Sponsored by BorgWarner First awarded 1967 | Country United States | |
Awarded for Awarded for excellence in motorsports engineering. Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway Reward(s) Miniature trophy replica | ||
The Louis Schwitzer Award is presented annually to an engineer, or a team of engineers, for excellence in the design, development and implementation of new, innovative motorsports technology concepts for use in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The focus of this award is on those concepts that improve the performance, safety, or energy efficiency of racing cars, related components and systems, or driver and race track support equipment.
Award details
The award has been presented annually since 1967 by the Indiana Section SAE International in honor of early racing pioneer and past Indiana Section Chairman Louis Schwitzer, winner of the first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Each year prior to the running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, a committee of Indiana Section SAE International members meets with technical representatives of the IndyCar Series to identify potential candidates for the award. The committee then interviews those candidates and selects a winner. Award sponsor BorgWarner provides a $10,000 cash prize to the winner, and the winner's name is added to a permanent trophy on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.
Among the many previous award winners are the developers of the revolutionary safety devices the HANS device and the SAFER barrier.