SAE Presents Environmental Excellence in Transportation Awards

Warrendale, PA (June 8, 2004) - The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is pleased to announce the recipients of the Environmental Excellence in Transportation Awards. The awards were presented at the Government/Industry Meeting on Tuesday, May 11 at the Lowes L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington D.C.

The awards, established in 2000, recognize individuals who, through their ingenuity and dedication, make significant innovations in reducing the environmental impact caused by the transportation industry. These achievements may occur in motorized vehicles for land, sea, air and space and cover the areas of education, new methods and tools, energy and emissions, recycling and remanufacturing, process innovations and materials development. Nominees are judged based on their innovation and originality, along with their favorable impact on the environment, including improvement over existing technologies, methods and public acceptance.

The winners were honored in the following categories:

Education, Training and Public Awareness

Winner
GM "Fuel Cells: Driving the Future"
Team Leader/Presenter: Lori Wingerter, General Motors Corporation
Team: Chris Bates, Dave Barthmuss, Kristi Thoel, Daniel O'Connell and Jerry King, General Motors Corporation
Community: 20,000 schools

Informed students and their families about hydrogen technology and how it will impact their futures in a curriculum created and distributed by General Motors

Runner-up
Energy Awareness Days
Team Leader/Presenter: Faiz Yono, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Team: Lawrence Workens, DaimlerChrysler Corporation; Mark Hinebaugh and Dennis Seeger, DTE Energy
Community: Southeastern Michigan; Windsor & Brampton, Ontario; Kokomo, Indiana; Belvidere, Illinois; Newark, Delaware; Toledo, Ohio

Stressed the importance of educating the employees of auto assembly plants about efficiency and conservation to reduce green house emissions

New Methods and Tools

Winner
Container Sharing Website
Team Leader/Presenter: Rebecca Kaspryk, Delphi Corporation
Team: Don Korte and Mike Kendall, Delphi Corporation
Community: Delphi manufacturing sites

Provided an innovative, simple-to-use application tool that facilitates reuse of container inventories across the enterprise, benefiting both the industry and the environment

Mobile Energy and Emissions

Winner (Tie)
Valve Train Cylinder Deactivation System
Presenter: Daniel Smith, Delphi Corporation
Team Leader: Mark Spath, Delphi Corporation
Team: Ralph Clayson, Dave Draeger, Jeff Edwards, Jason Flanagan, Nick Hendriksma, Daniel Smith, Al Stone, and Carl Kangas, Delphi Corporation
Community: U.S. automobile market

Boosted fuel economy and lowered carbon dioxide emissions by creating a system that selectively "turns off" half of the engine's cylinders under certain conditions

Winner (Tie)
Michelin X One Wide Single Tire
Presenter: Ibrahim Janajreh, Michelin Americas R&D Corporation
Team Leader: David Stafford, Michelin Americas R&D Corporation
Team: Randy Clark, John Melson, Glenn Gordon, Ibrahim Janajreh, Don Pelley, Mike Hurley, Lynn Mann, and Victor Abarotin, Michelin Americas R&D Corporation
Community: United States

Reduced rolling resistance and weight, lowered carbon dioxide emissions and enabled increased payloads to result in fewer working trucks and the use of less energy and raw materials

Stationary Energy and Emissions

Winner
Plant 47 Up-front Environmental Engineering
Presenter: Norman Brentin, Delphi Corporation
Team Leader: Greg Pachol, Delphi Corporation
Team: Michelle Dillon, John Janis, Dave Heffner, Dominic Imburgia, Chuck Masfield, Norman Brentin, Bob Bacue, and John Patterson, Delphi Corporation
Community: Vienna, Ohio

Substantially reduced stationary energy and emissions through the value engineering for a new world-class plastic injection molding facility

Recycling, Reuse and Remanufacturing

Winner
Reduction of Unusable Hazardous Waste
Presenter: Bernd Mattmann, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Team Leader: Axel Benz, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Team: Gerhard Nuss, Bernd Mattmann, Herbert Reinhardt and Dr. Joachim Kautt, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Community: County of Boeblingen, Germany

Reduced unusable waste to conserve resources, to avoid air and water pollution by incineration or disposal and to stop public plans for an incineration plant

Runner-up
Raw Material Reduction
Team Leader/Presenter: Dave Nielsen, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Team: Anthony Minna, Eugene Conforti, David Hawkes, and Mark Wojdynski, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Community: Sterling Heights, Michigan

Reduced environmental impacts and saved money by reducing the raw materials consumed in the manufacture of parts while still maintaining or improving quality

Process Innovations

Winner
Process Inconsistencies and Cost Savings Opportunities Related to Adhesive Dispense Processes
Presenter: Dan Afseth, Delphi Corporation
Team Leader: Dale Beal, Delphi Corporation
Team: Dan Afseth, Jason Ricketts, Phil Wittmer, Tim Byers, Pat Amos, Bill Hillman, and Brenda Baney, Delphi Corporation
Community: Kokomo, Indiana

Lessened the amount of adhesive material sent to hazardous waste by over 80 percent, reducing emissions and generating a large cost savings

Runner-up
Sterling Stamping Plant Black Belt
Team Leader/Presenter: Edward Brennan, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Team: Gary Hudson, Arun Kumar, Ziliang Zhou, Larry Labrana, Larry Risley, and Arthur Masterson, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Community: Sterling Heights, Michigan

Reduced environmental impacts of the manufacturing process by using quantitative measures to drive continuous improvement at all levels in any enterprise by cutting down on the natural resources, manpower and time used to produce the end products

Materials Development and Usage

Winner
Development of the Intelligent Catalyst
Team Leader/Presenter: Hirohisa Tanaka, Daihatsu Motor Company, Ltd.
Team: Isao Tan, Ichiro Takahashi, Mari Uenishi, Nobuhiko Kajita, Masashi Taniguchi, and Noboru Sato, Daihatsu Motor Company, Ltd.; Mareo Kimura and Keiichi Narita, Cataler Corporation
Community: Cataler Corporation, Japan

Solved the problem of supply and demand for precious metals through the development of an intelligent catalyst with an innovative self-regenerative function

Runner-up
SuperSolids Technology
Presenter: Terrence Cressy, DuPont Automotive
Team Leader: David Wood, DuPont Automotive
Team: Anthony Coletta, Randy Mielnicki, Robert Matheson, Otis York, and Neil Garey, DuPont Automotive; James Wolfe, Marion Boone, Kevin Slusarczyk, Kim Scarlet, Pat Rausch, Rudy Birney, and Marvin Floer, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Community: Newark, Delaware

Met emission permit requirements one year early while improving vehicle finish durability in a successful effort to increase solids content and dramatically reduce emissions

For more information on the Environmental Excellence in Transportation Awards, contact SAE Awards and Scholarships Program Manager Lori Pail at (724) 772-8534 or lorile@sae.org or visit the SAE Web site at http://www.sae.org/news/awards/list/e2t/.