Thank you FIAT – great location for the JTOpenTRB

I recently attended my first JTOpen Technical Review Board (TRB) meeting. It was hosted by FIAT at their headquarters in Turin, Italy. It was a great meeting and a report of it can be found elsewhere on this site. The attendees were invited to stay at the Lingotto NH Congress.  Initial impressions were that it was a very nicely appointed business hotel with excellent room service. (You have to try the Mediterranean Burger.) However, the Lingotto is steeped in automotive industry. The building is one of many that were part of a factory. They form an oval with a continuous roof on which there is a test track.

Here is a clip from an old BBC documentary that describes the factory and the spiral ascent from the production line to test track on the roof. 

In my room at night I opened my window and thought I could hear the race track being put to good use. However, on reflection I realized it was very very speedy ground-level taxis.

The JTOpen TRB meeting is a two-day affair. FIAT arranged for us to visit the National Automobile Museum. It is a fascinating collection of cars from different times from all over the world supported by multimedia presentations. It was a very interesting evening and I highly recommend a vist.

Here is a picture of yours truly sharing the stage with Greta Garbo and a 1920 Isotta Fraschini. 

So thanks to FIAT providing such an interesting backdrop, and thank you to all the attendees who made this such a useful meeting.

About me. I am Erwin Argyle, a product manager in the CTO of Siemens PLM Software. My primary responsibility is Geolus the shape search engine.