TORONTO (June 15, 2011) - Thomas Broberg and Erik Coelingh from Volvo Car Corporation have received an award from the NHTSA, the American traffic safety administration, for significant contributions to automotive safety. "It shows that the safety work we do at Volvo Car Corporation is appreciated. We're really proud of that," say Thomas Broberg and Erik Coelingh.
"It is naturally an honour to be recognized by such a well-known organization in the field of safety," says Thomas Broberg, safety expert at the Volvo Car Corporation, who received his award for excellent leadership and distinguished contributions to automotive safety in a category entitled "Special Award of Appreciation".
"The award is not only recognition of the work I do and have done, it is also recognition of the achievements of all those of us who work with car safety at Volvo Car Corporation. This means not just development and implementation of innovative safety solutions but also the efforts involved in spreading knowhow about our safety work," explains Thomas Broberg.
Erik Coelingh received the 2011 U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence.
"I was delighted when I heard the news. It's a marvelous award and of course I'm immensely proud."
During his 11 years in the field of active safety at Volvo Car Corporation, Erik has among other things been involved in the development of safety systems such as Collision Warning with Auto Brake and was responsible for research into Volvo Car Corporation's Pedestrian Detection system. What is more, Erik Coelingh made further contributions in expertise via his research as an adjunct professor at the Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg).
"This has been a fantastic journey. When I started the department was small and active safety was still only at the conceptual stage. Today it is a large and vital part of our operation. And our journey is not yet over," says Erik Coelingh.
Every second year, the NHTSA (the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) gives awards to people who have made contributions to enhanced traffic safety. Companies and organizations submit proposals for suitable candidates in three different categories. Thomas Broberg and Erik Coelingh are the only representatives of Swedish companies or organizations among this year's winners. Over the years, around 15 Volvo Car Corporation employees have received awards from the NHTSA. The official prize-giving ceremony was held on Monday June 13 in Washington DC in conjunction with the 22nd international ESV (Enhanced Safety of Vehicle) conference.
