Trail-blazers, game changers and industry heroes all win at inaugural AutoSens Awards 2017.
The first edition of AutoSens Awards was a phenomenal success. Presented by F1 and Formula E’s Marc Priestley, the inaugural awards took place in the incredible surroundings of Brussels’ Atomium.
The event saw a great level of engagement, with more than 80 individuals, projects and companies across 7 categories (plus the AutoSens Inspiration Award), nominated by the automotive technology community.
After deliberation by a world-class judging panel over strong category contenders, the winners were announced at a glittering awards ceremony at on 20 September 2017.
Submit your nominations for the AutoSens Awards 2018
In summary, our winners are:
Most Engaging Content Sponsored by Automotive Engineer
The team from Renesas collect the Best Hardware award from Awards Host Marc Priestley.
- First place: Vladimir Koifman, Image Sensors World
- Highly commended: Junko Yoshida, EE Times
Hardware Innovation
- First place: Renesas
- Highly commended: STMicroelectronics
Software Innovation Sponsored by ST Micro
- First place: Nauto
- Highly commended: Open Robotics
Most Exciting Start-Up Sponsored by NXP
- Winner: Algolux
Dave Tokic and Felix Heide from Algolux collect their AutoSens Award for Most Exciting Startup from NXP’s Paul S Lee and Awards Host Marc Priestley
- Highly commended: Innoviz Technologies
Game Changer Sponsored by Dreamchip
- Winner: Tesla
- Highly commended: Brian Deegan, Valeo
Greatest Exploration Sponsored by Valeo
- Winner: Waymo
- Highly commended: WMG, University of Warwick | Paul Jennings
Best Outreach Project
- Winner: AutoDrive Challenge
Awards Host Marc Priestley (left) with Valeo’s Patrick Denny, presenting the Greatest Exploration Award to Waymo.p
- Highly commended: Formula Pi
AutoSens Inspiration Award
- Winner: Chris Anderson
Most Engaging Content
Sponsored by Automotive Engineer
- First place: Vladimir Koifman, Image Sensors World
On the positive result for Vladimir Koifman and Image Sensors World, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group said “Image Sensors World has been a regular read for me personally for years, and I know from many conversations with people in the industry that his blog, a spare-time endeavour, is highly respected and reaches a level of technical understanding and insight that few, if any, can match. It gives me enormous personal satisfaction to see that our community and the judging panel recognised his contribution and it seems fitting that our inaugural AutoSens Awards have been able to provide a small token of our industry’s admiration and appreciation for his efforts.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judges recognise Vladimir’s contribution to the technical topic of image sensors in his long-running and dedicated blog. What is particularly impressive, and unique among nominees, is his dedication to maintain the blog without any commercial support.”
- Highly commended: Junko Yoshida, EE Times
On the positive result for Junko Yoshida of EE Times, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Junko’s broad industry expertise, engaging writing style and globe-trotting antics allow her to remain at forefront of commercial journalism in the sector. I know that my team keenly read her articles as a touch point for keeping up to date, and I’m really pleased that her journalism”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “In a very strong shortlist, the judges were impressed by Junko’s canon of work at an international level and we are delighted to name her as the Highly Commended entrant in this category.”
Hardware Innovation
- First place: Renesas
On the positive result for Renesas, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Renesas caused a stir at AutoSens Detroit with a combination of an exciting new approach to collaboration and engagement as they launched their new autonomy-focussed processors The company has created numerous exciting semiconductors for use in the automotive and particularly for ADAS fields, and we are pleased to see these efforts recognised with our Award for Hardware Innovation.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judging panel were impressed by Renesas’ continuing and steadily increasing investment in the Autonomous processing space, particularly in their latest processors which offer impressive performance to power consumption ratios.”
- Highly commended: STMicroelectronics – Imaging Division
On the positive result for STMicroelectronics’ Imaging Division Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “STMicroelectronics continue to identify problems and create novel solutions at a fundamental point in the ADAS eco-system. Their most notable recent innovation, the LED-Flicker-free camera resolves a well-known imaging problem with a fresh approach and striking results.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judging panel were impressed by the canon of work delivered by STMicroelectronics, in particular this award is directed at the company’s Imaging Division, which continues to conceive, design and manufacture impactful products.”
Software Innovation
Sponsored by STMicroelectronics.
