Prosser, Washington, March 27, 2017  -  The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) will be hosting their annual "Repairer Roundtable" from 8:30 - 11:00am on Wednesday, April 19th at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event has routinely featured captivating presentations, designed specifically to engage the audience and stimulate participant discussion and interaction. With an industry-wide focus on advanced automotive systems and how they impact the repair process, this year's agenda should provide ample conversation.

 

The opening presentation will feature Corey Harper, Doctoral Candidate at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, is recognized for their national and global leadership in technologies that are revolutionizing transportation. In 2016, the university was awarded a $14 Million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a National University Transportation Center (UTC) named Mobility 21. CMU's current National UTC, Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation and the Mobility21 centers research, develop and deploy technology to improve safety and mobility.  

 

Harper's  presentation will focus on his research analyzing the impact of crash avoidance systems.

 

This research was highlighted in a 2016 Forbes article How $600 in Auto Safety Features Could Save Up To $202 Billion In Crash Costs , members of a Carnegie Mellon University research team discussed how widespread adoption of some of the building-block technologies needed for fully autonomous vehicles can reduce nearly a quarter of U.S. vehicle collisions annually, highlighting one way in which the technology intersects with the collision repair community. Quoted from the article "In all the excitement around perfecting fully driverless cars, there's the potential to overlook these 'infield utility player' technologies," said Costa Samaras, a professor at Carnegie Mellon's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and one of the study's authors, along with CMU professor Chris Hendrickson and graduate research assistant and Roundtable speaker, Corey Harper. "Blind-spot monitoring, lane departure and forward collision warning systems are already able to save lives and reduce collisions, and do so economically."

 

Following Corey Harper, SCRS will welcome Kaleb Silver, Senior Product Manager for Hunter Engineering Company. Mr. Silver will share insight on the rapidly advancing technology found on current vehicles, especially in the area of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and the impact such systems have on commonplace services often associated with the collision repair process, such as wheel alignments. ADAS can provide great benefits to both the vehicle driver and those around them as the industry moves toward autonomous cars and trucks. While those on the road benefit from ADAS, the repair industry must also change how they approach the repair process, as many OEMs require additional procedures and tools to perform these previously routine services. There will be an opportunity to learn how these systems can affect your business and processes, and will be open for discussion amongst the participants in the room.  

 

To close out the presentation, John Eck of GM, and sitting president of the OEM Collision Repair Roundtable, will join the conversation to further reinforce potential areas where advanced systems can impact previously commonplace or routine repair operations and where to find documentation and information to substantiate the proper repair approach. He will also solicit feedback from the audience seeking to identify areas where the industry would like to see greater collaboration, support or guidance from the members of the OEM Roundtable.

 

There is no cost to attend the event, but SCRS requests that you RSVP to best measure and accommodate audience size. Immediately following the Repairer Roundtable, SCRS will be holding the annual Corporate Member Recognition and Industry Awards Luncheon. This event is also no cost to attend, but RSVP is required .

 

Other SCRS events taking place during the week in Pittsburgh include:

 

Tuesday, April 18
3:00pm - 5:00pm SCRS Board of Directors Open Meeting
5:15pm - 5:45pm SCRS Annual Election

Wednesday, April 19
11:15am - 12:45pm SCRS Awards Luncheon,  RSVP Required

 

For more information about SCRS, or to join as a member visit our website at www.scrs.com , or contact the SCRS office at info@scrs.com .