The Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) presented its 2026 Awards of Excellence at Technology Day, held October 20 at General Motors. Honors were given in five categories: Individual, Most Valuable Player, Project Team, Key Collaborator, and Lifetime Achievement.
Dean Kanelos of Nucor Corporation stood out, earning MVP honors, leading the winning Design Team, and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Individual
This award honors project team leads who show exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to A/SP project teams and the Partnership as a whole.
- Victor Salinas, Ternium
- Sarah Tedesco, General Motors Company
- Miguel Quinones, Metalsa
Most Valuable Player
The MVP award recognizes behind-the-scenes contributors who go above and beyond across multiple project teams.
- Drew Hill, General Motors Company
- Dean Kanelos, Nucor Corporation
- Hassan Ghassemi-Armaki, General Motors Company
Project Team: Design
The Design Team took this year’s Project Team award. The category honors a collaborative team that solves pain points faced by automakers, produces ground-breaking findings and stays on time, on scope and on budget.
Team members:
- Dean Kanelos, Nucor (JPC Team Mentor and Project Lead)
- John Catterall, A/SP (Project Manager)
- Brian Asimba, GM
- Tim Tripathy, GM
- Brenda Higuera, Nucor
- Hailey Lee, POSCO
- Sung Cho, POSCO
- Jair Barrera, Ternium
- Efrain Rodriguez, Ternium
Key Collaborator
This award recognizes outside suppliers contracted by A/SP project teams for helping overcome project challenges.
- Cadence (Fernando Okigami)
- Fusion Welding (Charles Orsette)
- DEP (Madhu Jampala)
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dean Kanelos, Nucor Corporation, received the Lifetime Achievement Award in appreciation of a career of exceptional leadership and lasting contributions to the Partnership.
About the Auto/Steel Partnership
Formed in 1987, the Auto/Steel Partnership is a consortium of automakers and steel producers. It pools the resources of both industries for research, validation and education that help automakers improve vehicle safety, fuel economy, design and manufacturing.