New Louis Schwitzer Award Trophy Debuted at 49th Annual Ceremony
Auburn Hills, Michigan, May 21, 2015 – The 49th annual Louis Schwitzer Award has been presented to engineers Arron Melvin and Charles Ping from Pratt & Miller Engineering as well as Mark Kent and Christopher Berube from Chevrolet Racing.
About the Louis Schwitzer Award Presented by engineers to engineers, the Louis Schwitzer Award recognizes individuals for innovation and engineering excellence in racing technology associated with the annual Indianapolis 500. The winners’ names are immortalized on the new Louis Schwitzer Award trophy on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. Sponsored by BorgWarner, the new trophy symbolizes the spirit of innovation and celebrates the life and times of Louis Schwitzer and early Indianapolis 500 racing pioneers. Just as the Borg-Warner Trophy™ salutes every winner of the Indianapolis 500, the Louis Schwitzer Award features the names of every one of its winners since 1967. A $10,000 award is sponsored by BorgWarner and presented to the winning engineer(s) by the Indiana Section of SAE International.
Established in 1967, the award memorializes Louis Schwitzer, an automotive pioneer, engineer and professional race car driver. Schwitzer won the first auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in 1909 and designed the “Marmon Yellow Jacket” engine that powered the Marmon Wasp to victory at the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. After working in the automotive industry for many years, Louis founded Schwitzer Corporation, which produced innovative cooling fans, water pumps and turbochargers. Schwitzer Corporation joined BorgWarner in 1999. Throughout his career, Louis achieved numerous technological accomplishments, supported higher education, led the IMS technical committee and maintained a strong association with SAE.
As a global powertrain supplier, BorgWarner continues Louis Schwitzer’s legacy of technology leadership as the official turbocharger supplier of the Verizon IndyCar Series. The engine of every car in the 2015 Indianapolis 500 will be boosted by BorgWarner’s line of EFR™ (“Engineered For Racing”) turbochargers. Built for reliable and powerful performance, EFR turbochargers feature Gamma TiAl (titanium aluminide) turbine wheels, ceramic ball bearings and stainless steel turbine housings.