International celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. As often occurs around major milestones, that is the time for a flurry of exciting breakthroughs. On roughly the 100th anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell's first phone call in 1876, the first cell phone call was completed. And when the world marked the turn of the last century, automotive inventors and the Wright Brothers ushered in the modern era of transportation.