USCAR Recognition Awards – 2014

2014 Award Recipients

  • USCAR began presenting Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2003 to recognize individuals who made significant contributions to USCAR during an extended period of time. Most recipients have been active USCAR participants for at least a decade. Their dedication, expertise and the value of their contributions to the organization and our member companies have been immeasurable.

    Reg Modlin (FCA US)
    USCAR Leadership Group and U.S. DRIVE Director

    Reg Modlin first was appointed as Chrysler’s member of the management committee for USCAR’s former Environmental Research Consortium (ERC) in 1999.  In 2007, when the ERC morphed into the Environmental TLC, he continued his role as company lead. Since 2009, he also served as a director on the USCAR Leadership Group (ULG), and was an industry director of the FreedomCAR and Fuels Partnership, and subsequently U.S. DRIVE, helping to guide USCAR’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Energy. Additionally, Modlin brought a unique perspective to the ULG as a member of the Industry Government Relations stakeholders group.

    Don Nagy (GM)
    Automobile Industry/Government Emissions Research CRADA (AIGER)

    Don Nagy (GM) has been active in the Automobile Industry/Government Emissions Research (AIGER) Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) since its inception in 1992.  He chaired numerous project committees and his work has been instrumental in the development of new equipment, test methods and procedures for the measurement of low-level exhaust emissions. His work has resulted in equipment patents as well as several technical papers published by SAE.  He also was instrumental in reviewing and commenting on the test procedures within the LEVIII and Tier 3 regulations.  As an expert on exhaust emissions measurement and fuel economy testing, he also consulted with USCAR’s Fuels Working Group and Mobile Air Conditioning Efficiency Group.

    Steve Rouhana (Ford)
    Occupant Safety Research Partnership (OSRP)

    Steve Rouhana (Ford) was a founding member of the Occupant Safety Research Partnership (OSRP) in 1992. He continued to work on development of basic, non-competitive research specifying and evaluating Anthropomorphic Test Devices, or crash test dummies, through 2014. His deep technical knowledge of biomechanics and crash dummy design made him a valuable contributor to all task groups including those formed to develop WorldSID 50th and 5th, THOR, Rear Impact (BioRID) and the SID second generation, which is the first side impact crash dummy representing a 5th percentile female.

  • USCAR Team Awards recognize those teams and members who leveraged their resources, exceeded expectations, overcame challenges and created outstanding value for our member companies.

    AVB Ethernet Project Team

    The AVB Ethernet Project Team coordinated several activities to create an industry strategy to develop automotive standard AVB Ethernet networks.  It also coordinated efforts and discussions on AVB Ethernet topics between USCAR and JASPAR and promoted an international automotive discussion group to influence Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards with automotive requirements.  Additionally, the AVB Team facilitated the path toward product integration of AVB Ethernet technology in different automotive domains like Infotainment and Active Safety.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Tim Potochick from FCA US; Jim Lawlis and Doug Oliver from Ford; and Markus Jochim and Massimo Osella from GM.

    Force Mat Insertion Measurements Team

    The Force Mat Insertion Measurements Team conducted a comprehensive technology survey, comparison and evaluation which determined a unique hockey-puck-shaped load cell, which the team termed “the force puck,” proved to be the most reliable and valid tool to measure required manual force exertions within operations in manufacturing environments.

    The “force puck” required a user interface and additional software and hardware to be acceptable for commercial application, so the team turned to its University of Windsor member, who in a few short months finalized a force recording system that met the team’s criteria.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Marc Banning from FCA US; Marty Smets and Allison Stephens from Ford; Bob Fox and Dawn Shephard from GM; and external partners Jennifer Marshall (Sandalwood Engineering and Ergonomics) and Joel Cort (University of Windsor).

    USABC Electrolytes Development Team

    The USABC Electrolytes Development Team identified the collectively exhaustive and mutually exclusive set of properties that must be identified for electrolytes in automotive applications. They published the Electrolyte Test Methods and related procedures document, and produced an RFPI that will proactively guide battery and electrolyte suppliers. The RFPI also includes a gap-analysis chart which allows the team to efficiently evaluate the proposals received.  In addition, the team specified a partnership between the electrolyte developer and a cell fabricator as a necessary attribute of a proposal submission.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Carrie Okma from FCA US; Zoe Zhou from Ford; and Ion Halalay from GM.

  • The Special Recognition Award is designed to recognize individual OEM participants who excelled in the past year and demonstrated their exceptional commitment to USCAR by going above and beyond the call of duty. It recognizes those whose leadership inspires their teams to achieve greatness.

