Quality Leader of the Year

The Quality Leader of the Year Award was established to acknowledge and publicly recognize those leaders in the automotive industry, outside of the quality profession, who exemplify a commitment to the principles and disciplines of quality.

A quality leader may be described in a number ways, although certain key words come up frequently in trying to pin down a description. Those key words are: vision, customer-focused, quality philosophy and continuous improvement. A leader in the automotive industry may be described as one who has consistently demonstrated the vision to encourage and to universally apply a customer-focused code in every aspect of business.

This year’s Quality Leader of the Year is Vince Mastrangelo, Head of Quality and Environment at Continental.

Quality Professional of the Year

The Quality Professional of the Year Award has been established to recognize individuals in the automotive industry who have made significant contributions in the following areas:

• Leadership or managerial skills in implementing continuous improvement in quality;
• Services provided to the community toward furthering the understanding of quality systems and techniques;
• Support and encouragement of new and innovative ideas leading to the never-ending pursuit of excellence;
• Demonstration of a high regard for team benefits and results.

This year’s Quality Leader of the Year is Judson Estes, Stellantis Global Head of Reactive Problem Solving, Master Blackbelt Instructor, Oakland University Adjunct Professor – System Engineering.

William P. Koth Award

The Koth Award was established by the Automotive Division in recognition of the William P. Koth, AOSmith Corporation, for his many years of dedicated service to the division. The Koth Award is presented each year to a currently active Automotive Division member who has given outstanding personal service for the promotion of the Automotive Division and the American Society for Quality. This year’s Koth award winner is Mohammad Hijawi, Stellantis Global Quality Manager

This year’s award ceremony will take place during ASQ Automotive Division’s 2022 Quality and Reliability Symposium on Friday October 21, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Oakland University

Engineering Center, Room 116. Registration Link

ASQ’s mission is to empower individuals and communities of the world to achieve excellence through quality.