“ST is proud to sponsor the AutoSens Software Innovation award. We are committed to innovation towards safer and smarter automotive systems from Software, particularly in Image Signal Processing to Hardware with native Flicker Free and High Dynamic Range solutions”, said Aymeric Fuchet, STMicroelectronics Differentiated Imaging Solutions Business Line Director.
- First place: Nauto
On the positive result for Nauto, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Nauto’s novel approach to data gathering, artificial intelligence processing and the development of new approaches to road safety and fuel economy in fleets is already making a positive impact on the bottom line of its customers, as well as reducing pollution and making roads a safer place to be. Combining all these factors makes them a deserving winner for this year’s Software Innovation category.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judges were impressed by the breadth and quality of Nauto’s work in creating a new system which will doubtlessly improve road safety, fuel savings and commercial performance of fleets using exciting approaches to software with a robust data-driven base and a scientific methodology.”
- Highly commended: Open Robotics
On the positive result for Open Robotics, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “An army of unpaid software developers, a long-lived community effort, and a mature set of tools (ROS and Gazebo) that are freely available and widely used in academia and in the R&D community – we’re really pleased that Open Robotics has been recognised for their impact and influence in this sector.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The tools delivered by Open Robotics are widespread and critical for the ongoing growth of our industry. The judges thank the paid and unpaid leadership of Open Robotics’ programmes and pay homage to all those voluntarily contributing their time and energy to these projects.”
Most Exciting Start-Up
Sponsored by NXP.
“NXP, a leader in ADAS solutions for the automotive market, is committed to help our partners and customers achieve the different levels of automation the self-driving vehicle needs” said Paul Lee, global distribution marketing manager for NXP’s Automotive Microcontroller and Processors Business Line.
“For self-driving cars to be a reality, the industry must overcome many challenges, we think the AutoSens event makes it easy for design engineers to acquire new knowledge, learn about new products and features that will help them make the autonomous vehicle a reality in the near future.”
- Winner: Algolux
On the positive result for Algolux, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “One of the greatest challenges to deploying a hardware system is to be constrained by its physical properties. The Algolux solution, and a key reason for this award recognising their exciting machine learning innovations, is to reduce that challenge through the use of new image processing methods. We’ll watch their progress with interest as the company grows and their reputation spreads, but it gives me great pleasure to highlight the work of a small, young and exciting new company.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judging panel congratulates Algolux on their dedication to using a cleverly engineered solution to crack a difficult problem. As with all startups, their journey – while comparitively brief – is expected to make a significant impact as the company grows.”
- Highly commended: Innoviz Technologies
On the positive result for Innoviz Technologies, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “It’s really no surprise to see Innoviz Technologies already picking up awards for their fantastic work so far. For a small company, they have shown real professionalism and determination and that has really paid off this year as they secured a number of major new investors and international visibility. I’m really pleased to see those achievements have been reflected in the judging and wish them every success as they grow.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The Innoviz Technologies story reaches back beyond the recent news of their successful funding round, with knowledgable and dedicated leadership and a ‘no-holds-barred’ approach to challenging accepted knowledge within their chosen technology specialism of lidar, the judging panel are pleased to name the company as Highly Commended in the Most Exciting Startup category.”
Game Changer
Sponsored by Dream Chip Technologies.
“Dream Chip is delighted to support the AutoSens Awards as sponsor of the Game Changer Award”, said Young-Hun Kluge, Vice President of Sales at Dream Chip Technologies GmbH. “The range and quality of nominees to the category are testament to the outstanding work in our sector and we congratulate Tesla and Brian Deegan for their work, and of course their positive Awards results”.
- Winner: Tesla
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judging panel congratulate Tesla as a disruptive and positive influence on the Automotive industry, in particular in their ability to coelesce technological innovation and consumer demand to create new products, stimulate public interest and accelerate acceptance of new ideas among consumers.”
- Highly commended: Brian Deegan, Valeo
On the positive result for Brian Deegan at Valeo, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Brian’s response to his original nomination, “faintly ridiculous”, shows his own humility comfortably obscuring the light which shines on his contributions to research and codification in the highly complex eco-system of vehicle perception technology.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judges were pleased to highlight Brian Deegan’s contributions to industry in naming him as Highly Commended in this category. His most recent contributions to the IEEE Standards Association working group on Automotive System Image Quality have and will continue to make a positive and notable impact on our community’s work.”
