This episode is sponsored by Lockton, click here to learn more
It's day two of the Detroit Auto Show, and Jan is back at Kettering University's AutoMobili-D exhibit, diving into conversations with the people shaping the future of mobility.
Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed, CEO of SAE International, set the stage with her thoughts on why hands-on learning is the best way to prepare engineering students for the challenges of the real world.
Next, legal expert Jennifer Dukarski talks about the challenges and opportunities of AI in automotive. From national security concerns to ethical data use, her insights show why careful regulation and testing are essential.
Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu, a seasoned professor at Kettering, brings decades of expertise to the conversation as he dives deep into the challenges of energy storage and why solving these roadblocks is critical to advancing EV adoption.
In a fun twist, Kettering student Ian Gibson stepped in as guest host to interview Jose Flores, CEO of Ancor Automotive. Jose shared how he turned a decades-old company into a modern tech player, earning the trust of seasoned employees and embracing digital transformation.
Later, Alisyn Malek, co-founder of May Mobility, talks about her Changing Lanes program, which bridges Michigan's automotive and startup ecosystems. Her vision of empowering experienced professionals to explore new opportunities is reshaping career paths in the industry.
Matt Fortescue, Kettering’s Director of Enrollment, talks about what makes Kettering unique. From hands-on co-op programs to small class sizes, he explains how Kettering sets students up for success in ways that larger institutions often can't.
Ted Serbinski takes a different approach, focusing on the next generation of innovators. With his work in tech education, he ensures kids learn not just how to use technology but how to wield it for success, equipping them for a digital future.
Finally, Kettering senior David Glover shares his journey into AI and how the university's support has helped him take the following steps toward making an impact in the industry.
Your Host
Jan Griffiths is the architect of cultural change in the automotive industry. As the President & Founder of Gravitas Detroit, Jan brings a wealth of expertise and a passion for transforming company cultures. Additionally, she is the host of the Automotive Leaders Podcast, where she shares insightful conversations with industry visionaries. Jan is also the author of AutoCulture 2.0, a groundbreaking book that challenges the traditional leadership model prevalent in the automotive world. With her extensive experience and commitment to fostering positive change, Jan is at the forefront of revolutionizing the automotive landscape. Reach out to her at Jan@gravitasdetroit.com
Co-host
Ian Gibson is an undergraduate student at Kettering University, pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Sustainability. As a Global Product Engineering Design Co-op at General Motors, he combines rigorous academic studies with hands-on, paid industry experience through Kettering's immersive Co-op program.
Featured guests:
Name: Jacqueline El-Sayed
Title: CEO, SAE International
Discussed: [01:27] With a career shaped by experiential learning and leadership, Dr. El-Sayed shares how her journey from Kettering to CEO of SAE International prepared her to drive innovation and quality across the mobility industry.
Name: Jennifer Dukarski
Title: Emerging Technology, Automotive, and Media Attorney at Butzel
Discussed: [04:45] AI’s potential in automotive innovation comes with critical challenges, from safety regulations to ethical considerations, and Jennifer shares how industry standards, diverse testing, and proactive compliance shape a safer, smarter future for mobility.
Name: Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu
Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering, Kettering University
Discussed: [11:39] The future of mobility hinges on solving energy storage challenges, says Dr. Hiziroglu, as he discusses the evolution of EVs, the potential of hydrogen, and the breakthroughs driving progress.
Name: Alisyn Malek
Title: Founder and CEO, Middle Third
Discussed: [20:45] Alisyn shares how her Changing Lanes program bridges the gap between Michigan’s automotive and startup ecosystems, offering career coaching, networking, and opportunities for seasoned professionals to dive into the startup world.
Name: Jose L. Flores
Title: CEO, Ancor Automotive
Discussed: [24:20] Taking over as CEO of a 40-year-old company, Jose shares how he earned the trust of a seasoned team, pivoted to digital solutions, and offered advice to aspiring leaders on building passion and resilience.
