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DORIAN AWARDS 2026 FINALISTS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!

Dorian Awards | 2026

Congratulations to our Winners & Finalists

The Dorian Awards

Throughout the year we guide you and your teams in developing your problem solving skills so you can solve any problem faster and more efficiently. Now it’s time to recognize your successes.

About the Awards

Every year, teams across the world complete problem solving projects worthy of recognition. The 2026 Dorian Awards honor problem solving teams, leaders, and companies who exemplified outstanding application of Shainin methods or leadership during the 2025 year.

These projects were of critical importance to our customers. They helped resolve long-standing issues, improve bottom lines, and enhance operations around the globe.

Dorian Awards

Announcing Dorian Award Winners & Finalists

Awards by Category

Thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination in 2025; we were impressed with the quality of nominations submitted. Following a lengthy and rigorous review process completed by our global review board, we’ve selected several simply exceptional teams and individuals as finalists and winners for the Dorian Awards.

Here are the 2026 Dorian Award Winners and Finalists for each category.

Company Awards

This category of awards is for companies who have successfully developed a Red X Program within a facility, division, region, or company and can demonstrate impactful improvements based on that development.

Bottom Line Improvement Award

View Award Criteria

Winners:
Phinia Delphi UK LTD

Stonehouse, United Kingdom

Medtronic PLC

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Bosch Automotive Systems (Wuxi) Co., Ltd

Wuxi, Jiangsu, China

Stellantis

Bertim, Brazil

FINALISTs:
PHINIA DELPHI UK LTD
  • Stonehouse, United Kingdom
Medtronic plc
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Bosch Automotive Systems (Wuxi) Co., Ltd
  • Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Stellantis
  • Betim, Brazil
Robert Bosch LLC
  • Anderson, South Carolina, USA
Yamaha Motor da Amazônia
  • Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Bosch Ltd. Bidadi
  • Bengaluru, Karnataka India
BCS-AIS
  • Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Robert Bosch PT-AC
  • Lincolnton, North Carolina, USA
Liebherr Machine Bulle
  • Bulle, Switzerland
ZF South America
  • Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil
Project of the year Awards

This category of awards is for project teams who have demonstrated outstanding application of Shainin methodologies in solving complex problems within their company.

