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SAE Recognizes Industry Leaders and Innovators with the Mobility Industry’s Highest Honors  

 
Posted: April 25, 2024 

There aren’t many occasions where you get the mobility industry’s best and brightest under the same roof. 

On April 16, SAE International did just that as it recognized the 2024 SAE International Award recipients of Mobility’s Highest Honors at the SAE awards ceremony held in conjunction with SAE’s WCX in Detroit, Michigan.    

“We are thrilled to honor these outstanding professionals and students for their exceptional accomplishments and contributions within the mobility engineering community,” said Roxanne Loeffler, SAE Awards, Scholarships and Events Specialist. “Their dedication and hard work are truly commendable, and we deeply appreciate the generous support of our donors, who make these prestigious awards possible. Congratulations to all our awardees!” 

The SAE International Awards program honors innovators, leaders, industry trendsetters, educators and students who have demonstrated excellence and have significant achievements in the mobility industry innovation, technology advancement and education. 

One of the biggest awards is the SAE Medal of Honor Award, recognizing an individual’s contributions to SAE International. Dr. Mehdi Ahmadian earned the honor for 2024. 

Dr. Ahmadian is the J.B Jones chair of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. He is an SAE Fellow and he has embodied a passion for advancing SAE’s vision and mission during his many years of service to SAE.  Dr. Ahmadian was unable to join the ceremony in Detroit but will be presented the Medal of Honor Award at another SAE event later this year. 

In addition to Dr. Ahmadian, 27 individuals were recognized for their contributions and achievements in three categories – Leadership, Innovation, and STEM Education. 

Leadership Awards: 

SAE International Award for Technical and Leadership Excellence honoring Rodica Baranescu 

  • Becky Mueller – Senior Research Engineer for Insurance Institute for Highway Safety  

SAE International Award for Influential Executive in Automotive honoring Henry Ford II  

  • John Waraniak – CEO and Founder of Have Blue, LLC 

SAE International Award for Outstanding Student Leadership in STEM honoring Max Rumbaugh  

  • Adriana Danielle Kleshick Segarra – MRO Delivery Digitalization Leader at GE Aerospace 

Innovation Awards: 

SAE International Award for Propulsion Innovation honoring Franz Pischinger  

  • Harry Watson – Professor at the University of Melbourne 

SAE International Award for Safety in Transportation honoring Arnold W. Siegel  

  •  Kathryn Anderson – GM Technical Fellow – Occupant Protection & Biomechanics and Senior Manager/Senior Technical Expert – Engineering Analysis at General Motors 

SAE International Humanitarian Award honoring Arnold W. Siegel  

  • Thomas A. Dingus – distinguished Fellow at Virginia Tech 

SAE International Award for Outstanding Research in Mobility Fuels and Lubricants  

  • Gregory Hunt (Lead) – Senior Research Chemist at Lubrizol Limited 

  • Jason Bares – Senior Staff Engineer at BorgWarner 

  • Michael Gahagan – e-Fluid Technology Manager at Lubrizol 

  • Greg Miiller – VP Engineering & New Business at Savant, Inc. 

  • Pär Nyman – Technical Manager at Scania CV AB 

SAE John Johnson Medal for Outstanding Research in Diesel Engines  

  • Kelly Senecal – Co-founder of Convergent Science, Inc. 

SAE John Johnson Paper for Outstanding Research in Diesel Engines   

  • Mansour Masoudi (Lead) – CEO and Director of R&D at Emissol LLC 

  • Nikolai Poliakov – Mechanical Engineer at Emissol LLC 

  • Sahm Noorfeshan – Prototype Development Engineer at Admedes Inc. 

SAE International Award for Outstanding Student Paper honoring Phil Myers  

  • Samuel White (Lead) – PhD Student at the University of Oxford 

  • Felix Leach – Associate Professor at the University of Oxford 

  • Abdullah Umai Bajwa – Research Engineer at Southwest Research Institute 

SAE International Award for Quality Leadership honoring Subir Chowdhury  

  • Karun Balachantran – Associate Engineering Manager at Tesla 

SAE International Timken-Howard Simpson Automotive Transmission and Driveline Innovation Award  

  • Chi Tech Lee (Lead) – Transmission & Drive Unit Architecture Technical Specialist at General Motors 

  • David Ames – Assistant Chief Engineer at General Motors 

  • Brett Caldwell – Staff Calibration Engineer at General Motors 

  • Jeffrey Kelly – Technical Specialist at General Motors 

  • Timothy Reinhart – Engineering Group Manager at General Motors 

  • German Tanasi – Senior Project Engineer at General Motors 

SAE International Award for Excellence in Innovation 

  • Jia Hu – Professor at Tongi University  

STEM Education Award: 

SAE International Educational Award honoring Ralph R. Teetor  

  • Javad Basqerad – Associate Professor at Kettering University 

Congratulations to all the awardees.  

Nominations for the Spring 2024 Awards are now open. Consider nominating a colleague, employee, or student for an SAE Award. Explore the awards list here. 

 

 

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