ULSAB-ADVANCED VEHICLE CONCEPTS (ULSAB-AVC) RECOGNIZED WITH ENERGY
EFFICIENCY AWARD
DETROIT, MI, October 13, 2005 - The American Iron and Steel
Institute (AISI) announced today that the ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle
Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) project has been honored with the Alliance to Save
Energy (ASE) 2005 Stars of Energy Efficiency Award in recognition of its
significant advances in solutions for vehicle energy efficiency.
ULSAB-AVC is one of three winners of this prestigious award,
receiving the Category C honor reserved for non-profit organizations,
academic institutions, consortia and interest groups. The award will be
presented to Ed Opbroek, former director of the international ULSAB-AVC
consortium at the ASE’s “An Evening with the Stars of Energy
Efficiency” gala on October 20, 2005 at the National Building
Museum in Washington, D.C.
Over 500 guests and more than 30 congressional co-hosts and corporate
sponsors will attend the gala to acknowledge those who have contributed
the most to the cause of energy efficiency.
“We are honoring the ULSAB-AVC research initiative with this
award because it has helped to make a dramatic impact on today's vehicle
design and fuel economy,” said Kateri Callahan, ASE president.
“We’re pleased to recognize this significant work with our
2005 Stars of Energy Efficiency award.”
The ULSAB-AVC project produced concepts for a C-Class
European vehicle and a Mid-size North American vehicle. Remarkable
achievements include significantly improved energy efficiency through
new lightweight Advanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS) applications,
attaining fuel economy of 53 mpg for a gasoline engine version and as
much as 73 mpg using a diesel engine. As well, the ULSAB-AVC
concepts have a potential reduction in total primary energy consumption
over the vehicle life cycle of approximately 50 percent, compared to a
United States Automotive Materials Partnership study
vehicle.1 Designed and engineered by Porsche
Engineering Services, Inc., the concepts meet or exceed the most
stringent crash safety requirements, and attain high-volume
manufacturability at affordable costs. All of this was
accomplished using steel, the most recyclable material in the
world.
“We take great pride in the work of the ULSAB-AVC project, and
we are pleased that ULSAB-AVC is recognized by the ASE with this
prominent award,” said Andrew G. Sharkey, III, AISI president and
CEO. “It is affirmation that the work of the ULSAB-AVC
consortium continues to positively contribute to our society and the
world.”
ULSAB-AVC and its sister research projects, the UltraLight Steel Auto
Body (ULSAB), UltraLight Steel Auto Closures (ULSAC) and UltraLight
Steel Auto Suspensions (ULSAS) were completed over the course of the
last nine years and represent over $60 million in private
investment by the world’s major sheet steel producers. A
unique, independent, international consortium of steel companies,
representing 22 countries and 35 steel producers, spearheaded the
projects. Comprehensive reports on the ULSAB family of research
can be found at AISI’s website, www.autosteel.org.
ULSAB-AVC received its nomination for the ASE award from John
Catterall, design engineering technical, General Motors Corporation.
“ULSAB-AVC and the ULSAB family of research projects
revolutionized the kinds of steels normally applied to vehicle
architectures while demonstrating cutting-edge steel vehicle
design,” Catterall noted. “We felt it was deserving of
consideration for this energy efficiency award.”
“AHSS can be found in nearly every vehicle on the road today in
applications that closely mirror those displayed in the ULSAB family of
research projects,” said AISI’s Automotive Applications
Senior Director Ron Krupitzer.
ULSAB-AVC concept demonstrations have been credited with bringing the
potential for safe, affordable, fuel efficient vehicles that are
environmentally responsible to near-term reality.
“The fact that automakers are applying project findings to
reach weight reduction and fuel efficiency goals on a global order of
magnitude is evidence of their success in providing viable steel-based
solutions for vehicle energy efficiency,” noted Jim Kutka, senior
vice president-commercial for United States Steel Corporation and
chairman of AISI’s Market Development Committee.
“Reducing vehicle weight is a serious challenge among automakers
today as extreme pressure has been placed upon them to reduce
consumption of fossil fuels.”
Additionally, automakers have the extra challenge to achieve this
weight reduction while also improving safety and maintaining
affordability—requirements that are in direct opposition to each
other. So important was this initiative, on a global basis, that
the involvement of the international steel manufacturing community was
solicited. Consequently it grew to a global research and
development effort launched by the ULSAB family of international
research consortia.
“These consortia represented an entirely unique and innovative
strategy by a global industry, bringing competing steel manufacturers
together in a close-knit working environment to achieve a common goal
for their customers,” said Opbroek. “In addition to dramatic
technical achievement, there was also remarkable achievement in
overcoming cultural, language, legal, financial, governance and
competitive issues necessary for 35 competing global companies to work
together effectively.”
Opbroek is currently director of the International Iron and Steel
Institute’s Automotive Committee (IISI-AutoCo), in which AISI
member companies actively participate. IISI-AutoCo continues
conducting research and development projects to assist automakers in
effectively applying new steel technologies to reach design, safety and
environmental goals.
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the
public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace
as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the
development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology.
AISI is comprised of 32 member companies, including integrated and
electric furnace steelmakers, and 118 associate and affiliate members
who are suppliers to our customers of the steel industry. AISI's member
companies represent approximately 75 percent of both U.S. and North
American steel capacity.
The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the
Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of
steel in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and
staff located in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel
industries has been key to its success. This industry cooperation
resulted in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors
Corporation and the member companies of the AAC. For more news or
information, visit www.autosteel.org.
American Iron and Steel Institute/
Automotive Applications Committee:
AK Steel
Corporation
Dofasco Inc.
Mittal Steel
USA
Nucor
Corporation
Severstal North America Inc.
Stelco Inc.
United
States Steel Corporation
1 Life Cycle Inventory Study of the
ULSAB–Advanced Vehicle Concepts Vehicle Product System, JSAE
20037117, SAE 2003-01-2838
|
