DETROIT, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Timken Company
has awarded Dr. Mircea Gradu its 2010 SAE/Timken-Howard
Simpson Automotive Transmission and Driveline Innovation Award.
Dr. Gradu is the engineering director for transmission and
driveline, as well as the head of virtual tools analysis, for
Chrysler Group, LLC.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100210/TIMKENLOGO
)
The SAE/Timken-Howard Simpson Automotive Transmission and
Driveline Innovation Award recognizes automotive industry engineers
for outstanding contributions to technological progress and
dissemination in the areas of transmissions and drivelines.
"We honor Dr. Gradu because of his many contributions to
automotive systems development, design, validation and
manufacturing," said Brian Ruel,
vice president of Timken's Light Vehicle Systems business. "As head
of virtual tools analysis at Chrysler, Dr. Gradu has promoted
advanced technologies that set an example for the entire industry,
such as simulation methods that enable cost-effective development
and validation through virtual exploration. This exponentially
increases the number of scenarios Chrysler's engineers can explore
to continually advance the company's products."
In addition to his responsibilities at Chrysler, Dr. Gradu
serves as SAE International's automotive vice president, and
provides leadership and continuity for the society's automotive
initiatives, including standards, events and educational programs.
A holder of 21 patents, Dr. Gradu received the SAE
Forest McFarland Award in 2005. He also received the
Edward N. Cole Award for Automotive Engineering
Innovation in 2008.
Dr. Gradu received the SAE/Timken-Howard Simpson Automotive
Transmission and Driveline Innovation Award on April 12, 2011,
during the SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit. The award, established in 2007,
honors Howard Simpson, an extremely talented and innovative
engineer who invented and developed the revolutionary planetary
gear set. His innovation served as the basis for the Ford C4
and C5 transmissions, which were produced for more than 20 years,
plus several other Chrysler and General Motors transmission
models.
About The Timken Company
The Timken Company keeps the world turning with innovative
friction management and power transmission products and services
that are critical to help hard-working machinery perform
efficiently and reliably. With 2010 sales of $4.1 billion and operations in 28 countries
with approximately 20,000 people, Timken is Where You Turn® for
better performance.
About SAE International
SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000
engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace,
automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's
core competencies include life-long learning and voluntary
consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm
is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A
World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.
Contacts - Media: Lorrie Paul
Crum, Ofc: 330.471.3514; Mob: 330.224.5021.
lorrie.crum@timken.com; Investors: Steve
Tschiegg, Ofc: 330.471.7446. steve.tschiegg@timken.com, The
Timken Company.
SOURCE The Timken Company