Written by: Sindi Wasserberg Lash
Compared to years past, it's a much warmer welcome for women in the automotive industry. Gone are the days where women were mistaken for secretaries or wives. Gone are the days of catcalls and girly calendars on the walls.
With that said, I'd like to introduce you to 10 prominent and influential women in the automotive industry. I read through hundreds of bios and felt these 10 women were especially noteworthy based on their current contributions. Perhaps I should make this a three or four part series.
BRITTA GROSS
Britta is the Director of Global Energy Systems and Infrastructure Commercialization for GM. She has an electrical engineering degree from LSU. Gross is in charge of prepping the U.S. to be plug-in ready by working with the utility and energy companies to produce the infrastructure to support the electric vehicle. She then goes to federal, state and local governments to help pave the way for the implementation of new policies to support electric cars. Her claim to fame: the Chevy Volt. Chevy expected to sell 10,000 Volts in 2011 but came up short with 7,671. But 1,500 Volts were sold in December 2011, the best month since the Volt was launched in late 2010.
CHRISTINA RODRIGUEZ
"Chrissy" is the Vehicle Dynamics Development Engineer of the 2010 Ford Taurus. "Her job was equal parts engineer, race car driver and vehicle psychologist". She had to make sure the car was safe, handles well and had the right personality. She holds a mechanical engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master's degree from University of Michigan. Chrissy hails from Puerto Rico where her father was a chemical engineer.
PAM FLETCHER
Pam is Global Chief Engineer for Chevy Volt and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Powertrains. Her prior positions include calibration engineer for Ford, assistant chief engineer for Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade and chief engineer for Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy. Pam holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in mechanical engineering from the GM Institute.
DIANE ALLEN
Diane is a design manager at Nissan. She won a global competition for both the 350Z and the 370Z.
CRYSTAL WINDHAM
Crystal is Director of the North American Passenger Car Interior Design for GM. She won the car of the year award for the Aura and Malibu.
CHRIS BARMAN
Chris is a Vehicle Line Executive for Chrysler. She received her mechanical engineering degree at Purdue University. She was one of the first to work on the electronic stability program and implemented it on the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Magnum. Now she's responsible for the rear-drive platforms of those vehicles.
KATHLEEN DILWORTH
Kathleen is Plant Manager, Flint Powertrain Operations at GM. She is a chemical engineer who helped launch the 1.4L engines for the Chevy Volt and Chevy Cruze.
MARTI EULBERG
Marti is VP, Global Sales, Marketing and Communications for Fisker. Her first automotive job was district manager in training at Ford in 1987. Her proudest achievements were: BMW - part of a committee that chose the agency for Mini, VOLVO - integrating an unhappy retail network into a partnership with the factory, JAGUAR - helped launch the brand in a new way. And now with Fisker, she is building the brand from the ground up.
MARY BARRA
Mary is Senior VP, Global Product Development for GM (since early 2011). She received her undergrad degree from Kettering University and her MBA from Stanford. When the CEO of GM put her in this position he received a lot of heat due to her lack of design experience. Chevy sold 2.35 million vehicles in the first 6 months of 2011 - the best 1/2 year performance in the company's 100 year history.
TRISH SERRATORE
Trish is the Senior VP, National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Her first automotive job was business editor for Motor Age magazine. She also co-founded the Women's Automotive Network.
Is it still a man's world? According to statistics by Catalyst and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, yes, yes it is. BAH.
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