2011 Finalists

2011

1. Valeo Engine and Electrical Systems

   Insulated Molded Lead Frame Technology

   Valeo created compact packaging of electrical connections for its starter-alternator used in stop-start systems. The process molds the mechanical support of the electronic circuit into the plastic housing of the module. The new method meets the power demands of high-temperature environments in electric vehicles.
   First customer: e-HDi engine of PSA Peugeot Citroen, July 2010

2. EcoMotors International Inc.

   Opposed-Piston, Opposed-Cylinder Engine

   The engine has two pistons per cylinder that move in opposite directions, reducing weight and size. Engine power density is increased with a turbocharger augmented by an electric motor.

3. BorgWarner Morse TEC

   Variable Camshaft Timing System With Mid-Position Lock

   The BorgWarner system for variable camshaft timing gives a larger range of camshaft motion, enabling advanced engine calibration. This optimizes air flow and increasing fuel economy.
   First customer: 2.0-liter boxer engine in 2011 Subaru Forester, August 2010

4. Dassault Systemes

   Powertrain Digital Integration And Automation (PDIA)

   The software integrates tools for computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering into one platform, increasing design speed and enabling the creation of new processes.
   First customer: Ford Motor Co. powertrain organization, second quarter 2009

5. Hutchinson FTS Inc.

   Heat Exchanger For Air Conditioning

   Liquid refrigerant in the heat exchanger’s micro-channels receives extra cooling from low-pressure gaseous exhaust from the evaporator. This boosts performance up to 15 percent.
   First customer: Mercedes-Benz M class, January 2011

6. Lear Corp., Seating Systems

   Highly Recyclable and Modular Evolution Seat

   More than 95 percent of the Evolution Seat is recyclable. The lightweight seat uses entry, midlevel and luxury options for various parts that can be mixed and matched.
   First customer: Mahindra, February 2011

7. Federal-Mogul Corp./Powertrain Sealing and Bearings

   K16 Elastomeric Compound For Bonded Pistons In Automatic Transmissions

   Bonded pistons engage clutch packs in automatic transmissions. The traditional seal on the piston requires curing in an oven, which is time consuming, expensive and environmentally harmful. Federal-Mogul found an elastomeric compound for the seal that requires no oven curing.
   First customer: Ford, third quarter 2009

8. Robert Bosch GmbH

   Direct Drive Windshield Wipers

   The system uses two electric motors to drive the wiper blades without a mechanical link between them. Electronic controls prevent the blades from colliding. The system reduces weight and provides more packaging and styling options.
   First customer: Ford Focus, Europe, December 2010

9. Behr GmbH

   Storage Evaporator For Vehicles With Stop-Start

   When a stop-start device shuts off a vehicle’s engine, the air conditioner also stops running. Behr’s evaporator uses a heat exchange process that provides cool air during engine stops.
   First customer: BMW 5, 6 and 7 series, September 2010

10. Lear Corp.

    Battery Charger For Plug-In Hybrids And Electric Vehicles

    The system includes the on-board battery charger and the coupler to the electrical grid. The system, which achieves 94 percent efficiency, is globally compatible.
    First customer: Chevrolet Volt, November 2010

11. Lear Corp.

    Lear Solid State Smart Junction Box(R) (S3JBTM)

    At Lear, our array of power-distribution systems (called junction boxes) intelligently manages power distribution and functionality. Our portfolio ranges from passive-junction boxes to advanced smart boxes, which reduces mass and cost through parts consolidation and enhanced power distribution. We have continued our technology leadership by evolving the Smart Junction Box to its most recent form, the Solid State Smart Junction Box (S3JB™). It incorporates Solid State drivers, thus eliminating traditional fuses and relays.

12. Dymos Inc., South Korea

    Advanced Seat Frame

    Hyundai and Kia plan to use Dymos’ global seat frame for 28 models. Components of the frame, which reduce weight, parts and welds, can be mixed and matched.
    First customer: Hyundai Sonata, October 2009

13. Continental AG

    In-Tank Fuel Pump with Brushless Motor

    Continental’s electronically controlled brushless motor improves pump life by up to 50 percent while cutting energy use.
    First customer: Volkswagen Sharan, fourth quarter 2009

14. TRW Occupant Safety Systems

    Seat Belts That Detect Passenger Size and Adjust Restraint

    Conventional seat belts cannot sense whether a passenger is big or small. TRW determines the passenger’s size by detecting how much belt is retracted – without the need for costly sensors, wiring or electronic controls. In a crash, the restraining force of the seat belt is adjusted to match big or small passengers.
    First customer: Mercedes-Benz E class, August 2009

