AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS COUNCIL OF AISI’S SMDI
WINS AMERICAN METAL MARKET’S 2010 AWARD FOR STEEL EXCELLENCE
 DETROIT, June 23, 2010 – The
Automotive Applications Council (AAC) of the American Iron and Steel
Institute’s (AISI) Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) has
been named the winner of the American Metal
Market’s 2010 Award for Steel Excellence in the environmental
responsibility / stewardship category. Lawrence W. Kavanagh, president
of AISI’s SMDI accepted the award during a celebration dinner at a
ceremony yesterday in New York City at the Steel Success
Strategies event.
The AAC was honored for its UltraLight steel
automotive research initiatives to meet emerging fuel economy, safety
and performance standards. The four research projects were designed to
revolutionize steel-intensive vehicle designs and included: UltraLight
Steel Auto Body (ULSAB); UltraLight Steel Auto
Suspension (ULSAS); UltraLight Steel Auto Closures (ULSAC); and
ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC).
“It was an honor to accept the award on
behalf of the AAC’s collaborative work, which has demonstrated
that by using new light, high-strength steels, automakers can reduce
vehicle weight, helping to significantly lower a vehicle’s
environmental impact throughout the vehicle life cycle,” Kavanagh
said. “Additionally, the vehicle maintains high safety standards
and is affordable for customers and consumers, showing that steel can be
the green material of choice for today’s vehicles.”
The UltraLight steel projects show how automakers
can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption and
deliver vehicles with the lowest CO2 impact over a
vehicle’s life cycle. The projects proved a weight reduction of 25
to 34 percent is attainable through the use of advanced high-strength
steels.
According to Ron
Krupitzer, vice president of Automotive Applications
for SMDI, the $40 million investment in the global UltraLight
initiatives revolutionized the way steel was used in vehicle
applications. The project showed for every 1 million vehicles made
according to these designs, nearly 2.1 million tons of CO2
emissions and 171.3 million gallons of fuel per year could be saved.
American Metal Market’s inaugural
awards recognize pioneering efforts that companies or institutions have
taken to improve competitiveness and demonstrate excellence in their
operations across 12 categories. Winners were selected at the Steel
Success Strategies 25th anniversary – with more than
1,000 delegates from the global steel industry – by a panel of
steel industry experts and executives.
The Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), a business unit of the
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), grows and maintains the use of
steel through strategies that promote cost-effective solutions in the
automotive, construction and container markets, as well as for
new-growth opportunities in non-traditional steel markets. The
Automotive Applications Council is a part of the SMDI and focuses on
advancing the use of steel in the highly competitive automotive market.
For more news or information, visit www.autosteel.org.
Automotive Applications Council investors are:
- AK Steel Corporation
- ArcelorMittal Dofasco
- ArcelorMittal USA
- Nucor Corporation
- Severstal North America
- United States Steel Corporation
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For More Information:
CONTACT:
Deanna Lorincz
Director, Automotive
Communications
American Iron and Steel Institute
tel: 248.945.4763
fax: 248.352.1740
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