THE FINISH LINE

NEWSLETTER

GAMIC FINALS JUDGES

April 8, 2024 Issue

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GAMIC JUDGES

Kevin Virta, Principal The Confluence Group LLC., is both a two-time entrepreneur and an automotive industry veteran. He spent the early part of his career at Johnson Controls in their automotive interiors division before departing to help start Crayon Interface, an pioneer in IoT solutions for vehicle and home access & control. Crayon Interface helped bring the first mobile phone-connected door lock to market through partnership with Schlage door locks. Crayon Interface was eventually acquired by Ingersoll Rand, parent company to the Schlage and Trane brands. He later founded InfiniteKey with the goal of bringing passive access systems via a mobile phone to the automotive and building controls markets. InfiniteKey was acquired by DENSO Corporation in 2017, where Kevin has spent the last 6 years leading an advanced R&D team to deliver new, secure vehicle access solutions. He recently left DENSO to begin a consulting practice focused on helping early stage companies.

Elizabeth Krear is Vice President, Electric Vehicle Practice at J.D. Power where she leads activities leveraging data and insights to support clients through the transition to an electrified product portfolio with optimum business performance.

Ms. Krear comes to J.D. Power from Stellantis where she was the Global Planning Director for Jeep Grand Wagoneer and electrified body-on-frame SUVs and trucks. Her focus was on planning and developing electrified, autonomous and connected platforms for the EV transition of this important product family at Stellantis. Prior to that, Ms. Krear was the Chief Engineer for the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator SUV vehicles, as well as the Ram 1500 Light Duty Truck portfolio. Leading up to the Chief engineering positions, Ms. Krear held a variety of leadership roles including: Ram Vehicle Line Quality Executive, Dodge Sr. Program Manager, Impact Development, Global Manufacturing, Powertrain Synthesis and Interior releasing. In 2020 Elizabeth was named “Top 100 Women in North American Auto Industry” by Automotive News. Ms. Krear holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Michigan State University Executive MBA Program. 

Randy Pappal, VP Purchasing and Supply Chain, Gentex Corporation.

Randy leads the purchasing and global supply chain at Gentex Corporation. Previously Randy was employed by Shape Corp as VP and General Manager Shape Asia since October 2021 and Vice President of Global Purchasing/Supply Chain and Business Development at Shape. Randy’s previous employment was with General Motors (GM) where he held a variety of positions, including numerous executive leadership roles, within key business and purchasing functions including Executive Director of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain for GM’s Body and Exterior team. Randy received an Associate and Bachelor of Science Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in Industrial Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Randy is a member of the Supply Chain Advisory Boards for West Virginia University, Wayne State University and Grand Valley State University.

Paul Haelterman, Vice President Autodatas.

Autodatas is a global automotive specialist focused on the EV and PHEV market. We do performance testing, vehicle teardown analysis, materials and mass analysis and we create costed BOM’s on EV’s and PHEV’s from around the world, including all of the latest vehicles in China, Europe, the US, Japan and Korea. Paul's career includes several years as Vice President at Strategic Vision wich performed New and Used Vehicle Experience studies for most of the worlds major automakers. Paul previously was the Vice President & General Manager at IHS-Markit leading automotive forecasting and Vice President at Magna International and Ford Motor Company.

Alan Amici is the President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). Alan joined CAR after a 35+ year career with Chrysler and TE Connectivity, holding a variety of positions in engineering, manufacturing, and service. His roles at TE included: VP & CTO, Transportation Solutions and VP Engineering, Automotive Americas. Highlights of his tenure at Chrysler included: Head of Global Uconnect – Infotainment and Connected Car Platform, Head of Electrical/Electronics Engineering (Torino, Italy & Auburn Hills, Michigan) and Senior Manager, Global Service & Parts (Stuttgart, Germany). Alan is the owner of two patents and is the recipient of the Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award. He holds an MBA, a Master of Science degree, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors at Penn State Harrisburg and the Department of Industrial Engineering at Wayne State University. He is a graduate of the Chrysler Institute of Engineering.

