This collection consists of records that document a series of projects conducted by WorldAutoSteel, a unit of the World Steel Association. The files come from WorldAutoSteel headquarters, primarily from Edward Opbroek, who was the director of WorldAutoSteel from 2006 to 2011 and the program director for UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) and UltraLight Steel Auto Body - Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC). These records would be of value to researchers interested in the intersection of the steel and automobile industries, automotive benchmarking, innovations in steel design and engineering, and communications strategies.

The collection is arranged into four series by project: UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) files; UltraLight Steel Auto Closures (ULSAC) files; UltraLight Steel Auto Suspension (ULSAS) files; and UltraLight Steel Auto Body - Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) files.

The UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) series is arranged into two subseries: Conferences and presentations and Office files. The subseries originated from the creator, though some content appears to overlap. The Conferences and presentations subseries consists of materials presented at meetings (e.g., conferences) or communications plans that formulate how to report conclusions. The subseries also contains reports, communication strategies, deliverables, speech transcripts, and agendas. There are printouts of PowerPoint presentations, digital files of presentations, presentation slides (analog/35mm), and video recordings that summarize the project. The files date from 1994 to 1999. The Office files subseries includes correspondence, invoices, patent applications, proposals and agreements, and demonstration hardware parts and shipments. Most of the materials relate to ULSAB meeting minutes, budget and expenses, and materials parts lists and properties. There is a small group of records that date from 1964 to 1990 consisting of patent research; the majority of the materials date from 1995 to 2000.

The UltraLight Steel Auto Closures (ULSAC) series includes correspondence, invoices, patent applications, intellectual property contracts, ULSAC budgets, and validation documentation; however, most of the materials are of ULSAC Consortium meetings and related reports, presentations, and communications. Files are arranged alphabetically and date from 1996 to 2002.

The UltraLight Steel Auto Suspension (ULSAS) series consists of a single engineering report and the born-digital files from the disk that acccompanied the report. The consulting firm Lotus Engineering conducted the study; it was published by the American Iron and Steel Insitute (AISI) in 2001. The report covers benchmarking; suspension system types, including twist-beam, strut and links, double wishbone, multi-link, and Lotus unique; and a materials utilization summary.

The UltraLight Steel Auto Body - Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) series is arranged into three subseries: Reports and media communications plans, ULSAB-AVC meetings, and Office files. This arrangement reflects the order maintained by the creator. The Reports and media communications plans subseries includes benchmarking and engineering reports, crashworthiness studies, and communication deliverables and reference booklets. There are press kits and press releases, as well as virtual exhibit development, launch, and training. Part of the virtual exhibit was the use of the NASTRAN files and the HyperView player. Although the NASTRAN digital files are in a proprietary format that Hagley does not have licensed software for viewing/opening, the files are computer-aided engineering simulations where parameters can be altered to demonstrate crashworthiness. Of interest are oral history interviews from 2005, 2006, and 2008 of various leaders in the industry. These audio and video recordings were at least in part used in the book Ultralight Steel: A Global Consortium Changes the Future of Automotive Steel, by Edward Opbroek, director of WorldAutoSteel, published in 2013. There are two copies of the book in the collection. The subseries dates from 1999 to 2013 and is arranged chronologically.

The ULSAB-AVC meetings subseries includes all meetings from 1998 to 2002 in chronological order. Documentation consists of agendas, schedules, attendee lists, distribution lists, meeting minutes, meeting reports, notes (handwritten), memoranda, presentations, communication plans, status reports, and budgets.

The Office files series includes invoices, intellectual property, Technical Transfer Dispatches (bulletins), budgets, newspaper clippings, conference papers, and press briefings. Files date from 1997 to 2004 and are arranged in alphabetical order.