15. Continental AG

    Vibrating Accelerator Pedal

    Some cars use radar along with lights or buzzers to warn drivers of impending collisions. The Continental pedal warns drivers by pushing back against the driver’s foot and vibrating. This is effective because it cuts through distractions, such as conversations in the cabin.
    First customer: Nissan Fuga in Japan, 2007

16. Federal-Mogul Corp.

    IROX Polymer Sliding Layer for Engine Bearings

    The coating is particularly useful for hybrid powertrains that stop and start frequently, for engines with stop-start and for high-output engines. Bearing shells coated with IROX polymer can last much longer than those with traditional coatings.
    First customer: General Motors, November 2010

17. Martinrea International

    Infinicote Coating

    Infinicote is a multipurpose coating to protect body, chassis, and powertrain parts from corrosion. It is water-based and replaces solvent-based products. Workers who apply it don’t need respirators.
    First customer: Ford Mustang, December 2010

18. Behr GmbH

    No-Draft Vents For Air Conditioning

    Hidden tubes and innovative vents in the cabin direct cool air to passengers without annoying drafts, while improving HVAC efficiency.
    First customer: BMW, September 2009

19. OEConnection

    Fordparts.Com, Web Site to Buy Parts

    FordParts.com, developed by OEConnection, lets commercial and retail customers buy parts at any time of day through dealerships. The site offers more than 280,000 Ford and Lincoln Mercury parts, described in layman’s terms.
    First customer: Fordparts.com, December 2009

20. Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership

    Seals Using Fluoroxprene Fluoroelastomers

    For a transmission, Robert Bosch Corp. designed an internal control module that is submerged in transmission fluid. Freudenberg’s fluoroelastomers, combining characteristics of rubber and plastic, seal the module in this harsh environment.
    First customer: GM rear-drive six-speed transmission, via Bosch, April 2009

21. Valeo Wiper Systems

    Dual Direct-Drive Front Wiper System

    The system uses two electric motors, one for each windshield wiper blade, replacing the mechanical linkage between them with a controller. This cuts mass up to 30 percent and volume by up to half.
    First customer: Mercedes-Benz SLS-AMG, January 2010

22. Valeo

    BeamAtic(R) Premium: Non Glaring High Beam

    LED technology significantly expands the possibilities in system design of glare free high beam systems (GFHB). Valeo shows several approaches as well as the differences between the solutions in terms of their functionality and features. The concepts range from swivelling headlight modules with fixed vertical cut-offs to the pixel based suppression of individual sectors in the light cone.

23. The Woodbridge Group

    StrataLiner NET(R) – High-Performance

    StrataLiner NET composite board technology from the Woodbridge Groupprovides high levels of material property and product performance for composite board-based products such as headliners. The composite boards feature GreenLite technology, which is a low-mass solution that uses intelligent applications of lean polymers and industry-leading processes to improve a product’s physical characteristics. Additionally, BioFoam technology can be incorporated to offer high levels of renewable source inclusion without compromising performance. Components made from this technology offer product advantages over competing materials, including cost savings, thinner cross sections, enhanced design flexibility, improved surface quality, better acoustics, and up to 40% mass reduction.

24. Delphi Automotive Winner!

    Delphi Multec GDi Fuel Injector

    Gasoline direct fuel injection systems offer significant reduction in fuel consumption and emissions compared with current port fuel injection systems. To become a widely adopted standard in fuel injection systems, injector manufacturers have battled to overcome problems caused by the much higher fuel pressure in direct injection systems. Delphi Automotive has developed a lower cost, innovative new injector that significantly reduces noise levels, performance variation, emissions and fuel consumption.

    Delphi has achieved these gains through new technologies, including a decoupled armature and pintle assembly, a stamped metal injector tip, and powerful flux gate electromagnetics. This breakthrough injector is installed on Hyundai vehicles and will accelerate the adoption rate of gasoline direct injection at automakers worldwide.

25. Federal-Mogul Corporation / Powertrain Energy Winner!

    EcoTough® Piston Coating

    Increased power output as engines are downsized and boosted subjects engines to greater mechanical and thermal stress thus, the need for reduced friction and increased wear resistance.

    Federal Mogul has responded to this demand with the EcoTough Piston Coating, a proprietary antifriction piston skirt coating material. It uses a mix of solid lubricants optimized for low friction performance, and a fiber reinforced polymer base for high wear resistance. It extends piston life and makes measurable reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. EcoTough coated pistons are compatible with existing cylinder bore finishes, and can be introduced seamlessly into volume engine production.

