This year for the first time, the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards were presented formally at Automotive Testing Expo Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. Coordinated by Automotive Testing Technology International magazine, the awards celebrated the very best innovations and achievements across the automotive industry during the last 18 months and acknowledged the personal achievements of some remarkable individuals. Presenting them at Automotive Testing Expo Europe cemented ATTI’s long-standing affiliation with the exhibition.
The awards were decided by a panel of industry experts and technical writers.
Launched in 2006, the ATTI Awards have grown each year and have traditionally been presented within the publication. To mark a radical change in vehicle development – with the rollout of automated driving and electrification dominating headlines globally – ATTI felt that this was the perfect time to refresh the format and present them live at Automotive Testing Expo Europe. In addition, two new categories have been established.
New for 2024, ATTI introduced the ADAS & AV Test Innovation of the Year category to acknowledge the increasing challenges faced by developers in the rapidly growing fields of ADAS and autonomous vehicle testing. Amid strong competition, Ansys and BMW won the category with their jointly developed AVxcelerate Autonomy platform. The new digital testing solution reportedly enables a reduction in the cost and time-to-compliance for Level 2+, Level 3 and above ADAS and AV systems by a potential magnitude of 100,000.
Awards juror Jahee Campbell-Brennan, director of Wavey Dynamics, said, “The winner to me seems to have developed the most impactful technology – enabling ADAS and AV testing to be performed digitally is a huge step forward for the industry and will reduce development time, cost and risk/liability substantially. This technology could be significant in the current revolution in our midst. A tall challenge, but great if they achieve it reliably.”
ATTI also introduced the Alternative Powertrain Test Innovation of the Year category to recognize the considerable advancements in the development of new-energy vehicle powertrains. In this hotly contested group, the judges awarded the most points to Secondmind for its Secondmind for Calibration technology for e-powertrains. This state-of-the-art tool enhances efficiency and accuracy in the calibration process through intelligent, automated experiments – creating highly precise models in record time.
“We are excited and grateful to have been awarded the Alternative Powertrain Test Innovation of the Year accolade,” commented Gary Brotman, chief executive officer of Secondmind. “The team has been laser-focused on helping engineers tackle the increasing complexity in e-powertrain design and calibration, and creating significant development efficiencies with practical, data-efficient machine learning that respects their intelligence.”
The Software Innovation of the Year category, which rewards achievements in everything from virtual testing technology and automation software through to analysis systems, is growing in prominence as the industry relies less on physical hardware. AB Dynamics impressed the judges the most with its RC 9.4, a driving robot software updated to streamline industry-standard ADAS tests.
“Winning the prestigious Software Innovation of the Year award was a proud moment for all of us at AB Dynamics,” said Andrew Pick, AB Dynamics’ director of track test systems. “AB Dynamics is well known for its driving robots, soft targets and motion platforms, but it is our proprietary software that brings them all together to create an end-to-end ADAS test solution. It is fantastic to be recognized with this award and a great achievement by the team.”
In the Hardware Innovation of the Year category, the jury gave the most points to VI-grade’s DiM Full Spectrum Simulator (FSS). Unlike conventional driving simulators that focus on singular vehicle attributes, the DiM FSS offers a quantum leap in realism by seamlessly integrating multiple attributes.
Awards juror Mohammad Behroozi, senior vehicle dynamicist at General Motors, said, “This simulator stands out for its breakthrough in integrating multiple vehicle attributes. The ability to evaluate primary and secondary ride, vibration and sound simultaneously is a game-changer, streamlining development processes and offering a more holistic understanding of how vehicle components interact.”
This year’s worthy winner in the Proving Ground of the Year category was BMW with its Future Mobility Development Center in Sokolov, Czech Republic, which is designed exclusively for testing automated driving and parking up to Level 4.
“We are delighted that the jury chose the new BMW test site in Sokolov – a unique testing ground of worldwide importance. Within 600ha we can flexibly and efficiently test all possible driving situations – whether in the city, in the countryside, on the motorway or during automated parking,” explained BMW’s Martin Sautter, vice president of validation, customer experience and approval. “A special feature is the ability to run through our test modules one after the other without interruption. This makes testing as realistic, reliable and customer-oriented as possible.”
Toyota picked up the Crash Test Innovation of the Year accolade for its THUMS technology. Important updates in Version 7 include more realistic geometry and new positions that reflect the move toward connected and autonomous vehicles.
ATTI Awards judge Byron Bloch, an independent automotive safety expert, commented, “Toyota’s development of THUMS continues to evolve and enable more complex and accurate modeling and analysis of how humans respond in various crash and ADAS-related situations, helping to better understand injury causation and stimulate improvements for more crashworthy vehicle designs.”
This year’s Person of the Year category was fascinating. Nominees included Marc Blaufuss, an applications engineer at Inficon, who was recognized for his research leading to SAE Standards Committees on leak detection and water ingress prevention for lithium-ion battery cells and packs in electric vehicles. Another notable nominee in a field of strong candidates was Gavin White, co-founder and CEO of About:Energy, a startup providing tools and data for optimizing battery design.
In the end, Marie Puhle, an engineering psychologist and user experience expert on Volkswagen’s HMI team, was recognized for her leading role in rejuvenating the ID. user interface system.
“While being the leader of a concept team, I had the chance to shape Volkswagen’s new user interface generation, from the first sketches right through to the final software,” Puhle said. “It was our goal to collect and incorporate as much customer feedback as possible to create an easy, clear and consistent new system. I’m very satisfied and happy that we overcame all obstacles along the way, with the result that we have significantly improved the user experience in our new cars.”
The Powertrain of the Year award is always one of the most interesting categories. This year, multiple new-energy vehicle development hubs added more variety to the mix than usual. JLR won the accolade for its Future Energy Lab, recognized for its use of advanced resources to support cutting-edge product developments.
“The team is absolutely thrilled to have won this award,” commented Alex Crawford, product engineering operations director at JLR. “A core component of JLR’s Reimagine strategy, this facility is essential to providing the advanced testing capabilities vital to the performance and reliability of the modern luxury vehicles we are proudly developing – all of which could not be possible without the tireless energy of my colleagues working here.”
Prior to the awards ceremony, the new Automotive Testing Technology International Forum offered an afternoon of high-level content covering key topics such as the application of AI in testing, connectivity, big data, software engineering and AV testing. It included a panel discussion and fireside chats.
Rachel Evans, ATTI editor and chair of the awards, stated, “Creating the shortlist for this year’s awards proved to be challenging due to the abundance of entries worthy of recognition. It is refreshing to witness the testing community tackling challenges with contemporary and unconventional approaches. Researchers and scientists, manufacturers and suppliers are collaborating more than ever, working to find inventive new ways of achieving the industry’s goals.”
Look out for more on the winners in the September issue of Automotive Testing Technology International.
For more information about the award winners, visit https://www.testing-expo.com/europe/en.
For further information, please contact:
Charlotte Iggulden, head of marketing (automotive events), UKi Media & Events • +44 1306 743744 / 2123 • charlotte.iggulden@ukimediaevents.com