Tesla Motors' Barrie Dickinson to give keynote at SPE ACCE.

Press Release Summary:



Barrie Dickinson, Director - Body Engineering and Program Director for Roadster programs at Tesla Motors, will discuss "Plastics and Composites Solutions for the Tesla Roadster" as keynote speaker at 9th annual SPE ACCE. He will also be a member of event's executive panel discussion on The Role of Composites in the New Automotive Landscape later that day. Dickinson is responsible for developing carbon composite sandwich-panel body of all-electric Roadster sports car.



Original Press Release:



Tesla Motors' Barrie Dickinson to Give Keynote on Plastics, Composites Solutions on Roadster



Dickinson Responsible for Development of Carbon Composite Body on World's First All-Electric Sports Car

TROY (DETROIT), MICH. - When it was introduced a few years ago, the Tesla Motors
(San Carlos, Calif.) Roadster - a sleek plug-in-electric, composite-bodied, two seater that does 0-60 mph in 4 seconds - broke the stereotype that eco-friendly vehicles had to be ugly and plodding, and created a whole new demographic for "green" transportation among sports car aficionados. Barrie Dickinson, director-Body Engineering and now program director for Roadster programs at Tesla Motors and the engineer responsible for developing the vehicle's unique carbon composite sandwich-panel body, will discuss "Plastics & Composites Solutions for the Tesla Roadster" as a keynote speaker at the ninth-annual SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (SPE ACCE) here on Sept. 15, from 1:15-1:45 p.m. He will also be a member of the event's executive panel discussion on The Role of Composites in the New Automotive Landscape later that day. Dickinson is bullish about the future, saying "The
automotive industry is on the brink of a step change in technology, and new materials and processes will play a large part in enabling this transition." For those anxious to see the $100,000+ USD Roadster up close, the automaker has said they will send a vehicle for display in the conference's lobby area.

About Barrie Dickinson

Barrie Dickinson is director-Body Engineering and program director for Roadster programs at Tesla Motors. Dickinson joined the automaker in the U.K. in 2004 as the organization's thirteenth hire and their first with a vehicle-engineering background. During his tenure there, he set up Tesla Motors Ltd., the U.K. vehicle-engineering center that developed the all-electric Roadster, and he oversaw engineering for the vehicle's carbon composite body. He moved to the U.S. in 2005 to help launch the Roadster and is now responsible for all Roadster programs.

Dickinson previously worked for Lotus Cars Ltd. from 1997 to 2001, where he was involved in numerous programs for the automaker as well as for external clients (through Lotus Engineering), eventually becoming chief engineer-Body & Trim at Lotus. He began his career as a graduate trainee with Jaguar Cars, where he went on to become part of the team that launched the acclaimed '96MY XK8 luxury sedan. Dickinson holds an honors degree in Engineering Design and Manufacture from the University of Hull.

About the ACCE

The ACCE typically draws over 400 speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees from 14
countries on four continents with fully one-third indicating they work for an OEM involved in ground transportation or aerospace/aviation. Interestingly, over the past few years, the types of transportation OEMs represented at the show have continued to broaden beyond traditional automotive and light truck, to include agriculture, truck & bus, heavy truck, and aviation. This trend may indicate greater interest in technology sharing among transportation OEMs and suppliers.

Held annually in suburban Detroit, the ACCE provides an environment dedicated solely to
discussion and networking about advances in the automotive composites industry. Its global appeal is evident in the diversity of exhibitors, speakers, and attendees who come to the conference from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia / Pacific as well as North America and who represent transportation OEMs and tier suppliers; composite materials, processing equipment, additives, and reinforcement suppliers; trade associations, consultants, university and government labs; media; and investment bankers. The show is sponsored jointly by the SPE Automotive and Composites Divisions. The mission of SPE is to promote scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics.

SPE's Automotive and Composites Divisions work to advance plastics and plastic-based
composites technologies worldwide and to educate industry, academia, and the public about these advances. Both divisions are dedicated to educating, promoting, recognizing, and communicating technical accomplishments for all phases of plastics and plastic-based composite developments, including materials, processing, equipment, tooling, design and testing, and application development.

For more information about the SPE Automotive Composites Conference, visit the
Composites' Division website at www.4spe.org/communities/divisions/d39.php, or the
Automotive Division's website at www.speautomotive.com/comp.htm , or contact the group at +1.248.244.8993, or write SPE Automotive Division, 1800 Crooks Road, Suite A, Troy, MI 48084, USA. For more information on the Society of Plastics Engineers International or other SPE events, visit the SPE website at www.4spe.org, or call +1.203.775.0471.

® SPE is a registered trademark of the Society of Plastics Engineers International. Other trademarks are the property of their owners.

Contact:

Cedric Ball or Peggy Malnati

SPE Auto. Composites Conf. Chair SPE Auto. Div. Communications Chair

Ashland Performance Materials Malnati & Associates

Phone: +1.614.790.4161 +1.248.592.0765

eMail: acce-chair@speautomotive.com media@speautomotive.com

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