Name: Matt Fortescue
Title: Director of Enrollment, Kettering University
Discussed: [28:34] Matt shares how Kettering University’s small class sizes, hands-on co-op programs, and dedicated support systems create a unique and supportive learning experience for students.
Name: Ted Serbinski
Title: Founder & Managing Partner, Stanson & Co
Discussed: [32:53] Ted shares how his journey from building Detroit’s startup ecosystem to creating tech solutions for schools is driven by a mission to prepare the next generation for a digital future.
Name: David Glover Jr
Title: Computer Science student at Kettering University
Discussed: [37:55] A passion for AI, meaningful connections, and unwavering support from Kettering University have helped David turn opportunities into career momentum in the automotive industry.
Mentioned in this episode:
- The Detroit Auto Show
- Mobility Global Forum
- Electromagnetic Field Theory Fundamentals and Electric Machinery and Transformers by Huseyin R. Hiziroglu and Bhag Singh Guru
- The Changing Lanes program
- Changing Lanes Fireside Chat with Founders: Building and Scaling Startups in Auburn Hills
- Hackathon
- Bulldog for a Day
Mentioned in this episode:
This episode is sponsored by Lockton, click here to learn more
[Transcript]
[00:00:00] Jan Griffiths: Welcome to the Automotive Leaders Podcast, where we help you prepare for the future by sharing stories, insights, and skills from leading voices in the automotive world with a mission to transform this industry together. I'm your host, Jan Griffiths that passionate, rebellious farmer's daughter from Wales with over 35 years of experience in our beloved auto industry and a commitment to empowering fellow leaders to be their best authentic selves. Stay true to yourself, be you, and lead with Gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership. Let's dive in.
This episode is brought to you by Lockton. Lockton redefines business insurance and people solutions with a personal touch. Their global team of 11,000 is driven by independence, not quarters to tailor success for your business. Discover the Lockton difference, where your goals become their mission. Independence, it's not just how you think, but how you act.
Joining me at the mic today is Jackie El-Sayed and she is the CEO of SAE International. Jackie, welcome.
[00:01:34] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Thank you so much. Glad to be here.
[00:01:36] Jan Griffiths: Now, you have a deep history with Kettering, tell us about that.
[00:01:41] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Yes, well, I am the class of '86 and my dad is a class of '62, but I was also a professor at Kettering for 18 years, in addition to different academic administrative roles.
[00:01:54] Jan Griffiths: And now, in this new role, CEO of SAE International, that's a large organization. Tell us about the organization and about your role and how excited you are because you're new into the role.
[00:02:07] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Yeah, so SAE really spans all of the mobility community from just about anything that moves people forward and people drive or fly or anything. Not only do we have almost all of the members that are engineers and professionals, we also carry the standards. So, SAE standards are very well known and industry needs these standards. And then, our performance review group. Also, performance review institute also are the ones that do the site visits and accredit the industries: aerospace industry, ground vehicles; in order to make sure we have quality products coming out.
[00:02:55] Jan Griffiths: And how do you think your time at Kettering as a student prepared you for this role right now?
[00:03:03] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Well, I really, you know, as a professor and as a professional, I believe strongly in experiential learning and I actually ran co-op for a while when I was Associate Provost at Kettering. But I really believe that, as a professor, I really looked at, like an artist that does a self portrait, we as professors, we're subject matter experts, but you look at how does it affect yourself, but also how is it affecting your students. And so, experiential learning, helps students understand the big picture and the context far better than any other way of learning.
[00:03:37] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, you mentioned the word context and there it is, if you're learning in a classroom, you're learning theory, and then you walk into the real world, particularly the real world of automotive. I often say, you know, we get students out of college, and then they walk into a Tier One and they get crushed like a bug because the reality of the working world is just, it's so alien to the classroom environment. So, you're preparing students to really hit the ground running, right?
[00:04:03] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Yeah, right. And because it's alternating, so you learn, and then you go to work, and you apply, and then you're ready for the next class. You're really, all your brain is getting connected. And so, you really are able, as you said, hit the ground running, but also, even though I've transitioned after being a GM, then higher Ed, and now into professional societies, the leadership aspect of it and the connections, you can really understand how to implement things in a totally different context because you have that holistic learning.