26. Federal-Mogul Corporation / Powertrain Energy Winner!

    Low-Friction LKZ® Oil Ring

    Federal Mogul’s LKZ Low Friction Oil Ring is designed for high power density diesel and direct injection gasoline engines. Its two-piece design employs an asymmetrical land with sharp lower edge and a radius on the upper, for optimal downward scraping. It enables reduced pressure on the cylinder wall. The result is a 50 percent reduction in oil consumption, and friction loss reduction by up to 15 percent, with excellent durability. These attributes have driven rapid market acceptance.

27. Henkel Corporation Winner!

    Terophon High Damping Foam

    Henkel’s Terophon High Damping foam is a highly engineered acoustical attenuation solution. Terophon is several times more effective than the traditional asphaltic patches at lower cost to the OEMs, and it also provides structural reinforcement. Weight savings range up to a pound per door. This innovation takes the process out of the paint shop and into the tier 1 plant, and it will enable the redesign of doors and other structural members.

28. Honeywell Turbo Technologies Winner!

    Honeywell DualBoost Turbocharger for Medium Duty Diesel Engines

    Honeywell’s Dual Boost turbocharger promises a new range of design options for engine designers. It has a dual sided unit: Intake compressor and exhaust turbine on a single shaft enclosed in one common overall housing. This unit is lighter and smaller than two turbos in series, allowing it to mount in the channel of a V engine. Pedestal mounting of the unit onto an engine also reduces NVH and it allows direct transfer of lubricant and coolant from channels in the engine head (usually) to the turbo unit without using tubes and hoses. Dual Boost contributed to the Ford 6.7L reaching 400 bhp, higher than the engines of competitors.

29. Janesville Acoustics Winner!

    Molded Fiber IP Closeouts with Integrated Lighting and Ducts

    Applying creative design to its established technology that uses a substantial portion of recycled materials, Janesville Acoustics has produced an innovative solution for closing the underside of instrument panels which is lighter and less expensive than competing parts. In addition, Janesville Acoustics closeout combines one part noise blocking, noise adsorption, aimed lighting and improved HVAC distribution.

30. Key Safety Systems Inc. Winner!

    INFLATABELT – Inflatable Seat Belt System

    Key Safety Systems combines the lifesaving features of airbags and seatbelts into a single integrated system for rear seat passengers with their Inflatabelt system launched on the 2011 Ford Explorer.

    The inflatabelt is the first air bag housed in the torso section of the rear seat belt. During a violent automobile crash event, a standard seatbelt may impart a fairly large force on an occupant over its 2-inch width. The inflatabelt technology enhances the safety of the rear seat passengers through reduced loads on the occupant during a dynamic crash situation therefore reducing the injury levels. The gas filled tubular cushion applies restraint forces to a larger area of the occupant’s body to more gently restrain the occupant. Occupant protection is improved, especially for small children. This is in essence a melding of airbag and seatbelt technology.

31. MAHLE Winner!

    Electrical Waste Gate Actuator

    The Mahle Electrical Waste Gate Actuator offers complete control of the waste gate position INDEPENDENT of the engine’s boost pressure. This in turn enables higher accuracy of the waste gate position control, a significant reduction of the waste gate leakage rate, a reduction of boost pressure at base levels, and an improvement in over all fuel consumption as a result of a reduction of engine pumping losses. When compared to existing Pneumatic Waste Gate Actuators for exhaust gas turbo chargers which are boost pressure controlled, Mahle’s new innovative EGW offers exceptionally fast actuation speed and high precision control, allowing for greater optimization of the exhaust gas and charge cycle that has been achievable to date.

    With better engine performance (max torque, max power), improved engine transient behavior and not significant system cost increases to the OEM, Mahle’s new Electrical Waste Gate Actuator is an important “Game Changer” that will be boosting turbo charged engines for years to come.

32. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Winner!

    OSTAR Headlamp – LED Headlamp Light Source

    Osram’s OSTAR LEDs combine technological advancements in ThinGaN chip technology, chip-level phosphor conversion, integrated shutter functionality, and extended output scalability to provide headlamp makers and OEMs new capabilities in headlamp design. Launched on the 2011 Audi 8, the Osram LEDs provide unique branding and product differentiation in both unlit and lit stages. Osram’s ability to package the superior output of ThinGaN technology with an integrated shutter improves driver visibility, reduces glare, and changes the game in forward lighting as the precisely controlled multi-element LED arrays enable solid-state adaptive lighting. The efficiency of Osram’s LEDs help automakers reduce forward lighting power consumption by 60%, eliminate mercury, and reduce consumer maintenance costs with the anticipated “life of vehicle’ performance compared with traditional light sources.

