At the United Motorcoach Association (UMA) Expo in Las Vegas last week, American Seating, in partnership with SafeGuard, a brand of IMMI, announced that the IMMI Premier seat engineering team was selected by SAE International to receive the 2009 SAE Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering.

This honor recognizes the team's accomplishments in increasing safety on motorcoaches with the development of the Premier seat, which incorporates SafeGuard SmartFrame technology to protect both belted and unbelted occupants.

The Henry Ford II Award recognizes individuals who use their engineering skills to achieve product or manufacturing process contributions which are assessed to have had the greatest positive effect on the passenger car, truck or bus industries.

Established in 1988, this award is funded through Ford Motor Co. and honors the memory of Henry Ford II and the enormous impact he had on the automotive industry.