[00:04:33] Jan Griffiths: Well, it's been great to have you at the mic today and we all wish you every success in your new role. Thank you.
[00:04:39] Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed: Thank you so much.
[00:04:45] Jan Griffiths: Joining me at the mic today is the one and only Jennifer Dukarski partner at Butzel. Jennifer, welcome.
[00:04:51] Jennifer Dukarski: Oh, Jan, thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
[00:04:54] Jan Griffiths: We are here at the auto show, and we are at the Kettering University exhibit area, and we've polled a few people and some students, and from your vast area of expertise, we asked them, what is it you would like to hear more about? And the answer came back clearly: AI. So, there's a lot of fear around AI. What about regulations around AI, Jennifer? What are you seeing?
[00:05:18] Jennifer Dukarski: Oh, I mean, AI is so exciting. I can't imagine being a student and having so much opportunity to use AI and the future of AI in the automobile, but that's when those regs do come in, because there are issues, there are concerns. I mean, let's just think about something that we all know and see: Chat GPT. When you use chat GPT, you have to look at what's in the contents because sometimes it makes things up or it really doesn't make sense what the output is. Put that in a car and imagine what could happen if you end up driving someplace where you don't want to go or the vehicle decides it's time to accelerate when it shouldn't. So, keeping an eye on how we use this, how we implement this, both from the student who's going to become our future engineer and from the regulator's perspective to make sure our vehicles are safe. It really is hot and a hot button in the news today. And that's where regulations like the ones that are just rolling out from a standpoint of technology, coming from foreign countries into the United States, that's really big. We've heard on the news so much about the TikTok ban. And as of the time we're recording this, the Supreme Court has not weighed in whether TikTok will be banned or not. But we do know that it's not only TikTok, we're also talking about these new regulations that say technology that has an AI component or has an advanced thinking and processing component really can't come from countries like China or Russia because of national security concerns. So, everything is kind of on the front and the forefront of what we're doing.
[00:06:45] Jan Griffiths: There's an awful lot to think about. You're absolutely right. I look at it, when I think about bringing AI into a Tier One company, right? Because that's where my brain goes.
[00:06:55] Jennifer Dukarski: And we're both Tier One people.
[00:06:56] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, right, right! And I think about that and I think, you know what? It's just like the introduction of any technology we've ever had to deal with. You need to, if you like, ring fence a certain area and say, "You know what? We're going to play with AI in this particular area, we're going to see what we can do to make it work for us." Some people say, you know, "Is AI going to change the world?" Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. It is us. It is the human being that needs to be in control here and needs to direct it and use it and then apply some form of governance or some rules and regulations around it.
[00:07:33] Jennifer Dukarski: Oh, Jan, you have hit the absolute most important thing. The government can only regulate so much, but it is us at the OEM and at the tier level that really need to take it the next level. Let's take an example, everyone's good friend, Elon Musk, and the Tesla; the way they're using AI is they're allowing the vehicles to learn from all of their drivers. And that's a fantastic thing because you're getting real-world test data that can help train. It's kind of like those large language models in ChatGPT. But it has limitations, Jan. When you think about it, what's the demographic of a Tesla driver? When you look at the statistics, almost 80 percent of them are male. Most of them make over 250,000 a year and almost 80 percent don't have children. So, when you think about it, there are some potential issues and limitations about what these vehicles are going to be training themselves on.
