Those wanting to know what the future of the American automotive materials industry will look like may be able to gain some insight Thursday.

Deborah Mielewski, senior technical leader of Sustainable Materials and Plastics Research at Ford Motor Company, will give a lecture at 4 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union to discuss what Ford has done to integrate biomaterials into their vehicles.

Mielewski initiated the biomaterials program at Ford in 2001, and she and her team have had successes in the past 15 years including creating the first soy-based foam that passed all automotive seating requirements. 

Mielewski and her team are always looking for new ways to create new revenue streams for farmers, reduce vehicle weight and ween the industry off of petroleum, according to the Iowa State Lectures Program website.