The 2010 midterm elections are less than two weeks away, and campaigns throughout the nation are making their last-minute pitches to voters. Many voters may have already made up their minds, driven by disappointment in the current leadership in Washington and a renewed outcry against high unemployment, stagnant economic growth and increasing taxes and regulations.

If the election were held today, it is projected that Republicans will regain the majority in the House of Representatives and come very close to regaining the U.S. Senate majority as well. To learn more about the election and to hear what the experts are saying as election day approaches, visit www.semapac.com, and click on “2010 Election Information.”

Need to vote before attending the SEMA Show? Click here for information on early/absentee voting in your state!

Legislation introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature threatens to increase fees for all vehicle owners. Under the bill, general passenger cars will face a $13 increase in their registration fee, while the one-time registration fee for antique, classic and collectible vehicles will go up by $27 (from $75 to $102), and the initial registration fee for street rods by $29 (from $20 to $51). Additionally, these fees would be increased again each subsequent year following enactment.

The measure was introduced as the state struggles to find funding for its transportation infrastructure in the face of budget shortcomings. The SEMA Action Network (SAN) has received feedback from many Pennsylvania legislators indicating that they do not support a fee increase that would negatively impact motorists, especially owners of unique and historical vehicles. As of this time, no one has stepped forward to remove the increases from the proposal.

The bill currently awaits action in the House Appropriations Committee. Click here for more information and to contact Committee members.

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Legislation introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature threatens to increase fees for all vehicle owners. Under the bill, general passenger cars will face a $13 increase in their registration fee, while the one-time registration fee for antique, classic and collectible vehicles will go up by $27 (from $75 to $102), and the initial registration fee for street rods by $29 (from $20 to $51). Additionally, these fees would be increased again each subsequent year following enactment.

The measure was introduced as the state struggles to find funding for its transportation infrastructure in the face of budget shortcomings. The SEMA Action Network (SAN) has received feedback from many Pennsylvania legislators indicating that they do not support a fee increase that would negatively impact motorists, especially owners of unique and historical vehicles. As of this time, no one has stepped forward to remove the increases from the proposal.

The bill currently awaits action in the House Appropriations Committee. Click here for more information and to contact Committee members.

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is providing a one-year delay before employers are required to report the dollar amount of the health insurance premiums paid for each employee on their W-2s. The amount will be listed as a nontaxable employer fringe benefit.

Under the health-care law, the reporting requirement was to take effect in 2011. It is now optional for next year but required in 2012. The IRS wants to make sure companies have enough time to adjust their payroll systems. A main purpose of the reporting requirement is to make workers more aware of health-care costs.

For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is providing a one-year delay before employers are required to report the dollar amount of the health insurance premiums paid for each employee on their W-2s. The amount will be listed as a nontaxable employer fringe benefit.

Under the health-care law, the reporting requirement was to take effect in 2011. It is now optional for next year but required in 2012. The IRS wants to make sure companies have enough time to adjust their payroll systems. A main purpose of the reporting requirement is to make workers more aware of health-care costs.

For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

	SEMA offers free drayage to exhibitors whose total freight is less than 1,000 lbs. and is delivered in a personally operated vehicle driven by an employee.

The 2010 SEMA Show is less than two weeks away. Have you already made your freight arrangements? SEMA offers free drayage to exhibitors whose total freight is less than 1,000 lbs. and is delivered in a personally operated vehicle (POV) driven by an employee. The program is available Saturday, October 30 and Sunday, October 31 from 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Monday, November 1 from 8:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Just pull up to the “POV” location in front of your hall, and Freeman will take your freight directly to your booth. Click here for more information and a map of each hall’s POV locations.

The POV program is also available after the Show on Friday, November 5 from 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 6 until 12:00 p.m. Simply go to the Freeman Service desk in your hall prior to the Show close to obtain the proper paperwork in order to utilize this service.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Carr at jcarr@convexx.com or 702/450-7662 ext. 237.

	SEMA offers free drayage to exhibitors whose total freight is less than 1,000 lbs. and is delivered in a personally operated vehicle driven by an employee.

The 2010 SEMA Show is less than two weeks away. Have you already made your freight arrangements? SEMA offers free drayage to exhibitors whose total freight is less than 1,000 lbs. and is delivered in a personally operated vehicle (POV) driven by an employee. The program is available Saturday, October 30 and Sunday, October 31 from 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Monday, November 1 from 8:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Just pull up to the “POV” location in front of your hall, and Freeman will take your freight directly to your booth. Click here for more information and a map of each hall’s POV locations.

