SPE Automotive Division names Tom Russell as lifetime award winner

Tom Russell. Photo Credit: SPE

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Automotive Division announced that Tom Russell, a founder and retired partner at Rochester Hills, Mich.-based Allied Composites Technology LLC, has been named the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Russell was formerly the vice president of product and advanced engineering at Lear Corp., and also worked at General Electric Plastics and Ford Motor Co.

“Russell’s leadership has led to multiple SPE IAG Grand and Hall-of-Fame Award winning applications,” SPE officials said in a July 31 statement. “He has achieved numerous promotions throughout his illustrious career as he ascended to senior management positions and fostered game changing innovations in automotive plastics.”

According to SPE, Russell pioneered such important advancements as the development of the Ford Medium Duty Truck SMC Grille Opening/Reinforcement Panel, which won the Grand Award at the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala in 1979. And at GE Plastics, he was a key member of the team that developed the materials for the five mph all-plastic front and rear bumper systems for the Ford Escort in 1984, which led to its implementation on the Ford Aerostar, Taurus/Sable, and Contour/Mystique vehicles. “This innovation represented the largest global use of automotive thermoplastics and won the IAG Hall-of-Fame Award in 2004,” SPE said.

Russell will be presented with the SPE Automotive Division Lifetime Achievement award Nov. 13 at the 53rd annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala at Burton Manor in Livonia, Mich.