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'Engineering the Product Revolution' Theme for the SAE'98 Blue Ribbon Panel

8 December 1997

WARRENDALE, Penn., Dec. 8 -- The 1998 SAE International
Congress & Exposition Blue Ribbon Panel discussion will be held Monday,
February 23, from 4-6 p.m. in Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan.  The Blue Ribbon
Panel will focus on the SAE'98 theme: "Engineering the Product Revolution,"
and will be sponsored by KPMG Peat Marwick.

"It should be a very interesting discussion with provocative panelists,"
said Dr. William F. Powers, Vice President-Research, Ford Motor Company, and
SAE '98 Chairman.  "The panel will cover a number of key issues such as single
platform versus multiple platforms, maturing versus emerging markets, the role
of the computer design and manufacturing, and more."

Panelists include:  J.T. Battenberg III, President, Delphi Automotive
Systems; Francois J. Castaing, Executive Vice President-International,
Chrysler Corporation; Herbert Demel, President, Volkswagen do Brasil; Richard
Parry-Jones, Group Vice President, Product Development, Ford Motor Company;
and Nobuo Yumoto, Senior Managing Director, Sumitomo Electric Industries,
Ltd., James P. Womack, Founder and President, Lean Enterprise Institute, will
moderate the panel.

The 1998 SAE Congress & Exposition, the world's largest and most
significant technical industry event for automotive engineers and their
suppliers, will be February 23-26 in Cobo Center.  For information on
attending, contact SAE: 412-772-7131; fax: 412-776-0002; e-mail:
meetings@sae.org; or visit the SAE website at http://www.sae.org.

SOURCE  Society of Automotive Engineers