The POV program is also available after the Show on Friday, November 5 from 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 6 until 12:00 p.m. Simply go to the Freeman Service desk in your hall prior to the Show close to obtain the proper paperwork in order to utilize this service.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Carr at jcarr@convexx.com or 702/450-7662 ext. 237.

	Deep Orange is a project vehicle prototype program involving several SEMA companies at CU-ICAR for pioneering education, research and industry collaboration within the graduate degree program in automotive engineering.

In an effort to immerse students in a setting that resembles the daily business of their future working environment, the Deep Orange project vehicle prototype program at Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) pioneers education, research and industry collaboration within the automotive engineering graduate degree program.

The initiative, which involves several SEMA-member companies at CU-ICAR, strives for practical application of acquired engineering proficiency in the areas of product development, manufacturing concepts and vehicular electronics through a systems-engineering approach. A new Deep Orange project is started every year to create an engineering concept car two years later.

For more on Deep Orange, join CU-ICAR in booth #36203 for a press conference Tuesday, November 2 at 1:15 p.m. For more information, contact Suzanne Dickerson, director of global business development at 864/283-7100 or e-mail sdicker@clemson.edu.

SEMA and Clemson University Form Strategic Partnership

In 2009, then-SEMA Chairman Jim Cozzie took the podium during the group’s annual Board Officer’s installment ceremony prior to handing over the gavel to current Chairman Rick Rollins, and announced one of the most innovative alliances in SEMA’s 47-year history. Cozzie outlined a partnership between California-headquartered SEMA and South Carolina-based Clemson University, which launched the $215 million CU-ICAR in 2003, to an audience of more than 500 attendees.

“The new alliance represents an unprecedented industry-academia platform for advanced vehicle technology and performance aftermarket education program development, notably forged in the midst of one of the automotive industry’s most challenging periods in history,” Cozzie said. “The automotive original-equipment and aftermarket industries are undergoing serious transformations and will continue to evolve in the coming years. The Clemson relationship can benefit SEMA-member companies by providing vehicle technology and systems integration, product development, testing and validation support to help members leverage new business opportunities.”

According to Chris Przirembel, Clemson University’s recently retired vice president for research and economic development, the partnership represents “an extraordinary opportunity for Clemson, as a major university committed to becoming one of the world’s leading automotive and motorsports research and education centers, to join with SEMA and its powerful industry membership base in a shared mission to help shape the future of the automotive performance aftermarket industry.”

As part of the agreement, Clemson University’s Campbell Graduate Engineering Center on the 250-acre CU-ICAR campus—located midway between Atlanta and Charlotte along I-85 in Greenville, South Carolina—is positioned to serve as a systems integration and testing center for SEMA and its 7,500 members. The academic center houses a variety of laboratories and test cells, including a seven-post shaker in an environmental chamber, a chassis dynamometer in a semi-anechoic chamber, engine test cells, an electromagnetic compatibility chamber and a full-scale vehicle three-dimensional CMM for measuring geometric and physical coordinates of parts and vehicle surfaces.

Dr. Imtiaz Haque, executive director of the Campbell Center, which offers the only automotive engineering Ph.D. in the United States, said an “ultimate goal would be for SEMA and Clemson to collaboratively develop an integrated systems approach for designing and customizing today’s vehicles and vehicles of the future. Among other initiatives, the graduate center will develop prototype project vehicles with the objective of demonstrating the integration of specialty equipment and performance aftermarket components, total vehicle systems and modules, thereby creating new opportunities for interested SEMA-member companies to directly participate.”

SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting said the Clemson-SEMA relationship supports SEMA’s vehicle technology strategic goals for identifying industry needs and developing effective solutions to assist members with complex vehicle technology challenges and opportunities. “In the midst of these difficult times, we hope to collaboratively develop a clear pathway for the multi-billion automotive aftermarket industry and SEMA-member companies,” he explained.

For more information on the Clemson-SEMA alliance or CU-ICAR, contact John Waraniak, SEMA's vice president of vehicle technology, at johnw@sema.org. In addition, a series of vehicle technology SuperSessions (below) will be held at the 2010 SEMA Show.

Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSessions Program 2010

Four free SuperSessions will be offered at the 2010 SEMA Show regarding vehicle technology. They include:

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Safe: Vehicle Dynamics Simulation and ESC Performance of Aftermarket-Modified Vehicles, Components and Systems
Date: Monday, November 1, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Location: N262 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Paul Williamsen, National Manager, Lexus College, Toyota Motor Sales, USA
• Paul Venhovens, BMW Chair in Systems Integration, Clemson University CU-ICAR
• Ed Browalski, Vehicle Technology Consultant, SEMA, President of ACEC
• Kevin Kott, President, dSPACE, Inc.
• Santhosh Jogi, Director of Engineering, dSPACE, Inc.
• Tom Gillespie, Co-Founder and Director, Mechanical Simulation Corp.
• Tim Watts, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Superlift Suspension Systems
• Gene Petersen, Tire Program Leader, Consumer Reports

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Green Performance: Wild West 2.0
Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Location: LVCC, South Hall, Upper Level, Booth #30239
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Keynote: Jim Campbell, Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, General Motors
• Neil Young, Musician, Innovator, Green Performance Advocate, Lincvolt Leader
• Peter Diamandis, CEO and Founder, X-Prize Foundation
• Scott Atherton, President and CEO of ALMS
• Imtiaz Haque, Executive Director, Clemson University, CU-ICAR
• Patrick Reininger, Vice President, Polk Research
• Bryan Krulikowski, Vice President, Morpace
• Azhar Hussain, Founder, TTXGP eGrandPrix

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Performance Oil: Modern Motor Oils and the Aftermarket
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Location: N261 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Lake Speed, Jr., Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil
• Ron Shaver, Ron Shaver Specialties
• Paul "Scooter" Brothers, SEMA Chair-elect and Competition Performance Group

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Connected: Integrating Automotive and Consumer Electronics
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Locations: N262 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Keynote 1: Dr. Andrew Brown, SAE President and Chief Technical Officer, Delphi
• Keynote 2: Peter Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Richard Wallace, Senior Director, Center for Automotive Research
• Thilo Koslowski, Managing Vice President of Automotive, Gartner (invited)
• Roger Curtis, President, Michigan International Speedway (invited)
• T.C. Wingrove, Director of Innovation, North America, Visteon (invited)
• Mike Blicher, Director, Business Development, Immersion
• Stephan Tarnutzer, Chief Operating Officer, DGE Inc.

	Deep Orange is a project vehicle prototype program involving several SEMA companies at CU-ICAR for pioneering education, research and industry collaboration within the graduate degree program in automotive engineering.

In an effort to immerse students in a setting that resembles the daily business of their future working environment, the Deep Orange project vehicle prototype program at Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) pioneers education, research and industry collaboration within the automotive engineering graduate degree program.

The initiative, which involves several SEMA-member companies at CU-ICAR, strives for practical application of acquired engineering proficiency in the areas of product development, manufacturing concepts and vehicular electronics through a systems-engineering approach. A new Deep Orange project is started every year to create an engineering concept car two years later.

For more on Deep Orange, join CU-ICAR in booth #36203 for a press conference Tuesday, November 2 at 1:15 p.m. For more information, contact Suzanne Dickerson, director of global business development at 864/283-7100 or e-mail sdicker@clemson.edu.

SEMA and Clemson University Form Strategic Partnership

In 2009, then-SEMA Chairman Jim Cozzie took the podium during the group’s annual Board Officer’s installment ceremony prior to handing over the gavel to current Chairman Rick Rollins, and announced one of the most innovative alliances in SEMA’s 47-year history. Cozzie outlined a partnership between California-headquartered SEMA and South Carolina-based Clemson University, which launched the $215 million CU-ICAR in 2003, to an audience of more than 500 attendees.

“The new alliance represents an unprecedented industry-academia platform for advanced vehicle technology and performance aftermarket education program development, notably forged in the midst of one of the automotive industry’s most challenging periods in history,” Cozzie said. “The automotive original-equipment and aftermarket industries are undergoing serious transformations and will continue to evolve in the coming years. The Clemson relationship can benefit SEMA-member companies by providing vehicle technology and systems integration, product development, testing and validation support to help members leverage new business opportunities.”

According to Chris Przirembel, Clemson University’s recently retired vice president for research and economic development, the partnership represents “an extraordinary opportunity for Clemson, as a major university committed to becoming one of the world’s leading automotive and motorsports research and education centers, to join with SEMA and its powerful industry membership base in a shared mission to help shape the future of the automotive performance aftermarket industry.”

As part of the agreement, Clemson University’s Campbell Graduate Engineering Center on the 250-acre CU-ICAR campus—located midway between Atlanta and Charlotte along I-85 in Greenville, South Carolina—is positioned to serve as a systems integration and testing center for SEMA and its 7,500 members. The academic center houses a variety of laboratories and test cells, including a seven-post shaker in an environmental chamber, a chassis dynamometer in a semi-anechoic chamber, engine test cells, an electromagnetic compatibility chamber and a full-scale vehicle three-dimensional CMM for measuring geometric and physical coordinates of parts and vehicle surfaces.