So, when you talk about regulations, it's one way to handle things and say we really shouldn't have things from China coming in, or we shouldn't allow ourselves to use Russian-based AI. But, really, let's think about how we're training our AI industry standards and even internal company procedures and protocols for testing to make sure we're getting true diversity. So we know that these vehicles can recognize all sorts of people. What's fascinating, 2019 Georgia Tech did a study, and they found that almost 10 percent of the time, AI in 2019 could not detect properly people of color as human beings. That was a scary study in my mind. It was redone by Kings College in London and a Chinese university within the last two years. They found that that's improved. We're down to closer to five or six percent inability to detect people of color. Whereas what they found now, children, over ten percent of the time, AI-driven vehicles had a problem detecting children. So, Jan, it's the regulations and exactly like you said, those standards and rules and internal thought and development of good test plans that are going to make sure that these technologies are safe and that they get to consumer adoption.
[00:09:38] Jan Griffiths: Yes, yes! It's a lot to think about. I want to take a turn and talk about you and your background and your history. You started life in a technical field in a Tier One, didn't you?
[00:09:51] Jennifer Dukarski: I certainly did. I started designing steering columns as a mechanical engineer. It was great. I spent several years, and I launched a couple of products. It was fantastic.
[00:10:02] Jan Griffiths: And as Kettering students are listening to this podcast, they are on a technical path so they may end up in a similar role like that, and they may decide, "Oh, I want to do something different. I want to go into law." Tell us about that moment in that decision point.
[00:10:19] Jennifer Dukarski: They would be absolutely wise. I mean, I had the opportunity to do the design work then I phased into about 10 years where I spent in manufacturing. I had gotten to the point where I was even called around this company, the Tier One that I was with at that time, to different plants, to try to do troubled turnarounds, to reduce defects, to save money. But what I found that there were a lot of issues with people not having compliance programs that were solid. I found that people were having problems with the contracts that they had negotiated and understanding what the specifications were. So, you might feel that slight urge to do something a little bit more. And for me, I went back to law school. Now, I continued to work during the day but I studied so many different things. And now, my engineering career really gives me a leg up in my legal field because I can come in and help a company who's having compliance concerns. I can help coach people through recalls, and I've coached through several significant recalls in the last few years. And we can help people just negotiate their simple contracts to make sure everybody understands what those design parameters need to be, and believe me, good fences make good neighbors in the auto industry.
[00:11:28] Jan Griffiths: And that's a perfect way to end today. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:11:32] Jennifer Dukarski: Thank you so much, Jan.
[00:11:39] Jan Griffiths: And joining me at the mic today is Dr. Hiziroglu and he is a long time professor at Kettering. Welcome.
[00:11:47] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate for the opportunity for this podcast.
[00:11:52] Jan Griffiths: What do you do at Kettering?
[00:11:55] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: I teach primarily undergraduate and graduate courses. And some of the courses I teach are required courses in the electrical engineering curriculum. Primarily, I teach power and energy-related courses in the elective group and electromagnetic fields in the required group. Sometimes, I teach circuits courses as well; those are very basic, fundamental courses. And I have one book in electromagnetic field theory published by Cambridge University Press. It's second edition with a late colleague of mine, Professor Guru, who passed away almost like 16-17 years ago. We have another book published by Oxford University Press.
[00:12:39] Jan Griffiths: Okay.
[00:12:40] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: That is on electric machines and transformers. And the books are primarily for the undergraduate students; they are textbooks conveying the information in a fundamental level. So, that's why those books are highly cited in the scientific journal papers as well.
[00:13:02] Jan Griffiths: Okay.
[00:13:03] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: So, that was our goal: not prepare a cookbook as a textbook, but giving all the details of the physical phenomena, the basics, and then build it up with the modeling and applications and things like that. So, I think that is the reason why these two books are highly cited by in scientific journals over the years.
[00:13:24] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. I'm very interested to ask you, as the industry, the automotive industry is evolving so quickly. In your field of study, what is the hot topic right now? Where's the interest?
[00:13:38] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Well, the interest is really the battery technology.
[00:13:42] Jan Griffiths: Yes.
[00:13:44] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: I should say, in general, the energy storing technology.
[00:13:48] Jan Griffiths: Ah, yes.
