WASHINGTON– Volvo employees Thomas Broberg, senior safety advisor, and Erik Coelingh, technical director active safety, received an award from NHTSA for significant contributions to automotive safety. Erik Coelingh received the 2011 U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence. Broberg received his award for excellent leadership and distinguished contributions to automotive safety in a category titled "Special Award of Appreciation." NHTSA gave these awards at the 22nd International ESV Conference in Washington D.C. 

During his 11 years in the field of active safety at Volvo Car Corporation, Coelingh (left) been involved in the development of safety systems such as Collision Warning with Auto Brake and was responsible for research into Volvo Car Corporation's Pedestrian Detection system. He made further contributions in expertise via his research as an adjunct professor at the Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg). 

"This has been a fantastic journey,” Coelingh said. “When I started the department was small and active safety was still only at the conceptual stage. Today it is a large and vital part of our operation. And our journey is not yet over."

Volvo's Broberg had the following to say about receiving his award.

"The award is not only recognition of the work I do and have done, it is also recognition of the achievements of all those of us who work with car safety at Volvo Car Corporation,” Broberg said (right). “This means not just development and implementation of innovative safety solutions but also the efforts involved in spreading knowhow about our safety work.”

Every other year, NHTSA (the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) gives awards to people who have made contributions to enhanced traffic safety. Companies and organizations submit proposals for suitable candidates in three different categories. Thomas Broberg and Erik Coelingh are the only representatives of Swedish companies or organizations among this year's winners, Volvo stated. Over the years, the automaker said 15 Volvo Car Corporation employees have received awards from NHTSA.