Louis Schwitzer Award
The Louis Schwitzer Award is presented by the Indiana Section of SAE International to an engineer or team of engineers "for their innovative design and engineering excellence" and acknowledges "engineers with the courage and conviction to explore and develop new concepts in racing technology" in racing vehicles for the Indianapolis 500. The accolade also distinguishes engineers who were most responsible for designing and developing the winning concept to comply to IndyCar Series technical regulations, and awards "functional and recent permutations" that improve energy efficiency, performance or safety in chassis, drive train profiles by "emphasizing competitive potential along with future automotive industry possibilities." Although the award specifically recognizes new concepts, experimental ideas arising from previous winners are considered if the development in engineering improves it.
It was established at the 1967 event and renamed after automotive engineer, inventor and former chairman of SAE International's Indiana Section Louis Schwitzer by SAE before the 1978 race. Schwitzer also won the first automobile race to be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. Each year before the Indianapolis 500, an Indiana Section SAE International members committee meet with IndyCar Series technical officials to identify potential candidates. The committee interviews candidates and votes to determine the winner. The Indiana Section of SAE International provides $10,000 prize money to the recipient or team, who receive a plaque and have their names added to a permanent trophy on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The presentation of the award is made annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the Indianapolis 500. It is currently sponsored by Cummins and Valvoline.
During the 58 years the award has been presented, there have been a total of 116 recipients. The inaugural winner was Andy Granatelli, who developed the gas-turbine run STP-Paxton Turbocar for the 1967 event. The award has been presented for two concepts in a single year just once: in 1977, to Bob Bubenik and Bruce Crower for developing the automatic clutch and flat-eight engine, respectively. Two years later, John Barnard and Jim Hall were the first team to be recognized for designing the Chaparral 2K chassis for that year's Indianapolis 500. Since then, another 25 teams have been recognized. Firestone tire engineer Cara Adams became the first female recipient in the 2019 edition. The award has been presented posthumously once, to Don Burgoon in the 2017 race. The most recent honorees were engineers Raoul Fernandes, John Martin, Matt Niles, Darren Sansum, Rupert Tull de Salis and Thomas Williams in the 2025 event; they were recognized for their work on the IndyCar Hybrid Power Unit.