Jan 11, 2011

Benedict R. Bonazza, Ph.D., a retired principal chemist from TI Automotive LLC in Caro, Mich., has received the 2010 ASTM International Award of Merit for his outstanding contributions to ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants.

Bonazza has been a member of ASTM International and Committee D02 since 1994.  He works on several D02 subcommittees and was a longtime chairman of Subcommittee D02.A0 on Gasoline and Oygenated Fuels.  He also served as first vice chairman of D02 from 2006 to 2008 and as a director on the ASTM board from 2008 to 2010. For his contributions, Bonazza was honored with the Sydney D. Andrews Award of Achievement in 2001, the Award of Excellence in 2006 and the Award of Appreciation in 2009. He also received a Service Award for his tenure on the Committee on Technical Committee Operations (COTCO).

In 2008, Bonazza received a Meritorious Service Award from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for his work chair of a government-led U.S. task force that worked with similar task forces from the European Union and Brazil to conduct a review of bioethanol standards of the three countries. In early 2008, the tripartite group released a white paper identifying where greater compatibility among the standards could be achieved.

In his role at TI Automotive, Bonazza provided operations support in the areas of fuels and plastics. Before joining the TI Automotive staff, he served in various positions with Phillips Petroleum Co. Prior to Phillips, he held a research position at the General Motors Research Laboratories.

During his career, Bonazza was involved in fuels research and the development of lubricants as well as fuels and lubricant additives, and he worked on specialty chemicals applications development. He has published many technical papers in his field and holds several patents.

Bonazza holds a B.A. in chemistry from St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minn., and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. In addition to his ASTM involvement, Bonazza is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Chemical Society and the Society of Plastics Engineers.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #8768