The award-winning project, titled “Rivian R1 Body Structure Evolution and Repairability,” was presented at GDIS 2025 by Dan Black, Venu Krishnardula and Matt Tummers of Rivian. The presentation highlighted the company’s strategic shift toward a more cost-effective, higher performing body structure architecture for its R1 platform.  The award was presented to Black, Krishnardula and Tummers, along with their co-authors and contributors Abhishek Das, David Sosa and John Hasier of Rivian.

Selected by members of AISI’s Automotive Applications Council, the project was recognized for its demonstration of an integrated design approach to enhancing safety and structural performance while reducing cost and ensuring long-term serviceability through the creative use of advanced high-strength steel grades. 

Against a backdrop of increasingly stringent crash performance requirements and evolving Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) test protocols, the award-winning work demonstrated how Rivian redesigned the R1’s front structure cross members to achieve exceptional crash energy management while supporting broader vehicle performance goals. 

The presentation detailed the transition from its first-generation R1 (Gen 1) mixed‑material architecture with aluminum‑intensive floor and frame elements to a more steel‑optimized, cost‑efficient and crash‑enhanced solution in R1 (Gen 2). This enhancement was enabled by technologies such as tailor rolled blanks, structural inserts and optimized joining strategies. These changes allowed Rivian to consolidate parts, reduce welded reinforcements and improve crash energy distribution in both frontal and side impacts.

Detailed comparisons of R1 Gen 1 and R1 Gen 2 floor structures, frame rails and cross members showed measurable gains in stiffness, energy absorption and mass efficiency, offering a clear model for the effective use of high-strength steel in electric vehicle architectures. Equally important, the team emphasized repairability as a core design and validation priority, outlining a rigorous multi-iteration collision repair development process spanning computer-aided engineering (CAE) modeling, component testing, correlation, durability validation and service part finalization. This approach helped ensure that frame rail damage from low- to moderate-speed impacts can be addressed through repeatable, OEM-approved repair procedures.

“I’m proud of how various teams across Rivian came together to develop a solution that improved manufacturability and serviceability,” said Rivian Materials Engineering Senior Manager Venu Krishnardula. “These changes will extend the vehicle life, while also contributing to overall sustainability.” 

Volkswagen also received an honorable mention for the VW ID.Buzz body-in-white construction presentation by Eike Schuppert.  With its steel dominant architecture, the ID.Buzz is an excellent demonstration of an efficient structural strategy meeting this unique vehicle’s crashworthiness, strength, and stiffness targets. The vehicle has received numerous awards including 2025 North American Utility Vehicle of the 2025 Year and World Car Design of the Year, and the committee congratulates Mr. Schuppert and the Volkswagen team for their innovative use of steel in the ID.Buzz architecture.

The AISI Automotive Excellence Award is presented each year at GDIS. It recognizes individuals or teams from automakers, suppliers or the academic community who help to revolutionize the industry and have made significant contributions to the advancement of steel in the automotive market. Award winners are chosen from presentations at the previous year’s GDIS symposium. Candidates are rated in several categories, including challenges and benefits associated with cost, mass reduction and performance and overall contribution to the advancement of steel and implementation in production. 

GDIS debuted in 2002 with 545 registrants and has grown in attendance and scope. In 2025, more than 1,000 attendees from the steel industry, North American vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers, equipment suppliers, academia and media attended the event. AISI automotive program members include ArcelorMittal and Cleveland–Cliffs, Inc. This year’s GDIS featured 27 technical presentations on vehicle structure, manufacturing, materials and joining technologies. The agenda included a steel industry keynote address by John Cardwell, chief marketing officer and vice president of automotive sales for ArcelorMittal North America, and an automotive keynote addresses from Elizabeth Krear, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. Featured OEMs including General Motors, Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center Inc. and Rivian staff were also among those making technical presentations.

Helping to support this year’s event are gold sponsors Gestamp, Profil and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd; silver sponsors Mubea, G-TEKT North America Corporation and RIFAST; bronze sponsors ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks, AutoForm, Dreistern, eSevant / 4t Engineering, FUCHS, GEDIA, GNS North America, Lincoln Electric, Multimatic, RB&W Corporation, Rhino Industrial Laser Solutions, TOX and TWB; media and industry partners Auto/Steel Partnership, Center for Automotive Research, WorldAutoSteel, Precision Metalforming Association and Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International. 

The award-winning project, titled “Advanced Industrial Simulation Method for Spot Weld Separation Validated with Components,” was presented at GDIS 2024 by Tingting Zhang of General Motors on behalf of the A/SP. The work was a collaborative research and validation project which involved a team of nine individuals representing the A/SP, General Motors and the University of Waterloo. The award was presented to General Motors’ Tingting Zhang and Hassan Ghassemi-Armaki, University of Waterloo’s Mohammad Shojaee, Cameron Tolton, Abdelbaset Midawi, Michael Worswick, Elliot Biro and Cliff Butcher and A/SP’s Eric McCarty.

Selected by members of AISI’s Automotive Applications Council, the project was recognized for its high-quality research and immediate applicability to the automotive industry. The team’s work increases confidence in resistance spot weld simulations and leads to broader utilization of Advanced High Strength Steel.

Simulation methods have become an increasingly essential component in modern automotive body structure design, enabling faster development cycles, reduced costs and robust design solutions prior to hardware builds. A critical factor in these analytical methods is the accurate simulation of structural joint integrity. The award-winning research introduced a methodology that uses both standard and advanced steel coupon tests to derive the mechanical properties of single-spot welds and develop a failure surface capable of predicting weld separation under complex loading conditions. These calibrated material models, or “material cards,” can be integrated into finite element simulations of welded structural components subjected to quasi-static and dynamic forces. The result is a more accurate and predictive simulation capability that enhances the structural performance of future vehicle designs.

General Motors also received an honorable mention for the Chevrolet Blazer EV Body Structure presentation by Dr. Hoda Eiliat, senior integration lead- body structures. The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV was the winner of the 2024 MotorTrend SUV of the Year® award, and the committee congratulates Dr. Eiliat and the General Motors team for their innovative use of steel in their BEV3 Crossover Architecture.

The AISI Automotive Excellence Award is presented each year at GDIS. It recognizes individuals or teams from automakers, suppliers or the academic community who have revolutionized the industry and made significant contributions to the advancement of steel in the automotive market. Award winners are chosen from presentations at the previous year’s GDIS symposium. Candidates are rated in several categories, including challenges and benefits associated with cost, mass reduction and performance and overall contribution to the advancement of steel and implementation in production.

GDIS debuted in 2002 with 545 registrants and has grown in attendance and scope. In 2024, more than 1,000 attendees from the steel industry, North American vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers, equipment suppliers, academia and media attended the event. AISI automotive program members include ArcelorMittal and Cleveland–Cliffs, Inc.  This year’s GDIS featured 25  technical presentations on vehicle architectures, manufacturing, materials and joining technologies. The agenda included a steel industry keynote address by Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., and an automotive keynote address from Wolfgang Maluche, vp of engineering at Volkswagen Group of America, and three featured OEM vehicle architecture presentations from GM, VW and Rivian.

Helping to support this year’s event are gold sponsors Gestamp, Profil and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd; silver sponsor Auto/Steel Partnership; bronze sponsors ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks, AutoForm, Dreistern, FUCHS, GEDIA, GNS North America, Lincoln Electric, Mubea, Multimatic, RB&W Corporation, Rhino Industrial Laser Solutions, TOX and TWB; media partners Center for Automotive Research, Precision Metalforming Association and Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International; and networking social hour sponsor Rivian.