USCAR Recognition Awards – 2017

2017 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.

    Ron Elder (FCA US)
    USABC Technical Advisory Committee Chair and Project Lead

    Ron Elder has been involved with battery research at USCAR on a recurring basis since the early 1990s. For the past 14 years, he has held leadership roles with USABC, most significantly in the role of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Chair for the past six years. The TAC has a long record of program achievements under his leadership, resulting in many successful programs and accelerated automotive battery advancements benefitting our Members. He also was a key member of the 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) application team that secured a $125 million U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement for an additional five years of battery research.

    Elder is described by colleagues as an esteemed and trusted leader, partner, collaborator and mentor whose contribution to the organization can be described as immeasurable.

    Matt Zaluzec (Ford)
    USAMP and U.S. DRIVE Materials Tech Team Chair

    Matt Zaluzec was an integral part of the USAMP leadership team beginning in 2003 through his retirement last fall. He was always willing to share his technical expertise and leadership. He excelled at interfacing with the U.S. Department of Energy to ensure USAMP could secure external funding to keep moving forward with a strategically aligned portfolio of materials and manufacturing R&D.

    Zaluzec’s career of work in this field allowed him to highlight the particular challenges preventing the industry from implementing lightweight materials such as aluminum and advanced high-strength steels, and to guide public-private partnerships to address these key challenges.

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

    Transmission Working Group

    The Transmission Working Group (TWG) developed new standards and procedures, including SAE J-standards for measurement of transfer cases and axles. The team also invested considerable capital and effort to understand and develop a reliable process for measuring e-machine performance and efficiency. Creative solutions were developed for non-intrusive sensing of the state of solenoids in the transmission control module to better understand the control strategy of competitive manufacturers. Additionally, the TWG developed and implemented an electric motor protocol to be used to test the system and vehicle application of electric traction motors.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Namrood Al-Mooshi, Pradeep Attibele, George Chen, Bert Martin, Mohammad Mubeen, Tim Schumaier, Jasbir Singh, Haiying Tang and Siqin Wei from FCA US; William Guarino, Hong Jiang, Hiroko Ohtani, Walt Ortmann, Soon Park and Joe Torresfrom Ford; and Chinar Ghike, Tim Grzadzinski, Carlos Marin, Azadeh Narimissa, Dino Raptis, Heather Wyciechowski and Khaled Zreik from GM.

    U.S. DRIVE Advanced Combustion & Emission Control Tech Team

    In 2017, several members of the U.S. DRIVE Advanced Combustion and Emission Control Tech Team (ACEC) worked to make the first significant updates to its roadmap since 2010. Updates were necessary to align with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) budget and new engine test points in the U.S. market. Additionally, the team conducted an analysis of DOE and OEM Co-Optima program priorities, including a continued emphasis on high octane fuel. The large proposed reduction in DOE budget challenged the OEMs to evaluate alternatives and recommend priorities in the work.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Ken Hardman from FCA US; Brad Boyer and Pete Moilenen from Ford; and Dick Peterson, Arun Solomon and Alok Warey from GM.

    USABC Benchmarking Workgroup

    The USABC Benchmarking Workgroup expanded working synergy with other USCAR teams last year to enable parallel multi-vehicle platform studies on leading edge vehicle electrification technologies such as batteries, eMotors and overall powertrain interaction. The team collaborated on a study of Li-ion battery pack and completed the performance evaluation, as well as a deep-dive study on the manufacturing processes and cost analyses from the cell electrodes to the full pack assembly. This resulted in a common OEM benchmarking format for use in future activities.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Rakesh Nahta from FCA US; Brian Robert from Ford; Vijay Saharan from GM; and Christopher Michelbacher from the U.S. Department of Energy.

    Vehicle Structures NVH Benchmarking Group

    The Vehicle Structure Noise, Vibration, Harshness (NVH) Benchmarking Group team tested five vehicle structures at no extra cost using USCAR member company in-house structure labs. In addition to this work, the NVH team implemented hoist reviews and a hoist check list to further leverage the left-over vehicle resources made available from the other USCAR benchmarking activities performed at FEV. This enabled an improved understanding of vehicle scrapping procedures, increasing both the value and utilization of previously purchased vehicle structures.

    Those recognized as part of the team were: Shirley Peng and Bob Shaver from FCA US; Jacqueline Fontaine, Joe Mark, Ravi Surampudi and Jim Swayze from Ford; and Tim Roggenkamp, Mark Stebbins and Chris Stirlen 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.

    Asim Iqbal (FCA US)
    Advanced Powertrain TLC: Fuels Working Group

    Asim Iqbal, FCA US combustion system engineer, has been an integral part of the Fuels Working Group’s (FWG) analyses on octane effects on vehicle performance and efficiency, critical to the analysis of well-to-wheels greenhouse gas emissions foundational to USCAR FWG programs. As part of his work, he led interactions with a refining process company, on high-octane fuel opportunities. He also was a molecule expert and co-author of a USCAR-sponsored article on octane and efficiency in Environmental Science & Technology journal.