Plant Manufacturing Project of the Year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
Robert Bosch Fahrzeugelektrik Eisenach GmbH, Eisenach, Germany
  • Team Leader: Hubert Wittmann
  • Team Members: Tobias Haase, William Leimbach, Andreas Klinzing, Pedro Ernani Falluh Pimentel
Finalists:
American Axle & Manufacturing, Silao, Guanajuato, México
  • Team Leader: Juan Pacheco
  • Team Members: Luis Sánchez, Omar Ulises Pérez, Bulmaro Cadena, Luis Montelongo, Jose Luis González Alatorre
Dana Incorporated - Maumee, Ohio, USA
  • Team Leader: Daniel Oldham
  • Team Members: Andrew Rombach
Philips Ultrasound - Reedsville, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Team Leader: Lauren Wilson
  • Team Member: Justin Thomassen
Robert Bosch Fahrzeugelektrik Eisenach GmbH - Eisenach, Germany
  • Team Leader:Hubert Wittmann
  • Team Members: Tobias Haase, William Leimbach, Andreas Klinzing, Pedro Ernani Falluh Pimentel
Schneider Wuxi Pro-face Electronics co,. ltd. - Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Team Leader: Dingpu Wang
  • Team Members: Wengang Wang, Gang Liu, Steven Shi, Chunsheng Li, Jiajun Sun, Hang Rao, Shulin Feng
ZF South America - Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Team Leader: Julio Pereira
  • Team Members: Carlos Eduardo Silva, Edson Lopes Lima, Everton Costa, Luiz Eckstein, Reinaldo Oliveira
Field reliability project of the year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
Yamaha Motor da Amazônia – Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
  • Team Leader: Geórgia Clélia Marques de Medeiros
  • Team Members: Valquimar de Souza Ribeiro, Francisco Darciel Mesquita Marques
Finalists:
Robert Bosch AG Hallein - Hallein, Salzburg, Austria
  • Team Leader: Mario Kübler
  • Team Members: Michael Inselsbacher, Christian Busch
Robert BoschLTDA - CaP - Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Team Leader: Rafael Francatto
  • Team Members: Ricardo Silva, Adalberto Junior, Gustavo Damaso, Giovani Guidolin, Gabriel Marques, Lazaro Melo, Geovane Campos, Isabella Braz, Antonio Amstalden, Americo Salmazi, Marcelo Geraldo, Diogenes Pereira
Stellantis Argentina - Córdoba, Argentina
  • Team Leader: Gabriel Luis Martínez
  • Team Members: Gustavo Verino, Santiago Angona, Marcelo Sasserolli, Diego Mazzoni, Spencer Junior, Pedro Borgati, Exequiel Pereira
Wabtec Corporation - Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Team Leader: Andrew Buderer
  • Team Members: Marcelo de Lavigne, Josh Allego, Nick Murray
Yamaha Motor da Amazônia – Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
  • Team Leader: Geórgia Clélia Marques de Medeiros
  • Team Members: Valquimar de Souza Ribeiro, Francisco Darciel Mesquita Marques
Product Development project of the year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
Baker Hughes – Houston, Texas, USA
  • Team Leader: Aldo Alarcon
  • Team Members: Harold Smart, Nicolas Forge, Eduardo Hernandez
Finalists:
Baker Hughes – Houston, Texas, USA
  • Team Leader: Aldo Alarcon
  • Team Members: Harold Smart, Nicolas Forge, Eduardo Hernandez
PHINIA DELPHI Automotive Systems - Shanghai, China
  • Team Leader: Yan Chen
  • Team Members: Junming Lu, Neal Zhang, Vincent Chen, Weidi Yang, Yadong Qu, Zhou Liang, Wenxuan Xiong, Richard Shi, Ryan Cui
Robert Bosch LLC - Charleston, South Carolina, USA
  • Team Leader: Cory Crews
  • Team Members: Gavin Reid, Luis Lopez Sandoval, Connor Lee
Resilient engineering project of the year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
ROBERT BOSCH ELEKTRONIKA KFT. – HATVAN, HUNGARY
  • Team Leader: NAGY Szilárd
  • Team Members: MECSEI Attila Bence, RADÓ Levente, BARKÓCZI Balázs, CZÁK Zoltán, SZABÓNÉ SIMON Katalin Éva
Transaxional business project of the year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
Pratt & Whitney, An RTX Business - East Hartford, Connecticut, USA
  • Team Leader: Denise Hernandez & Jason Fidalgo
  • Team Members: James Van Cott, Donald DeZenzo
Finalists:
Pratt & Whitney, An RTX Business - East Hartford, Connecticut, USA
  • Team Leader: Denise Hernandez & Jason Fidalgo
  • Team Members: James Van Cott, Donald DeZenzo
Robert Bosch LLC - Charleston, South Carolina, USA
  • Team Leader: Luis Lopez Sandoval
  • Team Members: Brian Vicars, Connor Lee, Loretta Whisner, Nia Warner
Robert Bosch Sistemas Automotrices S.A. de C.V. - Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México
  • Team Leader: Claudia Janeth Pérez Sotelo
  • Team Members: Germán Salas Granados, Alfonso Corona Ramírez, Francisco Peña, Ricardo Luther
Leadership Awards

This category of awards is for leaders who have increased the impact of problem solving using Shainin technologies within their organization.

Rolling Top 5 Leadership excellence

View Award Criteria

Winners will be announced next week
Winners:
Cynthia Perez
  • Robert Bosch Automotive
  • Florence, Kentucky, USA
Eugen Drummer
  • Bosch Powertrain s.r.o.
  • Jihlava, Czech Republic
Marco Beleti
  • Yamaha Motor Da Amazonia
  • Manaus, Brazil
Ricardo Luther
  • Robert Bosch Sistemas Automotrices JuP1
  • Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Red X Master of the Year

View Award Criteria

Winner:
Daniel Bamber
  • BorgWarner
  • Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA
Finalists:
Chen Zhigang
  • Bosch Automotive Systems (WUXI) Co., Ltd (RBCW)
  • Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Daniel Bamber
  • BorgWarner
  • Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA
Jason Alewine
  • Robert Bosch LLC
  • Anderson, South Carolina, USA
Rajesh Nataraja
  • Robert Bosch Fahrzeugelektrik Eisenach GmbH
  • Eisenach, Germany
Ryan Cui (Haoran Cui)
  • PHINIA Delphi Automotive Systems
  • Shanghai, China

Need More Info?

