International Symposium on Vehicle Safety Systems
International Symposium on Vehicle Safety Systems

Symposium

The Airbag Symposium features an impressive lineup of distinguished speakers who are leaders in the field of automotive safety and airbag technology. Their lectures cover a wide range of topics, providing valuable insights into the latest research, innovations, and trends.

In addition to the keynote presentations, the symposium also showcases a variety of high-quality posters that highlight cutting-edge research and developments from both emerging talents and established experts. These posters offer a unique opportunity for attendees to engage with the content, ask questions, and discuss ideas directly with the authors.

Together, the excellent speakers and innovative poster presentations create an enriching experience for all participants, fostering collaboration and inspiring new approaches to enhancing vehicle safety. Don't miss the chance to learn from the best in the industry and contribute to the important dialogue on airbag technology!

Registration for the AIRBAG Symposium 2026

* Required

I would like to take part in the following elements of the symposium (included in the registration fee):

Program

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14:00

Welcome, Opening EXPO Day
14:05 Official Opening of the AIRBAG 2026 EXPO Dr. Constantin Häfner, member of the board of directors; Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Munich
Lars Fredrik Berg, chairman
14:30 Guided tours through the AIRBAG 2026 EXPO
14:30

Expert workshops (in German language; separate registration necessary)
»Berliner Erklärung zur Fahrzeugsicherheit« des VDI: Wie bringen sich die Experten der »Berliner Erklärung« zielgerichtet in den »Pakt für Verkehrssicherheit« des Bundes ein? (register here) Prof. R. Schöneburg, VDI-Expertenforum
Workshop »Retten ohne Risiko!« für Rettungskräfte mit Airbag-Update, neues aus der technischen Rettung mit Einsatzberichten und Erfahrungsaustausch (program). Teilnahmegebühr: 120 Euro, frei für Teilnehmer des Airbag-Symposiums.
Begrenzte Teilnehmerzahl, Anmeldung formlos an manuela.wolff@ict.fraunhofer.de mit Angabe der Rechnungsadresse.		 Rolf Erbe (rolf.erbe@t-online.de), Feuerwehr-Experte und Fachberater (Brandoberamtsrat a. D.)
18:30

Evening reception

8:00 Welcome and Opening L. Berg, Chairman of the Symposium
8:15 Keynote: ACCIDENT RESEARCH & SAFE ROADS INDIA – TEN YEARS, TWO JOURNEYS, ONE MISSION
P. Gonuguntla; Mercedes-Benz R&D India
 

Block 1: ROAD SAFETY – CURRENT STATUS AND REQUIREMENTS 2026 AND BEYOND

Session 1: UPDATES IN GLOBAL RATINGS
Session Responsible: R. Schöneburg, RSC Safety Engineering
8:45 L2: UPDATE EURO NCAP R. Schram; Euro NCAP, Brussels, BEL
9:05 L3: INTRODUCTION OF C-NCAP 2027 & FUTURE RESEARCH PLAN Li Zhi; CATARC, CHN
9:25 L4: STATUS OF BHARAT NCAP INCLUDING AN OUTLOOK ON THE 2020 ROADMAP R. S. Mahajan, ARAI, Pune, IND

Session 2: SAFETY ALONG THE DIVERSITY OF VEHICLE CLASSES
Session Responsible: B. Peters; AUMOVIO SE
10:25 L5: DERIVING PASSIVE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLES FROM REAL-WORLD CRASH DATA T. Lich, J. Mönnich; Bosch, Renningen, DEU
10:45 L6: SAFE URBAN MOBILITY – NEW VEHICLE CATEGORY M0 L. Jansen, M. Hog, H. Klein; FEV Vehicle, Aachen, DEU
11:05 L7: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF FE MODELS FOR THE NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF CARGO BIKE CRASHES Gerd Müller; TU Berlin, DEU
 
 

Poster Session
Session Responsible: S. Liepold; Audi
 

Block 2: TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS INFLUENCING AND IMPROVING VEHICLE SAFETY