    Tom Leone (Ford)
    Advanced Powertrain TLC: Fuels Working Group

    Tom Leone, Ford technical expert, Powertrain Evaluation & Analysis, was recognized for his technical expertise and communication skills that helped lay a foundation and establish credibility in external discussions of high octane fuels. His expertise on combustion, vehicle powertrain element interactions, and impacts on efficiency helped the Fuels Working Group estimate real-world high-octane fuel benefits. He also was the lead author of, and provided insight on compression, for the USCAR article on high-octane fuels in Environmental Science & Technology journal.

    Jessica Mack (Ford)
    Safety TLC: Occupant Safety Reasearch Partnership

    Jessica Mack, Ford crash test and anthropomorphic test device lab engineer, evaluated RibEye, a multi-point system using LEDs to measure rib compression, and compared it to the standard deflection systems for the Worldwide harmonized Side Impact Dummy, also known as the WorldSID, WorldSID 5th Hybrid 3, and WorldSID 50th. More than 75 pendulum tests were run and analyzed in two test series. Various WorldSID 50th RibEye lengths were assessed for repeatability, correlation and other issues. The findings were presented to the Occupant Safety Research Partnership and shared with the international WorldSID 50th design group. As a result of this work, the 2017 New Car Assessment Program draft stated NHTSA will use the WorldSID 50th with RibEye.

    David Masten (GM)
    Hydrogen & Fuel Cell TLC: U.S. DRIVE Fuel Cell Tech Team

    Dave Masten, GM staff engineer, worked with Argonne National Laboratory to create a realistic automotive fuel cell system mechanization. Together they explored options such as higher pressure, humidifier-free and passive anode recirculation systems that enabled fuel cell system cost projections to come down by nearly 20 percent. He also significantly simplified target tables in the Fuel Cell Roadmap by eliminating redundant targets and those impossible to measure, replacing them with high impact metrics for bringing cost down.

    Joseph Ney (GM)
    Electrical/Electronics TLC: Integrated Circuits

    Joe Ney, GM system engineer performing functional reliability studies, works in supplier quality which led him to notice that each supplier had its own unique approach to making zero-defect integrated circuits, and that OEM-supplier collaboration was the key to driving improvement. These insights prompted him to form the Integrated Circuits Forum (ICF) at USCAR. Working with suppliers, the ICF developed knowledge and specifications related to copper wire interconnects and dialectic delamination, and recently published electrical overstress guidelines based on a systematic set of best practices developed through 30 collaborative technical workshops with suppliers. Industry consensus is that fixing these failures will ultimately reduce warranty costs for USCAR member companies by up to $3 billion per year.

    Khaled Shahwan (FCA US)
    Materials TLC: U.S. DRIVE Materials Tech Team

    Khaled Shahwan, technology lead  – composites, methods & strategies at FCA US, was instrumental in the 2017 update to the U.S. DRIVE Material Technology Roadmap, including prioritizing a matrix with seven material systems, each with up to five critical challenges. He gathered inputs from the broad team, distilling those inputs into key material attributes, and then led the team to reach consensus on new Roadmap text that strongly supports the goals of our industry. The endeavor was technically challenging and required the consensus of many organizations.

    Mark Smith (GM)
    Manufacturing TLC: Manufacturing Work Group

    Mark Smith, GM staff researcher, led USCAR’s Manufacturing Technical Leadership Council to initiate four new projects in 2017. Smith also spearheaded efforts to implement a low-cost proof-of-concept tool that analyzes the suitability of parts for additive manufacturing applications. This tool will ultimately create and make available a commercial expert system to drive the best use of additive manufacturing processes. In addition to his technical accomplishments, Smith coordinated, planned and prepared all meeting materials for the USCAR Manufacturing Workshop this past September.

    Ian Sutherland (GM)
    Advanced Powertrain TLC: Fuels Working Group

    Ian Sutherland, GM staff researcher, worked on techno-economic analyses of octane effects on well-to-wheels (WTW) green-house gas (GHG) emissions and costs, which are foundational to the USCAR Fuels Working Group programs. He quickly assessed the WTW impacts relative to other fuel and propulsion technology combinations, which enabled the FWG and executive management to assess the real-world business viability of contemplated fuel changes. These analyses have helped the USCAR FWG and executive leadership develop a unified position on the prospective U.S. High-Octane Fuel. This High-Octane Fuel position is the basis of interactions with many U.S. refiners and governmental agencies on how fuels can simultaneously help improve vehicle efficiency and lower WTW GHG emissions.

  • 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.

    Bingxu Wang (Oakland University)
    Materials TLC: USAMP Bar Steel Tensile Project Team

    Bingxu Wang, graduate research assistant at Oakland University, sectioned 650 samples for tensile testing and heat treated 560 of them. He designed the different heat treatments including austenitizing, normalizing, quenching/tempering and austempering for the 18 steels in the project, and resolved issues that occurred. He conducted the post-test metallographic evaluation of the 140 different heat treatment conditions, twice the initial plan. Wang completed tasks far beyond the original expectations.