The main event of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ Repairer Driven Education series begins today, and we’ll help those who aren’t in Vegas for SEMA follow along.

The OEM Collision Technology Summit on Thursday will open at 9:30 a.m. with “Structural Connectivity – Understanding the Future of Automaker Joining Techniques.”

It’ll feature 3M senior technical service engineer Shawn Collins, LORD technical applications engineer Doug Craig, Wielander + Schill chief engineer and director Klaus Reitzig and Advanced Collision Repair Solutions President Oliver Woelfel.  I-CAR industry technical support manager Steve Marks will moderate.

“Tech Crunch -The Role of Programming and Diagnostics in Post-Repair Road Worthiness,” will follow at 10:30 a.m., moderated by Assured Performance Network technical compliance Vice President Aaron Clark.

Other panelists include Ellis & Associates managing director John Ellis, Toyota collision repair and refinish training assistant manager Eric Mendoza, Collision Diagnostics Services diagnostics and technical support director Chuck Olson and the Specialty Equipment Market Association’s own vehicle technology Vice President John Waraniak.

Next at 12:30 p.m. will be the first of the two material-specific discussions with “The Future of Aluminum in the Automotive Industry” by Doug Richman, vice president of engineering and technology for Kaiser Aluminum. It’ll be followed with an OEM panel of Audi collision programs and workshop equipment specialist Mark Allen, Mercedes-Benz product technical support service engineer Brandin Benson and GM advanced series of design engineer Mark Szlachta.

At 3 p.m., it’ll be steel’s turn in the limelight, with “The Continuing Evolution of Advanced Steels in Automotive Bodies” by Blake Zuidema, director of automotive product applications for ArcelorMittal. As with the aluminum session, the steel event will feature an OEM panel. See Toyota technical training administrator Joe DiDonato, FCA collision repair specialist John Hughes, GM North American structures and closures team leader Robert Hartman and Honda instructional designer Chris Tobie.

Starting at 9:30 a.m., check here for a real-time feed of what’s happening at the Las Vegas Convention Center. But if you’re in Vegas, attend it!

The summit will be in Room N241 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Register for all three $85 sessions together or separately. If you’re going to all three, you might want to consider buying the $400 SCRS Repairer Driven Education Series Pass, which lets you into anything SCRS is doing Nov. 3-6, including the Sky Villa afterparty Nov. 5.

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