Great Designs in Steel Symposium (GDIS)™

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The Ultimate Gathering of Automotive Experts and Leaders

Register Now: May 20, 2026

Complimentary registration closes soon for Great Designs in Steel

Vibe Credit Union Showplace, Novi, Michigan

(Formerly Suburban Collection Showplace)

2026 GDIS Speakers & Presenters

Keynote Speakers

John Cardwell
Chief Marketing Officer & Vice President, Automotive Sales
ArcelorMittal North America

Elizabeth Krear
President and CEO
Center for Automotive Research

Featured Speakers

Dr. John Speer
Colorado School of Mines

Simon Loasby
Hyundai Design Center

Dr. Tarek Belgasam
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America

Dan Black
Rivian

Abhishek Das
Rivian

Drew Hill
General Motors

Harsha Kusnoorkar
Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc.

Tae Hwa Lee
General Motors

Ming Shi
General Motors

Sarah Tedesco
General Motors

Deepak Theja
Rivian

Presenters

Cristian Alvarez
ArcelorMittal

Stéphane Andrietti
AutoForm

Nick Avedissian
Cadence

Louis Belli
Maxion Wheels

Elliot Brio
University of Waterloo

Dr. Cliff Butcher
University of Waterloo

John Catterall
Auto/Steel Partnership

Michael Davenport
Auto/Steel Partnership

Rob Edwards
PROFIL

Dr. Akbar Farahani
eSavant, LLC

Ryuichi Funada
Sumitomo

Nachiket Gokhale
ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks

Sergey Golovashchenko
Oakland University

Arman Hossain
Oakland University

Dr. Jun Hu
Cleveland-Cliffs

Madhu Jampala
Detroit Engineered Products

Dr. Caroline Kella
ArcelorMittal

JiUng Kim
University of Waterloo

Tim Korschinsky
Fraunhofer LBF

Jan Larsson
APT

Sarah Maharajan
Keysight Technologies

Chris McMahon
ANDRITZ Schuler

Saeid Nasheralahkami
Oakland University

Dr. Sobhan Nazari
Cleveland-Cliffs

George Paul
Dreistern

Dr-Ing. Thiago Rausch
Mubea

Sriram Sadagopan
ArcelorMittal

Dr. Kazuhiro Saitou
University of Michigan

Dr. Daniel Schaeffler
Engineering Quality Solutions, Inc.

Dr. Martin Schwab
4a Engineering

Scott Stevens
Cleveland-Cliffs

Dr. Yu-Wei Wang
Cleveland-Cliffs

Zhendan Xue
Esteco North America, Inc.

Miao Yu
Cleveland-Cliffs

For over 20 years, Great Designs in Steel has been at the forefront of showcasing the latest steel trends and material applications in new cars and trucks.

Join us for a full day of invaluable insights from industry professionals on topics such as advanced high-strength steels, future mobility, automotive advancements and manufacturing technologies. Discover the cutting-edge innovations that are shaping the future of automotive design and engineering while learning about the lightweighting, durability, and sustainability benefits of steel. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this influential conference that is shaping the future of steel in the automotive industry! Want to learn more? Click here to view past presentations.