Industry judges were impressed with the high level of innovation shown by all nominees in this year’s SPE Automotive Innovation Awards competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. The award program is produced by the Automotive Div. of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) International (Troy, Mich.). Winners were announced at a gala dinner in Livonia, Mich., the evening of Nov. 7.

SPE’s Grand Award went to the winner in the Materials category, a color-converting plastic used on the 2007 General Motors’ Chevrolet Tahoe SUV. The panel of judges, which included CT technical editor Sara Black, believed this application, from Delphi Electronics & Safety (Troy, Mich.), was the most innovative of all entrants. This patented system produces custom-colored interior backlighting via LEDs (fed through light distribution pipes), relying on patented fluorescing dyes and proprietary light-scattering additives in a translucent Makrolon 2405 polycarbonate from Bayer MaterialScience (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The material is used to mold buttons, knobs and backlit plates. The innovative LEDs replace far more costly custom-colored LED bulbs (photo, top right).

In the Body Exterior category, the winner was a composite “step assist” used on the 2007 General Motors Trailblazer/Envoy SUVs. The one-piece running board, produced by Magna Decoma – Mytox Div. (Concord, Ontario, Canada), withstands higher loads with lower deflection than the five-piece steel and plastic assembly it replaced. The composite is a long glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene with a fiber loading of 40 percent. A notable finalist was the carbon fiber decklid used on the Ford Focus FCV fuel cell vehicle, currently undergoing testing and development. The decklid helps offset the mass of the vehicle’s weighty fuel cell system. Carbon/epoxy prepreg for the decklid was supplied by Advanced Composites Group (ACG, Tulsa, Okla.).

A door-trim-and-hardware module was the winner in the Body Interior category, produced for the 2006 Chrysler Caliber/Compass/Patriot SUVs. It was selected based on its ability to combine all door hardware components and a trim panel in a single, injection molded module. The Chassis/Hardware category winner was an extruded thermoplastic elastomer seal for door modules, made in a continuous robotic process that greatly simplifies assembly and reduces material costs by 53 percent. Faurecia Interior Systems (Auburn Hills, Mich.) is the system supplier.

Inventive concepts were on display in the Performance & Customization (Automotive Aftermarket) category. The winner: a folding pickup bed extender for the 2006 Ford F250 pickup, blow molded with in-mold color and grained texture to meet OEM Class A specs. The system’s unique design (lower photo) enables an owner to reconfigure the pickup bed three ways for handy storage. ABC Group (Southfield, Mich.) is the system designer and supplier. A finalist in the category was an off-road brush grille guard for General Motors SUVs, submitted by Composite Products Inc. (Winona, Minn.). It is the first guard to feature chrome tubing overmolded with glass-reinforced thermoplastic, and it was the first to be produced via the direct-LFT/compression molding process. A custom resin formulation limits color fade due to UV exposure and results in part weight and cost savings of 50 percent.

In the Powertrain category, the winner was the bulk molding compound (BMC) electronic throttle control (ETC) housing featured in the August issue of CT (see “Related Content,” at left). The industry’s first composite ETC housing, it replaces machined cast aluminum, with mass savings of 28 percent and a cost reduction of 18 percent. A special “zero-shrink” BMC grade was supplied by Bulk Molding Compounds Inc.’s (W. Chicago, Ill.) subsidiary TetraDUR GmbH (Hamburg, Germany), resulting in dimensional stability and better airflow at idle. For more information on all the category winners, finalists and nominees, visit the SPE Web site at http://www.speautomotive.com/inno.htm.