Carla Bailo, President and CEO of ECOS Consulting LLC and past President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), and is a leader in engineering and vehicle program management with 42 years of experience in the automotive industry. In addition to her role at ECOS, Ms. Bailo is currently an Independent Director on the corporate boards for SM Energy (SM), Advance Auto Parts (AAP), and Vesuvius (VSVS.L). She also serves on the following non-profit boards: Society of Automotive Engineers President-Elect, Kettering University Vice Chair, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, and Engineering Society of Detroit. Further, she is on the advisory boards for Argonne National Laboratory, BEES (Board of Energy and Environment Studies of NASEM), and Woolpert. Previously, she was the assistant vice president for mobility research and business development at The Ohio State University. She also has 25 years of experience at Nissan North America, Inc., where she served as senior vice president of research and development. Ms. Bailo also spent 10 years at General Motors. She has a MS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Kettering University.

MARK R. WAKEFIELD, Global Co-head, Automotive & Industrial Practice, AlixPartners  

Mark’s work focuses on strategy and operations in the automotive and industrial sectors. He has worked across the value chain, from manufacturers to suppliers to distribution companies to aftermarket companies to finance & insurance companies and beyond. He is an expert at capturing value from shifting trends and competitive dynamics, bringing decades of experience helping companies do such things as improve operations, transform operations, or successfully execute all aspects of M&A – from due diligence to post-merger integration to full-company transformations if need be. He has also worked extensively with private-equity investors and their portfolio companies in these and other areas. Mark started his career as an engineer and program manager at tier-one auto supplier Magna International Inc., was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and led business development at HSBC Auto Finance. Mark has been an interim CEO, COO, Managing Director and Plant Manager at suppliers and automakers. He has been a featured speaker at several industry conferences and has been quoted or featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Reuters News, The Associated Press, CNBC TV, Bloomberg TV, ABC News, NBC News, National Public Radio, Nikkei News, Automotive News, and guest lecturer at the Wharton School and the University of Michigan. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor from the AIRA.

Kristen Siemen, Vice President of Sustainable Workplaces and Chief Sustainability Officer at General Motors, leading its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040. Prior to this, she was executive director of global energy strategy and held senior engineering positions at the firm. Passionate about promoting inclusion and gender equality, Siemen helped create GM’s Take 2 career-reentry program, co-leads the GM Women Ally Program, and is its executive representative for the Society of Women Engineers. Her recognition includes being named to the Crain’s Notable Leaders in Sustainability, Future 50 Tech, and Sustainability Magazine Top 100 Women in Sustainability lists. Siemen is an advisory board member of Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science, from which she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering.

THE 10 GAMIC FINALISTS

AlGalCo – Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Supplemental hydrogen on demand from aluminum and water for Diesel engines, improving fuel economy and reducing emissions.  www.algalco.com           

Banf – Seoul, South Korea

Real-time truck tire profile ‘direct sensing’ system to improve safety and optimize tire performance.  www.banf.co.kr

Natrion Inc. – Champaign, Illinois, USA

Lithium Solid Ionic Composite (LISIC), a solid-state electrolyte material that reduces or eliminates the content of liquid electrolyte inside of Li-ion batteries, enabling safe, high-performance battery manufacture. natrion.co

NextDriver – Delft, Netherlands

Personal and scalable coaching platform, thatsaves up to 10% on fuel consumption and realises up to 47% damage reduction through driving behaviour coaching.  nextdriver.nl

Rheom, Houston, Texas, USA

We work with naturally abundant bio-based components to create the next generation of ethical materials for leather, injection molding plastic, and synthetic fabric. rheom.com

SkillReal – Ramat Gan, Israel

The first solution that enables use of standard low-cost cameras for dimensional inspection at sub-mm accuracy for manufacturing lines.   www.skillreal.com

Soteria Battery Innovation – Greenville, South Carolina, USA

Our technology provides safety, improved LiIon battery weight and energy density.  www.soteriabig.com

TGO – London, United Kingdom

Unique touch and gesture sensing smart polymers, creating ability to create true 3D shapes with complete design freedom.   tg0.co.uk

Torev Motors – Arlington, Virginia, USA

Torev’s patented motor technology reduces rare earth consumption without sacrificing efficiency or size.  torevmotors.com

VePa Vertical Parking – Munich, Germany

Parking towers for space-saving and environmentally conscious parking spaces with charging capability.  vepa.space

The SAE International WCX draws up to 10,000 global automotive and mobility industry executives from around the world each year.

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• Monday April 15, 2024 - 11:30 am to 5:30 pm EDT
• SAE WCX World Congress - Huntington Place, Port Side Ballroom, Room # 60
• 1 Washington Blvd., Detroit, Michigan, 48226 USA

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