Session 3: IN-CABIN AND EXTERIOR SENSOR SYSTEMS AND SENSOR FUSION
Session Responsible: P. Almeida; Volkswagen
13:35 L8: ROBUST ADAPTIVE RESTRAINT DESIGN FOR REAL-WORLD VARIABILITY: THE NEED FOR IMPROVED OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION M. Östling, L. Erikson; Autoliv, Vargarda, SWE
Y. Le-Merrer; Autoliv, Cergy, FRA
D. Schmidt, T. Lich, K. Heyer, G. Schneider; Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart, DEU
13:55 L9: REVEALING CRITICAL EDGE CASES: SIMULATION-BASED VALIDATION OF IN-CABIN ALGORITHMS P. Laufer; IAV Fahrzeugsicherheit, Gifhorn, DEU
14:15 L10: HIGHLY INTEGRATED CAMERA SYSTEM FOR ENHANCED IN-CABIN-MONITORING D. Pauer; Volkswagen, Wolfsburg, DEU
14:35 L11: AktiMeter – A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT TOOL FOR CONTEXT-AWARE AND ADAPTIVE IN-CABIN FUNCTIONS F. Diederichs; Fraunhofer IOSB, Karlsruhe, DEU

Session 4: ADAPTIVITY OF SAFETY SYSTEMS
Session Responsible: M. Fehring; Mercedes-Benz
15:35 L12: CUSTOMIZED OCCUPANT PROTECTION – TAKING RESTRAINT DEVELOPMENTS INTO A NEW ERA F. Heurlin; Volvo Car Corp., Göteborg, SWE
15:55 L13: EVALUATING ADAPTIVE RESTRAINT SYSTEMS FOR A DIVERSE OCCUPANT POPULATION USING THE SAFER HUMAN BODY MODEL E. Mishra, U. Wedberg, N. Lubbe; Autoliv, Vargarda, SWE
16:15 L14: RELEVANCE OF OCCUPANT PERCEPTION QUALITY FOR EFFECTIVE ADAPTIVE RESTRAINT SYSTEMS C. Fischer, M. Kolbe; ZF LIFETEC, Alfdorf, DEU
P. Russ, R. Moll, P Zell; ZF LIFETEC, Dachau, DEU

Session 5: RECLINED SEATING SAFETY
Session Responsible: G. Schneider; Robert Bosch
16:40 L15: MECHANISTIC ANALYSIS OF SUBMARINING AND SYSTEMATIC FACTOR IDENTIFICATION IN RECLINED OCCUPANT POSTURES R. Miyake, Y. Miyajima, T. Hiruta; Mazda Motor Corporation, Hiroshima, JPN
17:00 L16: "I-SAFETY", A HUMAN-CENTRIC SAFETY SYSTEM FOR FUTURE OCCUPANT PROTECTION C. Liu, C. Wu; ZF LIFETEC, Shanghai, CHN
17:20 L17: REDEFINING PASSIVE SAFETY FOR NEXT GENERATION RECLINED SEATING     M. Rohde, N. Steinke, I. Kalliske; Joyson Safety Systems, Aschaffenburg, DEU
A. Krebs, S. Kieser-Neumeyer; Brose Fahrzeugteile, DEU
17:40 L18: OCCUPANT PROTECTION IN RECLINED AND RELAXED POSTURES USING FORCE-LIMITED SEAT KINEMATICS M. Unger et al.; Toyoda Gosei Europe, Saarbrücken, DEU
 
 

Airbag Award Ceremony and

Exhibitors evening – Get-together in the foyer of the conference hall (until approx. 22:00)

 

Opening Day 2
8:25 L19: EXTENDING THE PROTECTION ENVELOPE OF MODERN OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SYSTEMS TO REAL WORLD USE CASES – A CONTROL UNIT PERSPECTIVE M. Schmid; Bosch, Stuttgart, DEU
 

Block 3: TOOLS AND METHODS ENABLING EFFICIENT DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION

Session 6: BENEFITS THROUGH APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAFETY SYSTEMS
Session Responsible: A. Gulde; Autoliv
8:50 L20: ACCELERATION OF PASSIVE SAFETY DEVELOPMENTS BY AI S. Bruhnke; AVL Graz, AUT
9:10 L21: AI-BASED AIRBAG TEST EVALUATION J. Leverenz; Volkswagen, Wolfsburg, DEU
9:30 L22: A THREE-SPACE AGENTIC AI FRAMEWORK FOR END-TO-END INFLATABLE CURTAIN AIRBAG DEVELOPMENT, USING DATA ABSTRACTION AND SYNTHETIC DATA GENERATION S. Jagalur; Autoliv India, Karnataka, IND
M. Rad; Autoliv Sweden, Vargarda, SWE