Greatest Exploration
Sponsored by Valeo.
“It’s a pleasure to support this awards programme as a company that invests heavily in research and new product development, ” said Prof Patrick Denny, Senior Vision Expert. “On a personal level, it’s great to see so many outstanding nominations on the shortlist and I’m delighted to congratulate the finalists on their achievements”
- Winner: Waymo
On the positive result for Waymo, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Waymo’s impact and influence is growing in the traditional automotive supply chain, from their approach to their various innovative technologies, their lead in many areas – literally millions of miles – has served as a catalyst for change to a larger, older industry. From their own Firefly vehicle to evolving new partnerships among the old guard, it is exciting to see the judges recognise the organisation’s impact in research and development of new intelliectual property.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “As a body of work, Waymo’s broad investigation, innovation and coordinated efforts across hardware and software domains is of course, impressive and while difficult to judge, their externally available information has proved insightful, robust and exciting, and their achievements in completed driverless distance and engaging novel approaches should serve as a flagship for the efforts of others to follow.”
- Highly commended: WMG, University of Warwick | Paul Jennings
On the positive result for Paul Jennings and his team at WMG, the University of Warwick, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Paul is a physicist, researcher, lecturer, leader and outstanding speaker – all the properties you could want involved in collaborative world-class research. His department, including 6 academics, 25 researchers and 40 postdoctoral students, is involved in multiple projects funded though government, commercial and academic partnerships, and many of which represent world firsts. Having seen him speak at industry events, including at AutoSens, it gives me great pleasure to see him and his team’s efforts at Warwick recognised by the judging panel of international industry experts.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “Warwick and in particular the work of Professor Jennings’ team within WMG stands out for its relevance to industry, innovation and quality of execution. Jennings is a respected communicator and the judges praise his personal efforts as well as those of his colleagues in producing outstanding and accessible research, as well as world leading tools such as the innovative 3xD simulator.”
Best Outreach Project
- Winner: AutoDrive Challenge
On the positive result for AutoDrive Challenge, by SAE International and General Motors, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “From the scale of autonomy we use, to the student engagement programmes which forms the foundations of Formula Student and of course the AutoDrive Challenge – for which this prize is awarded – SAE’s influence is everywhere we turn. Their historical impact, and continued interest in supporting outreach and education, contribute positively to the automotive industry around the world.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “SAE International’s creation and codification of outreach activities for those in full-time education lays the the foundation for whole careers, coordinating insights and connections to industry and supported the evolution of all aspects of automotive manufacturing. While the AutoDrive Challenge is in early stages, the judging panel wanted to bring focus on the programme as an ideal training ground for future professionals in the field.”
- Highly commended: Formula Pi
On the positive result for Formula Pi, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “We are huge fans of Tim, his team and their work – in particular Formula Pi. And we’re not alone – we know he has an army of fans right across the industry. Even more impressive is that the Formula Pi project is run by a small team of three people in rural England, and – at least by the numbers – may currently be the largest manufacturer of driverless cars in the world… albeit small ones! Formula Pi is an inspiring model of community engagement, competition and education, supporting hundreds of people aged from 5 to 95 in getting access to and learning about driverless vehicle technology and programming.”
Feedback from the judging panel added: “The judging panel were keen to highlight Formula Pi as an exemplary model of commercial operation, technical excellence and creating opportunities to provide education opportunities without boundaries.”
AutoSens Inspiration Award 2017
Equivalent to the “Best in Show”, all nominees are automatically entered into this category, which may be given to any entrant.
- Winner: Chris Anderson
On the award for Chris, Rob Stead, Managing Director of Sense Media Group, Conference Director of AutoSens said “Chris has been a respected voice and established author for many years. Now CEO of 3DR – a major player in the commercial UAVs, it is his spare-time activities that this award recognises and celebrates.”
“These packages of work in open source development on DroneCode (used for driverless vehicles from scale to full size), community engagement at events and online through regular free meetups, and the collection and dissemination of knowledge primarily through the DIY Robocars website, but also in his support for the Self Racing Cars community in California – deserve to be highlighted to our international audience.”
Submit your nominations for the AutoSens Awards 2018 View the full shortlist from 2017