33. Robert Bosch Corporation GmbH Winner!

    P2 Parallel Full Hybrid System

    Robert Bosch has developed the world’s first Full Parallel (P2) Hybrid Electric Vehicle System. Launched on the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne S, Bosch’s innovative P2 system provides the environmental benefits of a hybrid powertrain while preserving the “Fun to Drive” characteristics, full towing capacity, and for SUVs, the high ground clearance/off-road performance capabilities of modern ICE powertrains. Bosch’s innovation also includes the brains behind the system in their Motronic Hybrid Control Unit that incorporates advanced clutch control algorithms to enable seamless transitions between the ICE and electric motor drives. The Bosch P2 system is a Win-Win as its parallel hybrid architecture preserves the performance and driving experience, while allowing OEMs to leverage their investments and engineering expertise in modern IC powertrains. The Bosch hybrid system and its smart clutch reduce the packaging modifications required by typical hybrids by combining the eDrive and engine start into a single eMotor.

34. Schaeffler Technologies Winner!

    INA Lightweight Balance Shaft with Roller Bearings

    Conventional engine balance shafts consist of two shafts rotating in opposite directions at twice engine speed, and supported by sleeve bearings lubricated under pump pressure. Schaeffler INA Balance Shafts using Rolling Bearings replace sleeve bearings with roller bearings, and drastically reduce shaft weight. Schaeffler was able to accomplish this by a creative redesign substituting shaft eccentricity for mass, and by opening up the bearing race so that bearings can lubricated by ambient oil splash, eliminating the need for oil pump pressure, and allowing the use of rolling bearings. The result is a 50 percent reduction in friction and a one kilogram reduction in engine weight. This yields a 1 to 2 percent reduction in fuel consumption, with extended engine life.

35. Takata Corporation Winner!

    Vacuum Folding Technology

    Takata has created the only Vacuum Folding Technology (VTF) for airbags after working 4 years and winning 50+ global patents. The VFT reduces the space, mass and weight of airbags leaving more space for other safety items, clearing the sight line for driver safety and giving styling creativity options to designers. 59% of current airbag modules is the cushion pack and Takata has created a process to vacuum pack cushions in a unique way to hold a force of equal to 30 Newtons! This includes new processes for folding, new films for packing and new ignitors for inflating while improving on key safety aspects of all types of airbags.

36. Chrysler Group LLC for its partnership with Janesville Acoustics

    Molded Fiber IP Closeouts with Integrated Lighting and Ducts

    Chrysler and Janesville Acoustics have worked jointly to design a family of molded-fiber instrument panel closeouts, providing acoustic advantages, and significant weight savings. For Chrysler vehicles these unseen panels under the instrument panel have superior NVH reduction while they also integrate HVAC functions. The teams also designed molded fiber closeouts that serve as a carrier for lighting. The resulting parts are lighter, less expensive and easier to install in an assembly plant, saving time and additional parts. A key aspect of the collaboration was working together to understand both how heat flows to occupants’ feet, and how different placement of lighting in the closeout affects aesthetics.

37. Ford Motor Company for its partnership with Dassault Systemes

    Powertrain Digital Integration and Automation (PDIA)

    Ford and Dassault have demonstrated a deep collaboration and shared common vision of process changes by combining CAD and CAE and imbedding Ford’s complete knowledge base of Powertrain design and engineering within Dassault software tool sets. This is a significant extension of software capability that dramatically changes design processes as well as the Ford engineering culture. The dramatic time and cost savings at Ford mean that Ford will take these process changes throughout their enterprise. The collaboration over the 4 year cultural change was based upon the digitizing of the Ford engineering knowledge base, a process innovation enabled by the Dassault team vision and technical tool sets.

38. Ford Motor Company for its partnership with Key Safety Systems Inc.

    INFLATABELT – Inflatable Seat Belt System

    Ford and Key Safety Systems worked together to commercialize a new visible safety device for rear seat vehicle occupants. Sharing some patents the Ford and Key teams created a breakthrough by routing the airbag gas through the seat buckle and tongue into the torso portion of the safety belt. This is significant improvement in safety for rear belted passengers, especially children. Commercializing this innovation required collaboration on the design, manufacturing and testing of a new buckle design; new tubular webbing and a one-piece-woven cushion and fold air bag design both developed by KSS; and the Cold Gas Deflator. While Key is the primary developer of this innovation the teams collaborated throughout the process.