Recognizing Members Shaping the Future of Automotive Steel Innovation
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – October 29, 2024 – Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 Awards of Excellence, presented during its annual Technology Day at the Lauren Manor Conference Center in Livonia, Mich. These awards highlight the dedication and forward-thinking achievements of A/SP members who are helping to redefine the future of automotive steel technologies.
“Today, we recognize the leaders and innovators who are driving us toward more sustainable, efficient, and cutting-edge automotive solutions,” said Michael Davenport, Executive Director of A/SP. “Their commitment to excellence, teamwork, and innovation has made a lasting impact, not just on our organization, but on the entire automotive industry.”
Awarded by their peers and the A/SP Joint Policy Council, these individuals and teams represent the best in class when it comes to technical expertise, creative problem-solving, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of steel applications. Their contributions over the past year have been essential in shaping the projects that will define tomorrow’s mobility solutions.
2024 Award of Excellence Winners
Individual Excellence Awards
Given in appreciation for exceptional leadership and commitment to the Partnership as a whole.
- Vince Millioto, Martinrea International USA Inc.
- Larry Papke, General Motors Company
- Tingting Zhang, General Motors Company
Most Valuable Player Awards
Given in appreciation for going above and beyond in performance and contributions to a project and the Partnership.
- Dean Kanelos, Nucor
- Bryan Macek, Stellantis
- Miguel Quiñones, Metalsa
Key Collaborator Award
Given in appreciation for valuable contributions to overcoming project challenges.
- Alro Steel (Sharon Clor)
- Engineering Quality Solutions (Daniel Schaeffler)
- Hexagon (Fernando Okigami)
Project Team Awards
Given in appreciation for collaboration and effectiveness in providing solutions to challenges faced by automakers.
A/SP Design Team
A/SP Design Team’s goal is to demonstrate the benefits of steel in structural execution, using metrics such as mass, overall cost, manufacturability, sustainability and package efficiency. This should be achieved without compromising repairability, in-process quality, design flexibility, recycling and logistical considerations. Following are the Design Team’s active members:
- Joseph Polewarczyk, GM (JPC Project Mentor & Team Lead)
- John Catterall, A/SP (Project Manager)
- Scott Adolphe, Toyota
- Dean Bartolomucci, Gestamp
- Venkatesh Budumuru, Gestamp
- Matthew Fistler, Gestamp
- Dean Kanelos, Nucor
- Jiwoong Ha, POSCO
- Bryan Macek, Stellantis
- Rafael Mercado, Ternium
- Efraín Rodríguez, Ternium
- Karunakaran Saambavi, TWB
- Gavin Sheffer, Martinrea
- Peter Siefert, Martinrea
- Harry Singh, TWB
- Tim Smallidge, Toyota
- Chad Stein, GM
- Dawn Stubleski, TWB
- Tim Tripathy, GM
- Madhu Jampala, Detroit Engineering Products (supplier)
- Amarnath C, Detroit Engineering Products (supplier)
These honorees will receive a trophy and/or a certificate, celebrating their efforts in advancing our shared mission to create smarter, stronger, and more efficient steel applications for the automotive industry.
2024 Award of Excellence Nominees
In addition to celebrating this year’s winners, Auto/Steel Partnership is proud to recognize all the individuals who were nominated for the prestigious Awards of Excellence. Being nominated by their peers and A/SP leadership is a testament to their exceptional contributions, leadership, and dedication to advancing the automotive steel industry. Each nominee has played an instrumental role in driving innovation, collaboration, and excellence within the industry, and we honor their achievements and the impact they have made. Their recognition in this process underscores the high regard in which they are held by colleagues and partners alike.
Individual Category Nominees
- Stephen Cipriano, General Motors Company
- Justin Hunt, Stellantis
- Bryan Macek, Stellantis
Most Valuable Player Category Nominees
- Jonathan Ellert, General Motors Company
- Vince Millioto, Martinrea International USA Inc
- Joseph Polewarczyk, General Motors Company
Key Collaborator Category Nominees
- K&T Tool and Die (Scott Beck)
- Oakland University (Prof. Sergey Golovashchenko)
- voestalpine (Patricia Miller)
Project Team Category Nominee
Advanced High-Strength Steels Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
AHSS GMAW Team was conceived to develop and validate a GMAW approval process for AHSS for use by automakers and steel companies. Projects include GMAW of AHSS & Fatigue Characterization and Modeling. A/SP has developed and validated CAE models for predicting weld performance in AHSS grades for automotive applications. Phase 1 of the project developed the understanding of physical welds and their effect on fatigue performance and provided a AHSS CAE fatigue modeling technique which is more predictive of production weld performance. Phase 2 of the project is to further validate the newly developed Generalized Stress Parameter (GSP) modeling approach in a full welded assembly. Following are the Team’s active members:
- Michael Davenport, A/SP, JPC Mentor
- Michael White, A/SP Project Manager
- Spyros Mellas, General Motors Company
- Preston Hart, General Motors Company
- Mitchell Warchol, General Motors Company
- Kathy Wang, General Motors Company
- Pankaj Jha, General Motors Company
- Weiping Sun, Nucor
- Jiwoong Ha, POSCO
- Jose Luis Galaviz, Stellantis
- Mark Fistler, Stellantis
- Justin Hunt, Stellantis
- Mario Alvarado, Ternium
- Cindy Jiang, AET Integration
- Elliot Biro, University of Waterloo
Congratulations to all those recognized for this prestigious award and thank you for your contributions that make Auto/Steel Partnership a success.
Auto/Steel Partnership Foundation (A/SP) is a non-profit research consortium of automakers, sheet steel producers and affiliate tier suppliers. For more than 35 years, A/SP members work to drive improvements from concept through realization in vehicles on the road today, as well as to support an educated workforce. For more information, visit the About section of this website.