[00:13:49] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Energy storing technology. However you store it, whether it is stored in a battery or whether you store hydrogen in some canisters or some other form. In the form of like metal hydride or something like that. So, those are the challenges right now. If we can resolve those challenges, then the automotive industry will have a huge brace and then we'll move forward, but those are some of the serious roadblocks right now. You know, some people claim that, well, you can make like 300 miles with this car. Others say, oh, no, no! It's not 300 miles. And also the charging time of the batteries is really crucial. There are some fast charging technologies. It's great, but it's expensive. It may cause some issues with the aging of the battery. And the regular charging, it takes time. If you want to go, let's say, from Michigan to South, let's say to Texas, and you have like two or three people, and you want to drive continuously; with electric vehicles, it is very difficult to do it today. With the present technologies. So, those are some of the basic problems: the energy storage.
[00:15:09] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. What do you see winning? Is it gonna be hydrogen or is it gonna be battery technology?
[00:15:15] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Well, let's say early 2000; 2000, let's say, as a reference point. In newspapers: Fuel cell cars with hydrogen energy will be on the street by the year 2006. There was a big hype at the beginning of 2000. Here at Kettering, we had a program, an option in the engineering programs that we have like fuel cell hydrogen technology. Joint forces with the ME department and, we developed some courses for the fuel cells, and they developed some courses, and it was great. But now, even though the fuel cell research is still going on in our mechanical engineering department
[00:15:59] Jan Griffiths: Yeah.
[00:16:00] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: So, it was a big hype between 2000 and 2010 roughly. But the roadblock there is the storage of the hydrogen, and in the fuel cell, the usage of platinum. Those are the major issues. Platinum is a precious metal, it's very expensive, and it increases the cost. Even in the auto business, 50 cent is a big money in some cases.
[00:16:24] Jan Griffiths: Ah, yes, it is.
[00:16:25] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Because you are talking about quantity. I had one student who did a brilliant senior thesis at Ford Motor Company in their research center. It was related to remote or keyless entry to the vehicle, designed an antenna for that purpose and everybody liked it, but it cost like three and a half dollars or four dollars. Okay. And then, they say, "Oh yeah, we cannot afford doing that." It's $3. You just give it to someone, you know, not even as a tip, you don't give like $3. It's so small these days. So, it is that type of a cutthroat type of a business. It is very stringent, you know, 50 cents, a dollar is a big thing. So, because of that still, you know, we have to come up with a more ingenious fuel cell without the usage of those precious metals. There are some other technologies, but the efficiency is also important. You know, there are so many things, the knowledge is there, but the technology is not there.
For example, for electric cars, when I was doing my PhD at Wayne State University, some years ago, almost 45 years ago, the director of electric car group of the research center came and presented a lecture to the engineering students. And he was telling that, that was like 1981, something like that. He mentioned that electric car is something impossible to make. There's no way. And we completely eliminated all those projects within GM. That was in 1981. I'm not talking about a century ago. It's just a few decades before. The reason was the knowledge was there, but technology was not there. You know, semiconductor technology for power circuitry. It was not available. It was available. It was very expensive. You couldn't use it. And permanent magnet technology, it was just coming gradually. And by the way, the permanent magnets that are being used in the electric cars today in their Brushed DC motors it was Neodymium Iron Boron magnets and it was actually invented and developed in the General Motors Research Labs, late 1970s and early part of 1980s. And they started to manufacture those magnets in a Delco plant in Indiana. Primarily for their S-10 trucks alternators. That is what I heard at the time. But after a while, because of the stringent regulations of getting that rare earth material, namely the Neodymium Oxide, mining it; it is abundant, but it is very difficult to mine. It's very deep on earth, and you have to use lots of chemicals and this and that, and it makes it quite difficult and makes it expensive. Then they decided to sell the whole technology to China. And buy it from there probably at a reasonable price. And they did that. And then, the whole manufacturing was transported to China. And over the years, the price has come down substantially. At the time when things were transported over there, it was like $75 a pound if you buy it in quantity, that magnet. Now it is like $24-25 because the production is much more and the quality also went up because they did extra research on that and they improved the material. And now that is available for our everyday life, everyday usage of an electric car. So, that is resolved. And the semiconductor technology resolved in later part of 1980s and earlier 1990s. Still, they're a bit expensive, but affordable. Yes.
