The 2018 Altair Enlighten Award, presented jointly by Altair and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), is now open for submissions. Fostering innovation for lightweighting initiatives, the award recognizes achievements in weight reduction across the automotive industry and will be presented at the 53rd CAR Management Briefing Seminars held in Traverse City, Michigan, on July 30, 2018.
“We are pleased to partner with Altair on this award once again this year at MBS,” said Carla Bailo, president and CEO at CAR. “As the future of mobility continues to develop at a rapid pace, the innovations needed in lightweighting are critical to success. Considering electrification and autonomous, the battery range will have significant impact on the economics for the mobility service providers; hence, there is a great need to optimize vehicle weight and provide innovative solutions. We are delighted to recognize the key contributors to this success.”
The Enlighten Award will be presented in four categories: Full Vehicle, Module, Enabling Technology, and a newly added category entitled “The Future of Lightweighting.” The Full Vehicle award is given for exceptional achievement in the lightweighting of an entire vehicle, with previous winners including FCA, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Jaguar Land Rover. The Module award is given for innovation in the lightweighting of a subsystem or component, with previous winners including Toyota, Faurecia, BASF, and ContiTech. The Enabling Technology award is reserved for any technology that enables lightweight innovation in a vehicle, such as a material, process, or joining technology, and was awarded for the first time in 2017 to AP&T.
The Future of Lightweighting award, which is being introduced in 2018, opens the playing field up to technology that is not yet commercially available. It is reserved for innovative ideas, processes, materials and technologies that have significant potential to support lightweighting initiatives but have yet to be leveraged on a production vehicle platform. This category is open to incubator and startup companies, small-medium sized businesses, research and development institutions, universities, and entrepreneurs alike.
“With each year that we offer the Altair Enlighten Award, the level of technology and innovation that is submitted continues to exceed my expectations,” said Richard Yen, senior vice president, Global Automotive and Industry Verticals Team at Altair. “Now entering the award’s 6th year, we are getting attention from a much broader range of companies. With the addition of the Future of Lightweighting category, we will have an opportunity to highlight innovative new technologies, processes, and ideas in the concept phase that would not have been accepted in previous years. We could not be more excited to learn what the automotive industry has been working on this year.”
Interested manufacturers and suppliers can submit an entry, learn about the award criteria, or access additional information about the process on the Enlighten Award website. Designs submitted for the Full Vehicle, Module, and Enabling Technology categories must be implemented on a production vehicle produced between August 2015 and August 2018 to allow for sharing with the public, while respecting business and technical confidentiality of all applications. Those who wish to submit a solution for the Future of Lightweighting category should submit the category-specific entry form. Entries must not be in production as of January 2nd, 2018.
The submission deadline for the Enlighten Award is May 25, 2018, with the final judging taking place in June 2018.