Altair and CAR Announce Call for Nominations for 2015 Enlighten Award

The automotive industry's only award dedicated solely to lightweighting enters its third year

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Feb 04, 2015, 10:00 ET

TROY, Mich., Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair has announced it is now accepting nominations for the 2015 Altair Enlighten Award, the automotive industry's only award program solely dedicated to innovation in vehicle lightweighting. Now in its third year, the annual award will be presented in collaboration with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) at the 50^th annual CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich., August 3-6, 2015.

The 2015 Altair Enlighten Award (#AltairEnlighten) will recognize achievements in weight reduction across the automotive industry, from motorcycles to passenger cars, light trucks to commercial vehicles and buses.

"The 2014 competition attracted a wide range of innovative solutions from across the automotive world, so I'm looking forward to seeing what this year's nominees have in store for us," said David Mason, Vice President, Global Automotive for Altair. "This year's award will again act as a platform for OEMs and suppliers alike to share new technologies, design techniques, materials and joining solutions that help to tackle the market's fuel efficiency and emissions challenges by reducing vehicle weight."

The Enlighten Award gives companies involved in automotive design and manufacturing the chance to be recognized as a leader in the development of lightweight solutions. The 2014 award was won by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for its approach to sustainability. JLR's lightweight vehicle strategy takes a holistic approach to CO₂ reduction, linking strategies of weight reduction in the body and chassis systems to powertrain and related secondary weight savings, while maximizing recycled material use and lowering energy consumption during the manufacturing stage. The runner-up prize was awarded to Dow Automotive Systems for the application of its BETAMATE™ bonding solution on Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks.

"CAR is very pleased to collaborate with Altair once again and to call for 2015 nominations for the Enlighten Award," said Dr. Jay Baron, President & CEO of CAR. "More now than at any other time in history, the push to aggressively lightweight vehicles has accelerated the pace of innovation for new materials and processes, and this award goes hand-in-hand with the objective of CAR to share knowledge and recognize accomplishments in automotive lightweighting solutions."

Manufacturers and suppliers interested in submitting a nomination are able to access additional information about the nomination process on the Altair Enlighten website. To allow sharing of innovation to further this goal, while respecting the business and technical confidentiality of all applications, designs submitted must be implemented on a production vehicle produced between August 2012 and August 2015, with no geographical restrictions.

Applications for the 2015 Altair Enlighten Award must be received on or before May 29, 2015 to be eligible. Winners will be announced in August 2015. The judging panel will include industry experts and academic leaders, as well as CAR and Altair representatives.

About Altair

Altair is focused on the development and broad application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,300 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA and operates more than 40 offices throughout 22 countries. Today, Altair serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com.

About CAR

The Center for Automotive Research is a non-profit organization based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Its mission is to conduct research on significant issues related to the future direction of the global automotive industry, organize and conduct forums of value to the automotive community, and foster industry relationships. For more information, visit the CAR website: www.cargroup.org

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SOURCE Altair