This book published in occasion of the International Forum of Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications 2004 reflects the state-of-the-art of automotive R&D particularly in the area of automotive safety. By that it follows the priorities set by the European automotive industry and public authorities as for example the European Commission or the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

The core of the book consists of the papers presented at the 8 ^th AMAA international conference, taking place in March 2004 in Berlin, a now regular event dealing with a modern and promising field. The contributions to AMAA 2004 focus on automotive safety (both preventive and protective), powertrain (online measurement and control of engine and transmission subsystems), comfort and HMI (systems to enhance the comfort of passengers and human machine interface issues), and the networked vehicle (all aspects of intra car systems and ambient communication networks).

Additional information is available on www.amaa.de