Dear colleague

We all know that February is the shortest month of the year, but we have still managed to keep a high level of engagement with members and the wider community through individual member meetings and Working Group meetings including the Intelligent Safety Working Group, the Carbon Neutral Mobility Working Group, both Industry Disruption Working Groups as well as the Circular Economy Working Group. We have also progressed excellent focus on 2024 priorities with the Education Committee, which is of particular note as we look to redevelop our relations with academia from 2024.

We have also welcomed Hitachi Astemo into membership as we roll out plans to welcome new Corporate Members via the recommendation of current members. If you would like to recommend a company to join the FISITA community, we would love to hear from you, so please send details through to our colleague Julie Geraud.

I’m pleased to report that March will be just as productive, with all the members of the Working Groups continuing to develop and deliver their collaborative plans together, including the newly forming Battery Technologies Working Group. There are still opportunities for members to join any of the working groups, if you are interested in doing so, please contact our colleague Daniele Ventriglia to find out more. I also want to remind you of the latest key working group publications available: the Intelligent Safety White Paper, the Carbon Neutral Mobility Position Paper and the Next Generation Mobility White Paper. Please note that these are free to access downloads for any Corporate Member employee, all you need is your unique ‘zero discount’ code – please contact our colleague Kerry McDiarmid for your code.

We are working through our new era priorities and continuing to make good progress:

• The engagement for EuroBrake in June in Germany is picking up speed, with all the papers now received and being reviewed to inform the content of the event. The EuroBrake Student and Young Engineer Opportunities Programme is returning, and the top 20 students/young engineers will be offered the opportunity to receive a sponsored complimentary pass, including accommodation. Applications close on 11 March, and I would urge you to encourage relevant colleague to apply.

• We’ve confirmed the date and location for the FISITA World Mobility Summit 2024: 13-14 November at the General Motors Technical Centre, Warren, Michigan, USA. We’re looking forward to welcoming mobility systems leaders and will share booking details in due course. All FISITA Corporate and Society Members receive one complimentary and exclusive member invitation, we are also making a small number of additional tickets available for senior leaders from non-member companies to purchase.

• For our Society Members, I wanted to remind you of the open letter inviting you to join me in considering the future relationship between FISITA and national engineering societies by embarking upon an open discussion with each of you. I do hope you join us as we move this discussion forward and you contact my colleague Kerry McDiarmid to arrange a meeting.

Finally, I would like you to join me in welcoming Martin Kahl into the role of FISITA CTO from 11 March. Known to many of you already, Martin is a long-term associate of FISITA. His contribution to the working group initiative, editorial contribution to the white papers and reports, as well as his moderating expertise at Summit 2023 sees Martin bring a wealth of existing FISITA experience as he joins our team.

All the best

Chris Mason
CEO

Dates for your diary

• 17-19 June EuroBrake conference and exhibition, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz Congress Centre, Germany
• September Intelligent Safety Conference, China
• 13-14 Nov FISITA World Mobility Summit 2024, General Motors Technical Centre, Warren, Michigan, USA