Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) has been awarded the 2003 PACE Award for its Quiet Steel™ front of dash panel on the 2003 Cadillac CTS luxury sport sedan. The award, presented by Automotive News Magazine and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, is for the first acoustically integrated application of Quiet Steel™ on a unibody production vehicle.

Quiet Steel™ is a patented multi-layer laminate that can replace standard steel in vehicle body structures, while providing a significant reduction in vehicle sound and vibration levels. It consists of an engineered viscoelastic layer sandwiched between two cold-rolled layers of steel. The viscoelastic layer is a tunable formulation, allowing vehicle designers to attenuate specific frequencies depending on where in the vehicle they use Quiet Steel™. Furthermore, Quiet Steel™ can provide dramatic savings to OEMs in terms of build time, system costs, and vehicle weight. In most cases, it eliminates typical add-on sound deadening treatments, their weight and the resultant additional labor costs.

Gail Misek, Director of Body Structure Engineering for the 2003 Cadillac CTS, said “General Motors is proud to partner with Material Sciences Corporation in the implementation of Quiet Steel™ in our vehicles. The integration of MSC’s material into our program has provided the single most significant impact from an acoustic perspective. MSC winning a PACE Award recognizes our joint effort, and we are proud of the role GM played in this process.”

The PACE Award - which stands for Premier Automotive Suppliers’ Contribution to Excellence – was established in 1994 to honor those suppliers who have embraced innovation or adapted and reinvented themselves to meet the demands of the OEM customer. This prestigious award has become a significant industry credential. This year’s award ceremony was held on March 2nd at the Detroit Opera House. On hand to present the award were Keith Crain, Publisher and Editorial Director of Automotive News Magazine, and Michael Wujciak, Vice President, Global Automotive Leader, from Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. The award was accepted by Material Sciences Corporation’s Matthew Murphy, Marketing Manager, on behalf of MSC’s Engineered Materials and Solutions Group.

Material Sciences Corporation is a leading provider of material-based solutions that solve customer-specific problems, overcome technical barriers, and enhance performance. Headquartered outside of Chicago, Illinois, the company’s Automotive Noise and Vibration Technical Center is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

For more information contact Gregory N. Corda, Marketing Manager at 248-994-4440 or email greg.corda@matsci.com. You may also visit the company’s Quiet Steel™ website at www.quietsteel.com.

MSC – Material Sciences Corporation, 39303 Country Club Drive, Suite A-11, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331, USA.