Dr. Imtiaz Haque, executive director of the Campbell Center, which offers the only automotive engineering Ph.D. in the United States, said an “ultimate goal would be for SEMA and Clemson to collaboratively develop an integrated systems approach for designing and customizing today’s vehicles and vehicles of the future. Among other initiatives, the graduate center will develop prototype project vehicles with the objective of demonstrating the integration of specialty equipment and performance aftermarket components, total vehicle systems and modules, thereby creating new opportunities for interested SEMA-member companies to directly participate.”

SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting said the Clemson-SEMA relationship supports SEMA’s vehicle technology strategic goals for identifying industry needs and developing effective solutions to assist members with complex vehicle technology challenges and opportunities. “In the midst of these difficult times, we hope to collaboratively develop a clear pathway for the multi-billion automotive aftermarket industry and SEMA-member companies,” he explained.

For more information on the Clemson-SEMA alliance or CU-ICAR, contact John Waraniak, SEMA's vice president of vehicle technology, at johnw@sema.org. In addition, a series of vehicle technology SuperSessions (below) will be held at the 2010 SEMA Show.

Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSessions Program 2010

Four free SuperSessions will be offered at the 2010 SEMA Show regarding vehicle technology. They include:

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Safe: Vehicle Dynamics Simulation and ESC Performance of Aftermarket-Modified Vehicles, Components and Systems
Date: Monday, November 1, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Location: N262 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Paul Williamsen, National Manager, Lexus College, Toyota Motor Sales, USA
• Paul Venhovens, BMW Chair in Systems Integration, Clemson University CU-ICAR
• Ed Browalski, Vehicle Technology Consultant, SEMA, President of ACEC
• Kevin Kott, President, dSPACE, Inc.
• Santhosh Jogi, Director of Engineering, dSPACE, Inc.
• Tom Gillespie, Co-Founder and Director, Mechanical Simulation Corp.
• Tim Watts, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Superlift Suspension Systems
• Gene Petersen, Tire Program Leader, Consumer Reports

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Green Performance: Wild West 2.0
Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Location: LVCC, South Hall, Upper Level, Booth #30239
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Keynote: Jim Campbell, Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, General Motors
• Neil Young, Musician, Innovator, Green Performance Advocate, Lincvolt Leader
• Peter Diamandis, CEO and Founder, X-Prize Foundation
• Scott Atherton, President and CEO of ALMS
• Imtiaz Haque, Executive Director, Clemson University, CU-ICAR
• Patrick Reininger, Vice President, Polk Research
• Bryan Krulikowski, Vice President, Morpace
• Azhar Hussain, Founder, TTXGP eGrandPrix

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Performance Oil: Modern Motor Oils and the Aftermarket
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Location: N261 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Lake Speed, Jr., Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil
• Ron Shaver, Ron Shaver Specialties
• Paul "Scooter" Brothers, SEMA Chair-elect and Competition Performance Group

FREE: Vehicle Technology Briefing SuperSession: Driving Connected: Integrating Automotive and Consumer Electronics
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Locations: N262 LVCC
Organizer and Moderator: John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology
Speakers and Panelists:
• Keynote 1: Dr. Andrew Brown, SAE President and Chief Technical Officer, Delphi
• Keynote 2: Peter Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Richard Wallace, Senior Director, Center for Automotive Research
• Thilo Koslowski, Managing Vice President of Automotive, Gartner (invited)
• Roger Curtis, President, Michigan International Speedway (invited)
• T.C. Wingrove, Director of Innovation, North America, Visteon (invited)
• Mike Blicher, Director, Business Development, Immersion
• Stephan Tarnutzer, Chief Operating Officer, DGE Inc.

The Ford Motor Company Corporate Design Awards recognize unique vehicles that make a significant contribution to vehicle design.

Ford Motor Company will once again recognize the most significant design achievements at the 2010 SEMA Show with its Ford Motor Company Corporate Design Awards. These prestigious awards are given annually to those vehicles that make a significant contribution to vehicle design and stand apart from all others at the SEMA Show.

Awards will be presented for the most significant accomplishments in the following vehicle categories:

• Best of Show
• Best of Show on Ford Corporate Display Stand
• Best Ford Heritage Vehicle
• Outstanding Achievement(s)

Formal presentation of the awards will be on Tuesday, November 2, at 9:30 a.m. in the Ford Motor Company Show Stand located in the Racing & Performance section of the Center Hall. (Note: It will be followed by the Ford Motor Company Press Conference at 10:30 a.m.).

Ford Motor Company's Corporate Design judging team will review all Show vehicles on display at the Show during setup on Sunday and Monday. To assist the judging team in these efforts, exhibitors are encouraged to submit descriptions of their vehicles, pictures and the vehicle's Show location to semainfo@ford.com.