Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/963057
70 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2018 plans for this year's event? What policy issues will be discussed? Chris: We are gearing up for another suc- cessful IMPACT event on May 21−23. Much like in past years, we'll host a welcome din- ner the evening on May 21. We are arrang- ing for a speaker who can provide an insid- er's view on the political landscape in Wash- ington and what it might portend for the mid- term elections. IMPACT participants will spend their first full day together on May 22, meeting with Executive Branch officials from the White House and Departments of Labor, Education, and Commerce, to name just a few. The fol- lowing day, we'll head to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional leaders in the morning. In the afternoon, we facilitate individual meet- ings between participants and their own mem- bers of Congress. This year, we'll be focusing on three issues getting a lot of attention in Washington: address- ing the industry's workforce needs, strengthen- ing the manufacturing base, and reforming and str eamlining the regulatory process. John: Ok, a few personal questions. What is your favorite quote or saying? Chris: Measure twice, cut once. John: What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Chris: I have three children under the age of 10, so I don't have much free time between work and family. I read when I can and try to play tennis regularly. I also have a podcast with my kids, which has been great fun. John: Chris, thank you for spending some time with me today. Chris: Thank you, John. PCB007 John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC—Association Connecting Electronics Industries. To read past columns or to contact Mitchell, click here. The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded project UNICARagil aims to rethink vehicles and their development. The goal is a disruptive, modular and agile vehicle architecture and the prototypical imple- mentation of four application cases from automated fam- ily taxis to mobile package delivery stations. Autonomous electric vehicles will be an essential component of future mobility: They will form the basis for sustainable road transport, novel mobility, improvements in traffic safety and a boost in the quality of life in urban environments. However, requisite vehicle concepts require a signifi- cantly more centralized and efficient data processing and transmission in motor vehicles—a departure from estab- lished architectures and processes. The UNICARagil project builds on the latest results of research into electromobility, as well as automated and connected driving to develop autonomous electric vehi- cles for myriad future application scenarios. The project utilizes methodologies common in the IT industry with its fast development cycles and updating mechanisms. This approach bases on a modular and scalable vehi- cle design, comprising payload and drive units that can be flexibly adapted to a variety of applications in logistics and passenger transport. A further focus lies on the de- velopment of a readily extensible and updatable software and hardware architecture. BMBF Project Puts Automated Electric Vehicle on the Road