Velodyne founder and chief executive officer David Hall has led his company’s efforts in reaching a goal of safe autonomous driving.

To do that, he has provided advanced light detection and ranging, or LIDAR, sensors at automotive grade pricing. Velodyne also launched the World Safety Summit on Autonomous Technology in 2018.

For efforts like that, Hall was one of the winners of the 2019 Ingenuity and Impact Awards from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, or Auto Alliance.

In naming several winners of its Autos2050 awards in the categories of Ingenuity and Impact, the Auto Alliance noted that those leaders shaped the future of auto-mobility.

“It is important to spotlight the innovators and pioneers who are making future advancements a reality today. Their efforts and technologies have the potential to bring tremendous societal benefits—first and foremost greater motor vehicle safety, as well as greater mobility and fewer emissions,” Auto Alliance interim president and chief executive officer Dave Schwietert said in a news release.

The new awards and dinner are part of the Autos2050 event that will take place April 2 at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. The event will include a conference covering the crossroads of public policy and automotive technology.  The Auto Alliance represents 12 automakers with a mission “to promote policies that allow automakers the freedom and control to build cars and light trucks that are safe, reliable, energy-efficient, clean and smart.”

“These winners were chosen for making game-changing contributions to the automotive industry over the past year, and they will be honored at the Autos2050 dinner,” Schwietert said.

In addition to Hall of Velodyne, the Autos2050 Award winners for the category of ingenuity, “for exceptional creativity and uniqueness,” are:

— Turo chief executive officer Andre Haddad, who leads a peer-to-peer car-sharing network that works to increase access to automobiles, offers owners additional income, and reduces the time autos spend idle.
— HERE Technologies chief executive officer Edzard Overbeek, who leads a company building the HD map and location-based services platform to power what the company says is next generation in-vehicle infotainment, along with connected vehicle and autonomous driving products. HERE has been a part of the industry for 30 years, working on digitizing maps for in-car navigation systems.
— HARMAN vice president automotive cyber security, Yuval Weisglass, who leads his company's vehicle cybersecurity technology development and organizational strategy across the vehicle lifecycle, from program and product design through manufacturing and deployment. The company works with automakers to implement threat analysis and technology in support of security measures for connected and autonomous vehicles.
— Watson IoT general manager Kareem Yusuf, who is building on IBM's history of working with the automotive industry by addressing topics “from the factory floor to the rubber on the road,” according to the company.

The Autos2050 Award winners for the category of impact, “for exceptional contributions to improvements in technologies, society, the environment, or the economy, are:

— Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) founder, president, and chief executive officer, Robbie Diamond, who has positioned his organization in the area of automated vehicle thought leadership and has provided policy recommendations and testimony to legislators and agencies.
— Former National Safety Council president and chief executive officer Deborah Hersman, who has worked on transportation safety in government roles, and who advocated for the health and safety benefits of automated vehicles. In January 2019, Hersman became the chief safety officer for Waymo.

Industry peers nominated each recipient for selection by the Autos2050 Host Committee of automaker representatives.