Great Minds Think Light: The Altair Enlighten Award

Celebrating the automotive industry's only award dedicated to lightweighting and sustainability

The Altair Enlighten Award honors the greatest sustainability and lightweighting advancements that successfully reduce carbon footprint, mitigate water and energy consumption, and leverage material reuse and recycling efforts. An award that garners interest from industry, engineering, policymakers, educators, students, and the public alike, the Enlighten Award showcases the latest and greatest technology innovations dedicated to sustainability.

This year’s Enlighten Award features a new category, “Sustainable Computing,” sponsored by Google Cloud. Named a Top 10 Sustainability Award by EVMagazine.com, the Enlighten Award is presented annually in conjunction with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), and was presented on August 6, 2024.

Our Timeline

FEB 15

Entries Open

MAY 31

Entries Close

JULY 1

Finalists Announced

AUG 6

Awards Presented

2024 Award Winners

Click here to download the 2024 Enlighten Award Winners Summary to learn more about these incredible projects.

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Sustainable Product

Winner: DuPont
DuPont™ BETAMATE™ Broad Bake Adhesive Technology

Runner-up: Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
Turanza EV Tire

Sustainable Process

Winner: BMW M GmbH, AUTOMOTIVE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING GmbH (AMC), Bcomp Ltd., Gradel Lightweight Sàrl, LASSO Ingenieurgesellschaft
BMW M Visionary Materials Seat

Runner-up: Toyota Manufacturing Canada, PPG Industries
EPIC200X Electrocoat

Module Lightweighting

Winner: Syensqo, General Motors
High-Performance Thermoplastic Battery Module Structure

Runner-up: Toyota Motor Company, US Farathane, BASF Corporation
Toyota Tacoma Second-Row Composite Seat Structure

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Enabling Technology

Winner: CompositeEdge GmbH
Next-Gen Sustainable High-Performance Structures

Runner-up: Teijin Automotive Technologies
Fully Automated Preforming Process Enabling Complex CFRP Part

Honorable Mention: Bemis Manufacturing Company, BASF Corporation
Large Hydraulic Tanks for Compact Excavators via BASF’s Ultramid Polyamide

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Future of Lightweighting

Winner: WEAV3D Inc., Braskem, Clemson Composites Center
Cost-Effective Lightweight Vehicle Body Structures

Runner-up: Carsolia Composites Corporation
Composite Suspension Coil Spring by Carsolia

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Responsible AI

Winner: Dow Inc.
Sustainable SPECFLEX™ Polyurethane Solutions

2023 Altair Enlighten Award Winners

Every organization that wins the Enlighten Award joins a distinguished, trailblazing club. Last year's winners – Polestar, Nikola, ArcelorMittal, Volteras, Toyota, BASF Corp, US Farathane, Adient, Multimatic, and Marelli – are among the latest organizations to showcase the future of vehicle lightweighting, sustainability, and responsible AI.

You can see a complete list of previous winners here.

Interested in future Altair Enlighten Award events?

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Past Participants

Our Partners

Highlighting the organizations who help make the Enlighten Award possible.

 

Center for Automotive Research

Center for Automotive Research

AWARD PARTNER

Google Cloud

Google Cloud

AWARD SPONSOR


Auto Bild Japan

Auto Bild Japan

MEDIA PARTNER

Autocar Professional

Autocar Professional

MEDIA PARTNER

AUTO MESSE WEB

AUTO MESSE WEB

MEDIA PARTNER

AUTO MESSE WEB Worldwide

AUTO MESSE WEB Worldwide

MEDIA PARTNER

Automobil Industrie

Automobil Industrie

MEDIA PARTNER

Automotive Engineering SAE

Automotive Engineering SAE

MEDIA PARTNER

Korean Society of Automotive Engineers

Korean Society of Automotive Engineers

MEDIA PARTNER

Tech Briefs

Tech Briefs

MEDIA PARTNER

Our 2024 Judges

Judging is conducted by an independent panel of judges led by CAR. CAR chairs the group of recognized industry experts to select each category’s winning entries.

 

Anant Agarwal
Nissan

Dr. Sarma S R Akella
Mahindra & Mahindra

Dr. Cristina Alonso Alija
Formerly Bayer

Niko Barach
Google Cloud

Professor Harvey Bell
University of Michigan

Brian Brothers
Altair

Josh Brugeman
Fresh Coast Climate Solutions

Vanessa Eriksson
Data & AI Expert

Ryan Gehm
SAE International

Sean Lang
Altair

Sanjiv Mantri
Tata Motors

Dr. Deborah Mielewski
Dione Solutions

Dr. Saravanan N
Ashok Leyland

Gina-Marie Oliver
American Chemistry Council

Dr. Sandhya Pande
Philips

Shekhar Paranjape
Eka Mobility

Dr. K. Venkatesh Prasad
Center for Automotive Research

Chris Theodore
Theodore & Associates

Rick Watkins
Altair