Applications Now Being Accepted for the 2014 Altair Enlighten Award, the Automotive Industry's Only Award Dedicated to Lightweighting

TROY, Mich., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair today announced it is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Altair Enlighten Award, the automotive industry's sole award program dedicated to innovation in vehicle lightweighting. Entering its second year, the annual award will be presented in collaboration with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) at the 2014 CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich., August 4-7.

The 2014 Altair Enlighten Award (#AltairEnlighten) will recognize achievements in weight reduction across the automotive industry, from motorcycles to passenger cars, light trucks to commercial vehicles and buses.

The award aligns with the goals of CAR's Coalition for Automotive Lightweighting Materials (CALM) initiative. The purpose of the CALM initiative is to support the cost-effective integration of mixed materials to achieve significant reductions in vehicle mass through the collaborative efforts of the material sectors and auto manufacturers. The award is open to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), systems/parts suppliers and materials suppliers from all land transportation industry segments.

"The inaugural Altair Enlighten Award drew incredible competition, demonstrating the innovations in lightweight material removal and lightweight material substitution being employed by entities across the automotive industry," said David Mason, Vice President, Global Automotive for Altair. "The Altair Enlighten Award provides a platform to showcase success stories, allowing industry leaders to be recognized by their peers and emphasizing the need to achieve the next level of lightweighting technology. We eagerly anticipate the innovations that nominees will share with the judging committee in 2014."

The 2013 Altair Enlighten Award was won by chemical company BASF Corporation for its work on the development of a lightweight composite seat pan for GM OPEL. Runners up included ArcelorMittal for its industry first hot stamped door ring (by Honda, ArcelorMittal and MAGNA – Cosma International), and Plasan for its carbon fibre roof (by Chrysler FIAT, Plasan Carbon Composites).

"By recognizing practical examples of lightweighting solutions, Altair's Enlighten Award will inspire innovation which will help manufacturers achieve aggressive fuel economy targets established by the government," said Dr. Jay Baron, President & CEO of CAR and co-director of CALM.

Manufacturers and suppliers interested in submitting a nomination are able to access additional information about the nomination process on the Altair Enlighten website. To allow sharing of innovation to further this goal, while respecting the business and technical confidentiality of all applications, designs submitted must be implemented on a production vehicle produced between August 2011 and August 2014, with no geographical restrictions.

Applications for the 2014 Altair Enlighten Award must be received before May 23, 2014. Winners will be announced in August 2014. The judging panel will include industry and academic leaders, as well as CAR and Altair representatives.

About CAR
The Center for Automotive Research is a non-profit organization based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Its mission is to conduct research on significant issues related to the future direction of the global automotive industry, organize and conduct forums of value to the automotive community and foster industry relationships. For more information, visit the CAR website at www.cargroup.org.

About Altair
Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with more than 2,000 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 26-year track record for high-end software for engineering and computing, enterprise analytics solutions, and innovative product design and development, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to customers in a broad range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com and www.altairenlighten.com.

About Enlighten
The purpose of www.altairenlighten.com is to provide a global knowledge source for useful, informative and inspirational content focused on minimizing the weight of products across industries through innovative design techniques, materials technology and manufacturing processes; improving industry best practices to respond to the challenges of mass management and meeting fuel economy targets, both government and competitive; and addressing increasing vehicle safety requirements.

SOURCE Altair