The International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) organized the International Symposium on Lighting (ISOL) for the automotive fraternity at Gurgaon on November 23 and 24. The symposium brought together more than 400 participants from 68 Indian and international auto organizations. This included speakers and special invitees.
ISOL-2015 opened with the chief guest of the day, Mr. Ambuj Sharma, Additional Sectary, Department of Heavy Industry, lighting the traditional lamp to inaugurate it. It was attended, among others, by Mr. Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, CEO, NATRIP, Mr. Vikram Pawah, Managing Director, Harley Davidson Motor Company India, Mr. Tom von Bonsdorff, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India, Mr. C.V. Raman, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki India, and Mr. Dinesh Tyagi, Director, ICAT.
The inaugural ceremony was followed by a resonating LASER show to represent the light technology and the objective of ISOL-2015.
After its grand opening, technical sessions and the exhibition were inaugurated. At the technical sessions, speakers made their presentations on topics such as Adaption of Advanced Lighting Technology to the emerging market, New semiconductor light sources (LED, OLED and LASER), etc.
Eminent speakers on the first day were from Hella Germany, Varroc Lighting of Germany, FAKT of Italy, Fiem India, Osram of the US, Sabic India, and LUMILEDS of Germany.
This was followed by an open air panel discussion on “Self-reliance in Automotive Technology”. The panel had participation of senior members from Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra, RNTBCI, Tata Motors and Lumax Industries. The deliberations were very well appreciated by the audience.
Day two of ISOL 2015 started with technical sessions that highlighted the new halogen lamp technology, energy-efficient LED headlamp for two-wheelers, regulatory comparison between India and Japan, automotive regulations in ASEAN, optimization of future products and design productivity, and measurement of LED light sources & uncertainty calculation. Speakers from Stanley of Japan, Thai Stanley, OPTIS of France, LUMILEDS of Germany and ICAT presented their expert views.
A panel discussion on “Losing Light of Life on Indian Roads! Let’s join Hands together” was moderated by the speaker from Hella India Lighting. The other panelists included those from Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, SAFE and VE Commercial Vehicles. The panel discussion ended with the resolve that more emphasis would be laid on education and enforcement of safety rules.
ISOL 2015 had also an excellent exposition in which major players in the automotive lighting industry displayed their product range and the upcoming technologies. The exhibitors included the Varroc Group, Osram, Lumax DK Group, Hella Lighting, Phillips, Minda Industries, OPTIS, Fiem Industries, Unitech Machines Ltd., Phoenix Lamps, Autolite, Agmatel, IDIADA and Neolite Industries. Some major automotive OEMs, including Volvo Cars India, Honda Cars India, General Motors India, DC Design, Jaguar Land Rover, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Toyota Kirloskar Motors Ltd., BMW India, Ducati India and Zbee, displayed their high-end vehicles and latest lighting fitments.
For the first time ISOL-2015 Awards were presented. Lumax Industries won the Award for Best Innovations in Automotive Lighting Technology, Hella India Lighting for Excellence in Automotive Lighting Technology, Varroc Lighting System for Best Exhibitor, SABIC for Best Presentation, and LUMILEDS Automotive Lighting for Best Technical Presentation.
ISOL-2015 ended with the valedictory session which was presided over by Mr. I.V. Rao, Advisor – R&D, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., as the chief guest. The others present were Mr. Todd Morgan, Sr. Vice President, Varroc Lighting Europe, Mr. Mandip Tack, Managing Director, IDIADA India, Mr. Gagan Mehra, CEO, Osram India, Dr. Bart Terberg, Vice President, GTB.
At the end of the valedictory session, Dr. Madhusudan Joshi, Convenor of ISOL-2015, announced that the next ISOL will be held on November 16 and 17, 2017.