Inquiries & Questions

Thank you for your interest and support of the Dorian Awards Program.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via our website. 

Curious about this year's awards?

Visit our Dorian Awards

Each year the criteria for the awards gets a little more rigorous as participation in nominations increases. View this year’s Dorian Awards and Criteria to see what projects are eligible for this year. 

Learn more about Dorian Awards
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Dorian Awards Criteria

Team Project Awards

TRANSAXIONAL® BUSINESS
PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Business processes deliver critical functions. But sometimes processes break, and the root cause is not clear. TransaXional® Business Projects focus on what must go right in a process for it to deliver the desired result every time.  The  TransaXional® Business Project of the Year Award recognizes projects that focus on process-based problems. Projects that win this award will demonstrate:

  • The impact of the problem on the company and the team. 
  • The use of the DETAIL™ project format.
  • Creative & effective use of the Shainin TransaXional® tools.
  • The timeline of resolution from initial discovery through project closure.
  • Explanation of how to leverage and implement project results.

Dorian Awards Criteria

Team Project Awards

RESILIENT ENGINEERING®
PROJECT OF THE YEAR

The goal in a new product or process development is a trouble-free launch. Resilient Engineering® focuses on the critical factors that must go right in the product design and manufacturing process. The Resilient Engineering® Project of the Year Award recognizes projects that focus on what must go right to ensure a successful launch. Projects that win this award will demonstrate:  

  • Critical factor identification in the design phase.
  • Prioritization of the high-risk functions to focus on.
  • Development of function models linking the high-risk functions to critical input features, properties, and parameters.
  • Potential or perceived impact for the customer, the company, and the production line.
  • Effective use of the Shainin Resilient Engineering® tools to identify, prioritize, design, test, and control the critical factors.
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John Abrahamian

Executive VP - Problem Solving

John Abrahamian is a highly respected problem solver as well as an expert in the field of Lean manufacturing, with a career spanning over three decades. Throughout his career, John has become renowned for his innovative approach to problem-solving and his unwavering dedication to customer satisfaction. 
  
After receiving his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1985, John began his career as a design and development engineer at Pratt & Whitney. It was during this time that his interest in problem-solving first emerged. By 1994, John had become a Continuous Improvement Manager at the company. During his tenure, John led Pratt & Whitney’s efforts in Lean manufacturing and Value Engineering. 
  
In 1990, John began pursuing his MBA in Operations Management, where he was first introduced to the concept of Lean manufacturing, and this influenced the direction of his career. In 1996, he was encouraged by his Pratt & Whitney team to take Shainin Red X training, building on his Lean manufacturing efforts. This training proved to be a turning point in John’s career, igniting his passion for problem-solving and setting him on a path to becoming one of the industry’s most respected experts. 
  
In 1998, John joined Shainin, where he has spent the last 25 years pursuing his passion for problem-solving. During his time here, John has developed innovative approaches to problem-solving, having received a US Patent for a problem-solving method. He also integrated function analysis into Shainin methods, seeding what would ultimately become Resilient Engineering.  
  
Despite his busy schedule, John still finds time to pursue his hobbies, which include golfing, stand-up paddleboarding, and skeet shooting. He especially enjoys traveling with his wife and spending time with family, including his three grandsons. 
  
Having the opportunity to work in a wide variety of industries, experiencing different cultures and meeting new and interesting people gives John the kind of job satisfaction that makes him grateful to be in this field of work. He truly enjoys creating meaningful relationships with his customers and inspiring ordinary engineers to become extraordinary problem solvers. 

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Dorian Awards Criteria

Team Project Awards

This category of awards is for project teams who have demonstrated outstanding application of Shainin methodologies in solving complex problems within their company.

To be considered for this award, the submission must meet the following criteria:

  • Speed and efficiency of the problem solved
  • Technical difficulty and complexity of the problem solved
  • Project impact and leverage across the organization
  • Creative use of Shainin technologies
  • Clarity of the project documentation