Andreas Wingert Honored with the European Commercial Vehicle Safety Award

Andreas Wingert has been awarded the European Commercial Vehicle Safety Award 2024. The prize was awarded for the 35th time jointly by the European Association for Accident Research and Analysis (EVU), the expert organization DEKRA and the German Road Safety Council (DVR). The official award ceremony took place during the EVU annual conference in Kufstein, Austria. The award winner is Head of Advanced Engineering at Japanese truck manufacturer Mitsubishi Fuso.

“We all strive to ensure that no more people lose their lives or are seriously injured on the roads. We are therefore very grateful when such dedicated engineers use their creativity and inventiveness to further develop vehicle technology in this direction”, said the newly elected EVU President Prof. Hermann Steffan in his laudatory speech. “The approach of rolling out these safety systems worldwide is of great importance and deserves our appreciation.”

Andreas Wingert studied mechanical engineering in the USA. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2000 and a Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2002. This was followed by a period of study at the Institute for Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) at the University of Tokyo. In 2004, Wingert started as a trainee at the former DaimlerChrysler AG and from 2006 developed assistance systems such as lane departure warning and drowsiness assist at Mitsubishi Fuso. At Daimler, he was then involved in the functional and software development of the fourth generation of active brake assist, which supports pedestrian detection. Since 2016, he has been back at Mitsubishi Fuso in Japan and has played a key role in developing and implementing various active safety systems as Team Leader of Driver Assistance Systems and, since 2020, as Head of Advanced Engineering. In particular, the jury honored his contribution to rolling out the systems across different platforms and markets with the European Commercial Vehicle Safety Award 2024.

“The worldwide introduction of active safety systems, for which Andreas Wingert has rendered outstanding services over the past 20 years, has great potential to prevent accidents and save lives,” said Barend Hauwetter, Head of Vehicle Technology at the German Road Safety Council and member of the EVU Presidential Council. “If critical situations don’t arise in the first place because driver assistance systems warn or intervene accordingly, that is a big plus for road safety.”

Jann Fehlauer, Managing Director of DEKRA Automobil GmbH, commented on the award: “Active safety is particularly important in heavy commercial vehicles – because accidents involving commercial vehicles almost always have serious consequences for other road users. It is not for nothing that commercial vehicles were pioneers in most active safety systems. The work of Andreas Wingert and his respective teams has made important progress possible in this field. Once again, we are honoring a worthy winner in 2024.”