TWNA announces 2010 Technical Achievement Award finalists
Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) has announced the finalists for its top technical achievement of 2010 during the recent annual Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) meeting.
The Technical Achievement Award finalists were recognized by Paul Abelson (Road King and Land Line magazines) and Tom Berg (Heavy Duty Trucking and Construction Equipment magazines) - both members of TWNA’s award committee, along with John Baxter (Randall-Reilly Publishing), Peter Carter (Today's Trucking), Paul Hartley (AddMedia), James Menzies (Truck News and Truck West), and Jim Park (Heavy Duty Trucking).
The review process began with candidates nominated by the press members of TWNA.
Using a point system based on each committee member’s ranking of the candidates, the four highest scoring products were selected as finalists for the 2010 Technical Achievement Award.
The “Top Four” finalists are the HMP Thermal De-Icer from Heat Matt, Wheel Torque Solutions from Alcoa & Partners, the 14X Tandem Drive Axle from Meritor, and the Bose Ride System from Bose.
The winner of the 2010 award will be announced at TWNA’s Industry Awards Banquet on March 31 at the Mid American Trucking Show (ticket info at www.twna.org).
The very first Technical Achievement Award was presented in 1991 to Grote Industries for its red LED marker light. Since receiving the inaugural award, Grote has sponsored the annual trophy.
To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available. While complete vehicles are not eligible, components and systems are.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Technical Achievement Award.
“In 20 years as the sponsor of the trophy, we have seen the positive impact it has had across all manufacturing sectors,” said John Grote, vp of sales and marketing for Grote Industries.
“I want to praise TWNA for highlighting worthy technical advancements and for raising industry-wide awareness of the importance of technological innovation.”
Founded in 1988, TWNA is a professional organization whose membership is composed of writers, editors, public relations specialists, marketing personnel and others involved in the business of creating or producing information related to the world of trucking.
Fleet Maintenance Magazine’s editor David A. Kolman is a founder of TWNA and served as its first vice president and then as president for multiple terms. He currently serves as an associate director.
TWNA congratulates all the finalists and thanks the members of the Tech Award Committee, as well as to those who took the time to suggest entries.