Vienna hosts engine summit

The world’s foremost conference for engine experts, the International Vienna Motor Symposium, takes place every year in April. The event, organised by the Austrian Society of Automotive Engineers, is a summit meeting of leading scientists and engineers. Some 1 000 top engine developers from 22 countries attend the symposium, present their latest development results, and show where future trends are heading. Hybrid drives, fuel cells and fuels of the future are prominent topics alongside issues such as the effect of transport on the climate.

Dr Bernd Pischetsrieder, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, opened the conference this year with a presentation on strategic objectives to safeguard sustainable mobility. For Volkswagen the primary issues involved are the development of new internal combustion engines and fuels. Defining suitable specifications for alternative fuels can provide the basis for the development of new combustion technologies such as the new combustion process CCS® from Volkswagen research centre presented in Vienna. This has the potential to combine very low emissions with high efficiency.