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AIAG Honors NIST/EL with Chairman's Award

October 9, 2009 -- The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), presented the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with its highest honor, the 2009 AIAG Chairman's Award.

"Thomas Sowell once said: 'The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite,'" says J. Scot Sharland, executive director of AIAG. "For more than 14 years, AIAG has had the privilege of partnering with NIST to attack cost and complexity in the global automotive supply chain, and our successful collaboration has delivered tens of millions of dollars in cost savings to our industry."

"NIST is keenly aware of the importance of the automotive industry to the U.S. economy," said NIST Deputy Director Patrick Gallagher. "We're delighted to accept this award and proud of the NIST researchers who have worked so diligently over the years with collaborators at AIAG and throughout the auto industry to help foster innovation."

NIST has worked on a variety of projects within the realms of engineering and product development, electronic commerce and supply chain management. A few of the more noteworthy collaborative initiatives that NIST has been instrumental in include:

  • ISO STEP AP 214 Standard for the exchange of product model data
  • Product Data Management (PDM) interoperability
  • Dimensional Mark-up Language (DML) standardization
  • Quality Measurement Data Specification (QMD) development
  • Materials Off-shore Sourcing (MOSS) data standardization and process management
  • Inventory Visibility and Interoperability guidelines

Howard Harary, the acting director of NIST's Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory who accepted the award on behalf of NIST, remarked, "We recognize that the automotive supply chain is global. It needs open global standards and technology for product development, measurements and supply chain integration.

At the awards ceremony, Peter Denno, a NIST researcher, was also be recognized for his contribution to AIAG with a 2009 Outstanding Achievement Award.

The 2009 Chairman's award was presented in a ceremony, at the Automotive Hall of Fame, in Dearborn, Mich., hosted by AIAG and sponsored by Chrysler Group LLC, Freudenberg NOK General Partnership, General Motors Company, Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc., International Automotive Oversight Bureau (IAOB), Lear Corporation, Plexus Corporation and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Released October 16, 2009, Updated January 20, 2023