Ford Motor Co.
Supply chain senior manager, global electrification edrive, power electronics and pack components
Mallory
Bandy
Big Break: Being picked for a new purchasing leadership program that led to placement on Team Edison, a skunk works group that developed the Mustang Mach-E.
Age: 39
Magna
International
Senior manager of government affairs
Dex
Battista
Big Break: Being given a national scope in managing government affairs for Magna, North America’s largest parts supplier, in 2017
Age: 35
Toyota Battery
Manufacturing,
North Carolina
Director, application delivery lead
Ken
Clerebout
Big Break: An organizational restructure in 2019 presented an opportunity to move into management.
Age: 41
Nvidia Corp.
Senior product manager for autonomous vehicle simulation
Matt
Cragun
Big Break: Getting picked to help build a simulator in the early days of DRIVE Sim
Age: 40
Waymo
Head of safety best practices
Francesca
Favaro
Big Break: Getting chosen by her peers as one of only seven U.S. experts creating safety guidelines for the International Organization for Standardization
Age: 36
Our Next Energy
Senior director of chief engineering
Chris
Hughes
Big Break: Developing Samsung’s quotes and concepts for PHEV batteries for Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee programs, winning the battery maker the contracts
Age: 36
Wilko Plastics
President
Bill
Kozyra II
Big Break: Leading the resurrection of a failing production facility by updating the equipment and leadership structure
Age: 38
Hyundai Motor America
Director, retail operations
Jen Cheng
Lee
Big Break: Working in market research early on sparked her love for data and integrating consumer needs into analysis.
Age: 44
Ultium
Cells LLC
Ohio
Plant director
Kareem
Maine
Big Break: Being promoted to manufacturing operations manager
Age: 44
Lear Corp.
Plant manager
Julius
Martin
Big Break: Ramping up three greenfield plants for Lear, one of the world’s largest suppliers
Age: 44
Robert Bosch LLC
Vice president, commercial plant manager
Annekathrin
Müller
Big Break: Accelerating the rollout of the Super Cruise hands-free driving-assist technology and enhancing its features.
Age: 40
Gatik
Chief technology officer
Arjun
Narang
Big Break: In 2021, Narang oversaw the strategy and execution of a driverless truck deployment along a 7.1-mile delivery route between a retail warehoause and a Walmart retail location in Arkansas. It was the proof point that has led to frequent revenue-generating driverless deliveries.
Age: 34
Dana Inc.
Vice president of light-vehicle EV engineering
Giulio
Ornella
Big Break: Moving to the U.S. and leading Dana’s global light-vehicle electrification engineering
Age: 44
Nissan North America
Director, Manufacturing Strategy & Planning Office
Matthew
Overbay
Big Break: Moving from process engineering to manufacturing
Age: 41
Mazda North American
Operations
Senior director, sales planning and supply chain innovation
Bob
Pan
Big Break: Moving from Florida to the corporate office in California because he believed in the people who said it was the right thing to do
Age: 42
Honda Development
and Manufacturing
Human resource strategy and transformation leader
Molly
Popilowski
Big Break: Stepping out of her comfort zone in purchasing to work on the manufacturing side
Age: 43
J.D. Power
Director of strategic marketing — automotive
Kris
Rosychuk
Big Break: Launch of a COVID-19 auto impact webinar series
Age: 36
Tesla Inc.
Senior director, vehicle operations and manufacturing engineering
Hrushikesh
Sagar
Big Break: His 2015 internship at Tesla’s plant in Fremont, Calif.
Age: 35
Clarios
Director of global product line leader
Wei
Song
Big Break: Leading Clarios’ Smart AGM technology breakthrough to the market to address a long-standing technical challenge of the lead-acid battery
Age: 41
Stellantis
North America
Assembly optimization manager for stamping
BranDee
Tatum
Big Break: Led creation of a maintenance plan at Trenton Engine Plant
Age: 34
General Motors
Global vice president of customer care and aftersales
Josh
Tavel
Big Break: Launching the Chevrolet Bolt
Age: 44
AEye
Director of product management
Indu
Vijayan
Big Break: Moving from a technical role into product management gave Vijayan a broad and comprehensive view on what it takes to make and sell a product.
Age: 35
Blink Charging
Director of automotive business development
Jeremy
Watrous
Big Break: Helped grow Blink Charging’s automotive sales to $70 million through August, up from $5 million in 2022.
Age: 35
Martinrea
International
Vice president of program management and manufacturing engineering
Derek
Yates
Big Break: Having Martinrea give him the chance to run large-scale projects across many plants
Age: 41
