Canadians score with European automotive excellence awards

Some Canadian outfits scored big at the recently completed Network of Automotive Excellence (NoAE) Innovation Awards in Wurzburg, Germany.

Vinyl film supplier Canadian General-Tower Ltd., of Cambridge, Ont., won for its Vehreo cover stock technology, which is a sustainable vinyl platform consisting of bio-derived and recycled raw materials.  The company developed this interior automotive cover stock with the financial assistance of the Government of Ontario and the Ontario BioAuto Council. Vehreo is said to support up to 50 per cent sustainable raw materials using bio-derived oils, proteins, and recycled water and soft drink bottles.

A second Canadian winner was the so-called “RoadLab” project by researchers with the University of Western Ontario. The result of the initiative was the development of Intelligent, Advanced Driving Assistance Systems – dubbed “i-ADAS” – which provide a number of safety solutions to traffic safety challenges. The vehicle-independent, portable and scalable instrumentation mobile i-ADAS research platform was developed for traffic context analysis and behavioural prediction designed for understanding fundamental issues in intelligent vehicles that have the potential to significantly reduce the burden of vehicle accidents and their consequences.

The NoAE awards are designed to strengthen technology and competitiveness of the European automotive and suppler industries. This was the first year that countries from outside Europe were eligible for nomination.