    Matt Denlinger (Ford)
    Energy Storage TLC: United States Advanced Battery Consortium Technical Advisory Committee (USABC TAC)

    Matt Denlinger, Ford battery research engineer, was recognized for his work on the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) Technical Advisory Committee. Denlinger was a key contributor to the creation and public release of the USABC 48V battery goals and 48V HEV Battery Development Request For Proposal Information (RFPI), review and revision of the USABC 12V Battery RFPI, and evaluation and negotiation of responses to the USABC 12V Battery RFPI.

    Britta Gross (GM)
    Vehicle Electrification TLC: Grid Interaction Tech Team (GITT)

    Britta Gross, GM director of advanced vehicle commercialization policy, was recognized as a founding member of the U.S. DRIVE Grid Interaction Tech Team (GITT) and its OEM co-chair for the past three years.  Her enthusiastic support for interoperability testing helped the industry complete the SAE J2953 test specification for AC L2 testing, and also the critical development of the unique Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) interoperability test.  Learnings from this testing will lead to a more precise and refined SAE J1772 charging standard that benefits all industry.

    Gwen Malone (GM)
    Manufacturing TLC: Ergonomics Task Force

    Gwen Malone, technical fellow and senior manager, ergonomics and 3D Digital Human Modeling simulation, has been the GM lead representative to the USCAR Ergonomic Task Force for the past 11 years.  As a member of the team, she has been the lead on 16 projects, including 13 active projects in 2014.  Additionally, her enhancements to the Jack Digital Human Model helped improve efficiencies for evaluating different scenarios for a full workstation simulation within the OEMs. Improvements in the efficiencies and accuracy of various Digital Human Model simulations resulted in cost avoidance of $45,000 per issue.

    Tim Schumaier (FCA US)
    Advanced Powertrain TLC: Transmission Working Group Axle Subcommittee

    Tim Schumaier, FCA US senior development and validation engineer, was recognized for his work on the Transmission Working Group Axle Subcommittee. Schumaier was instrumental in developing and managing the front axle parasitic loss project.  He also led the effort to establish a unified test matrix to comprehend the critical test torque and speed for FTP city/highway, US06 and NEDC schedules as well as temperature conditions for Cold Carbon Dioxide Credits.

  • The Research Partner Award recognizes external collaborators, who have become essential members of our USCAR teams. They bring the depth and resources of their organizations or companies, expanding our circle of collaboration, and go the extra mile and to do more than their contracts require.

    Jon Christophersen (Idaho National Lab)
    Energy Storage TLC: United States Advanced Battery Consortium Technical Advisory Committee (USABC TAC)

    Jon Christophersen of Idaho National Lab for his work with the USABC Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Christophersen has led and directed testing activity associated with five USABC 12-volt and electric vehicle battery developer program workgroups. The total value of these programs exceeds 20 million dollars and represents 80 percent of the current value of USABC’s contract portfolio.  Additionally, he was the primary author of both the revised USABC PHEV Test Manual and the soon to be released revised USABC EV Test Manual. Both of these test manuals are highly regarded globally and used to establish baseline performance for most of the world’s battery technologies used in vehicles.

    Eric Heim (Eric Heim Consulting)
    Energy Storage TLC: United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC)

    Eric Heim of Eric Heim Consulting for his work as business manager of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC).  Heim has been involved with USABC since its formation in 1991, and has been crucial to securing and managing five, successive, USABC five-year Cooperative R&D Agreements (CRADA), with the DOE.  Additionally, the USABC Program Managers’ Manual and updates; the USABC Financial Manual and updates; all USABC RFPIs, Statements of Work, and reports to the DOE; and all USABC Technical Advisory Committee and Management Committee meeting minutes, action items, and archived records have all been completed or improved by Heim.  He has been a meaningful part of the development, refinement, publication, and archiving of virtually every USABC document for more than 20 years.

    Cindy Jiang & Justin Hunt (AET Integration Inc.)
    Materials TLC: Magnesium Front End Research and Development (MFERD)

    Cindy Jiang and Justin Hunt of AET Integration Inc. for their work with the Magnesium Front-End R&D project team in their effort to produce demonstration structures incorporating structural joints between magnesium and steel components.  They introduced a new joining concept called Adaptable Insert Welding (AIW), which had never been evaluated for this joint combination before, even in a pure research environment. With little guidance, the two took the initiative to create and execute an aggressive development plan, producing and evaluating nearly 1,000 similar and dissimilar test samples in six unique coating configurations.  Their efforts brought this previously untried concept all the way from concept through technical feasibility and performance evaluation.