Session 7: VIRTUAL ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL TESTING
Session Responsible: J. Neutz; Joyson Safety Systems
10:30 L23: FIRST INVENTORY OF THOR 5F – THE ADVANCED SMALL FEMALE FRONTAL ANTHROPOMORPHIC TEST DEVICE H. Paul; Kistler ATD, Heidelberg, DEU
P. Wernicke; BMW, München, DEU
10:50 L24: FROM DRIVING SIMULATION TO ADAPTIVE SAFETY FUNCTIONS – LINKING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND REAL-WORLD SCENARIOS A. Forster; AUMOVIO Germany, Frankfurt, DEU
11:10 L25: PASSENGER AIRBAG: TEST METHODOLOGY TO PREDICT THE RISK OF WINDSHIELD BREAKAGE R. Mirones, L. Banos, O. Cordero; ZF LIFETEC, Boecillo, ESP
O. Heiland, B. Issler; ZF LIFETEC, Alfdorf, DEU
J. Krochmal, A. Maier; ZF LIFETEC, Czestochowa, POL
11:30 L26: HYBRID HOMOLOGATION – A NEW MILESTONE FOR CRASH SIMULATION M. Pfaffinger; BMW, München, DEU
 
13:05

PANEL DISCUSSION: TRUST, DATA AND AI – NAVIGATING THE FUTURE OF INTEGRAL SAFETY
Moderator: K.-F. Ziegahn; KIT Karlsruhe, DEU

How can data and AI enhance vehicle safety without compromising privacy and individual autonomy? Senior experts from the automotive industry, technology, cybersecurity, and ethics explore how innovation, responsibility, and trust can shape the future of safe and connected mobility.
 

Block 4: ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE VEHICLE OF THE FUTURE

Session 8: INNOVATIONS IN SAFETY PRODUCTS – AIRBAGS, STEERING WHEEL, SEAT BELTS
Session Responsible: D. Schultz; ZF LIFETEC
14:50 L27: VDA GROUP PYROTECHNIC AGEING – A NEWLY DEVELOPED RECOMMENDATION FOR INFLATOR AGEING J. Neutz et al.; Joyson Safety Systems, Aschaffenburg, DEU
15:10 L28: STANDARDIZED SIDE AIRBAG MODULE FOR GLOBAL MARKET APPLICATION S. Bogdanovic, D. Acker, M. Wahl; ZF LIFETEC, Alfdorf, DEU
15:30 L29: NEW “GenX” STEERING WHEEL GENERATION – VOLKSWAGEN J. Grammes; Volkswagen, Wolfsburg, DEU

Session 9: INNOVATIONS FOR THE VEHICLE OF THE FUTURE
Session Responsible: J. Neutz; Joyson Safety Systems
15:55 L30: AUTOLIV AND TENSOR INTRODUCE FOLDABLE STEERING WHEEL – DEFINING COMFORT AND SAFETY FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING J.-B. Tessier; Autoliv, Vouille, FRA
J. Xiao; Tensor, San Jose, USA
16:15 L31: INNOVATIVE HEAD PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR CONVERTIBLE S. Heine, P. Dick, M. Fehring; Mercedes-Benz, Sindelfingen, DEU
16:35 L32: RESEARCH ON OCCUPANT PROTECTION IN ZERO-GRAVITY SEATS S. Wu; Yanfeng International Technical Center, Shanghai, CHN

© Fraunhofer ICT

International Symposium

Keynote and lectures from international expert speakers.

Q&A with speakers and experts

© Fraunhofer ICT

Scientific Poster Session

Best poster award

© Fraunhofer ICT

Panel Discussion

Leading experts on trending topics

© Fraunhofer ICT

AIRBAG Award Ceremony

Honoring lifetime achievements in the area of vehicle safety

Contributions

Lectures by world-leading experts from OEMs, suppliers, universities and public authorities on the following topics will be contributing to the 2026 AIRBAG symposium.

Their topics are:

  • Updates in ratings and legislation
  • Safety for alternative vehicle classes
  • In-cabin and exterior sensing and sensor fusion
  • Adaptivity of safety systems
  • Reclined seating safety
  • Benefits through application of artificial intelligence in the development of safety systems
  • Virtual engineering and testing
  • Innovations in safety products – airbag systems, steering wheel, seat and belt systems, etc.
  • Interior innovations for the vehicle of the future

Technical and scientific poster session

Poster presentations along with written manuscripts will be included in the proceedings. We have collected contributions at the cutting edge of technical development. 

AIRBAG 2026 at a glance

  • Symposium with lectures of addressing all relevant aspects of integral vehicle safety systems
  • Technical and scientific poster session
  • Exhibition area for commercial presentation of innovations
  • Evening receptions for networking

Contact

Contact Press / Media

Manuela Wolff

Conference Management

Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT
Joseph-von-Fraunhofer-Straße 7
76327 Pfinztal

Phone +49 721 4640-121

Fax +49 721 4640-120