In the presence of more than 160 guests from the European automotive industry along with EU policymakers, IEE and BMW were jointly presented with the third prize in the Co-operation category for Hands Off Detection (HOD).

Michel Witte, IEE’s CEO & President, accepted the award on the company’s behalf.

“It was an honor to be recognized by CLEPA for our innovation and for our co-operation with BMW,” says Mr. Witte. “With 76 applications from 45 companies, it was an extremely competitive field and we are very pleased that our work with BMW on HOD was acknowledged in this way.”

IEE’s HOD is a capacitive sensor that provides input for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, notifying them in less than 100 milliseconds whether or not the driver has their hands on the wheel.

“In future vehicles with autonomous driving functions, we expect that HOD will play a major role in monitoring the transition between manual and automated driving modes,” says Mr. Witte. “Receiving this Award demonstrates the quality of both our product and our collaboration with customers, and paves the way for HOD to be introduced into more vehicles in the future.”