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SAE Blue Ribbon Panel Brings Designers Together

15 February 2000

Revolutionary SAE Blue Ribbon Panel Brings Vehicle Designers Together With Designers in Other Fields

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 15 -- What do automotive designers have
in common with hotel and resort design, retail consumer products, and the fine
arts?  Attendees at the SAE 2000 World Congress Blue Ribbon Panel will find
out on Monday March 6 at 4:00 p.m. at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.
    For the first time, SAE has brought together designers from outside the
automotive field with the leading designers of automobiles for the major
manufacturers.  The results should be as unpredictable as the diverse
backgrounds of the panelists involved.
    "With the increasing importance of car design within our cultural fabric,"
said Christopher E. Bangle, Director of Design, BMW AG and Blue Ribbon Panel
organizer, "the high relevancy of this exchange and the uniqueness of such a
group should prove to be informative and lively and entertaining as well."
    Auto company designers participating in the Blue Ribbon Panel include
Christopher E. Bangle, Director of Design, BMW AG; Tom Scott, Design Director
of the Advanced Design Studio, Ford Motor Company; Freeman Thomas, Vice
President, DaimlerChrysler Advanced Product Design Strategy; Tom Peters,
Project Design Director, General Motors Corporation; and Jerry Hirshberg,
President, Nissan Design International, Inc.
    Designers from outside the auto industry who will be participating in the
panel include George M. Beylerian, president and founder, Material ConneXion;
Louise Blais, Cultural Counsellor, the Canadian Embassy; and Ian Schrager,
Chairman and CEO, Ian Schrager Hotels LLC; and Ken Solomon, Past President,
Universal Television & Dreamworks Television and Chairman of the Board,
Getacard.com.
    Susan L. Zesiger, Senior Editor, Fortune Magazine, will serve as moderator
for the Blue Ribbon Panel.
    To register for SAE 2000 World Congress, visit the SAE website at
http://www.sae.org or call 1-877-SAECONG.