Why ACE is the Place to Be

Where will you be March 20th – 22nd?   Hopefully, you’ll be joining me and hundreds of your peers at ACE 2018 in Indianapolis.

Why?

First of all, there’s the great lineup of industry speakers—BMW, Audi, Schaeffler, Microsoft, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, L3, Carestream, Edwards Lifesciences, Key Safety, to name a few and that’s just on the main stage. There will also be presentations, throughout the conference, on topics ranging from systems engineering to the latest tools and technologies for digital transformation and Digital Thread/Digital Twin and innovation in the digital age. Take a look at the full schedule.

Great speakers and sessions are one thing–but what really makes this event special is the opportunity to learn from other members of our Aras community. Those ad hoc discussions, sharing tips and tricks with your peers, chatting about how someone was able to use the Aras platform to solve a particularly thorny problem—perhaps one that you’ve also been grappling with—this openness is what makes ACE truly unique.

But, maybe you want to learn more about the inner workings of the Aras Platform? If so, there are a whole slew of training sessions on specialized topics. These classes will be run during the breakout sessions and are available on a “first come, first served” basis.

If you are arriving on Monday, there’s additional learning opportunity— the “Aras Test Drive.” In this interactive half-day session, you’ll get a first-hand look at Innovator’s ability to handle document control, compliance and audit management, corrective and preventive actions, and follow defined business processes to facilitate visibility into quality across the organization. You’ll create and review numerous items discovered as evidence of a potential or existing problem and recognize the time and money saving benefits of using closed-loop quality management systems to mitigate them. Pre-registration and an additional fee are required.

As for me, the thing I’m most looking forward to are the “unconferenced” roundtables with Audi, Schaeffler and L3.  This is an amazing opportunity to engage in an open discussion with some of our main stage presenters and get the answers your specific questions about their presentation topics.

And, speaking of “open discussion,” another can’t get any more open than the “Ask Us Anything” session on Thursday morning. Here’s your chance to ask Aras’s CEO, Peter Schroer and Chief Architect, Rob McAveney ANYTHING (and I mean ANYTHING) about Aras in an unmoderated, freeform setting. I really haven’t seen anything like this at any other conference and I can’t wait to see what’s top of mind for the crowd this year.

Now, we know that all work and no play is simply not fun. After all, we’re going to be in Indianapolis so, of course, we need to see some fast cars.  Food, entertainment and those Indy cars will all be part of the Wednesday night Community Reception at the Dallara IndyCar Factory.

So, as they say on race day, “gentleman/ladies start your engines.” I’m racing to ACE this March and hope you are too!