[00:20:33] Jan Griffiths: Okay. Well, lovely. It was great talking to you, Doctor. Thank you so much for joining me today.
[00:20:37] Dr. Huseyin Hiziroglu: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
[00:20:44] Jan Griffiths: And joining me at the mic today is Alisyn Malek. Alisyn is a thought leader in the mobility space. She has a deep, deep level of experience and knowledge not only at the OEM level, but perhaps most notably as her time as Co-founder of May Mobility, but now she is into a totally different field. So, Alisyn, what are you up to these days?
[00:21:08] Alisyn Malek: Well, I'm staying busy, Jan, really working on a project to help better connect the automotive and startup professional ecosystems in Michigan. Like you said, I've been an auto engineer, I've been a co-founder at startups here, and it still amazes me how few people in those two ecosystems know each other. That's really specific to Michigan. If you go to other tech hubs like Silicon Valley, like Berlin, there's more cross pollination. So, I'm trying to help that to happen. Last night, we actually had our first fireside chat at Tech Town in Detroit, and it was so awesome to get to talk to people who are like, well, I saw this come up on my LinkedIn and I've been wanting to try to figure out how to get more engaged with the startup community. I'm an auto engineer or a software engineer and this seemed like the right place to start. And that, for me, was music to my ears. That's exactly why I'm running the Changing Lanes program. And so, for those in your audience that are curious to hear about these fireside chats, to get to hear directly from startup founders that have experience in automotive, they know what it's like, they know what it's like to leave and to start their own thing. We've got another one coming up next week. We'll be at OU INC up in Auburn Hills. So people should definitely check out and get registered to come.
[00:22:22] Jan Griffiths: That's great. And this would be, I think, of particular interest to the Kettering Alum. So, to Kettering Alum listening to this—you might be out there, you might be well into your career, and you might think, "You know what? I would really love to get to know a startup and figure out how I can get involved with a startup." Because we often think startups are all about young kids in a coworking space and it's not. So, if you're out there and you want to, to use the title of your program, if you want to "change lanes," I will tell you from personal experience—it is never too late. And our automotive ecosystem that the governor talked about yesterday, needs all kinds of experience levels. We need cognitive diversity as part of the culture, and this would be a perfect opportunity to get engaged, right?
[00:23:14] Alisyn Malek: Yeah, exactly. We welcome those Kettering Alum to come to the Fireside Chat. And we're also running a really unique career coaching program called Momentum, and that's all about helping people transition their career. So, if you're someone who's been considering a buyout maybe kind of looking around to see what else is out there, this is an awesome program to be able to help you refine your resume, work on your networking skills—because that's the number one way people find new roles, and as a part of the program, get exposure to working with startups. I am actively recruiting startups right now that need help from experienced automotive professionals to be able to advance their products. So, that's all a part of the program. You can learn more at michiganbusiness.org/changinglanes and that application is due February 7th.
[00:24:02] Jan Griffiths: Well, you have been successful in every single thing that you touch. So, there's no doubt in my mind that this program is going to be incredibly successful. I wish you all the best and thank you for joining us today.
[00:24:12] Alisyn Malek: Thank you so much, Jan. It was great to be back.
[00:24:19] Jan Griffiths: And joining me at the mic is Jose Flores. He is the CEO of Ancor Automotive.
[00:24:26] Ian Gibson: Jan, I'm taking over.
[00:24:27] Jan Griffiths: What?
[00:24:27] Ian Gibson: I'm taking over the mic.
[00:24:28] Jan Griffiths: Nobody takes over the mic from me. What are you talking about?
[00:24:31] Ian Gibson: I'm taking over.
[00:24:32] Jan Griffiths: You're taking over the mic? You think I'm going to let a Kettering student take over the mic from me?
[00:24:37] Ian Gibson: Hopefully.
[00:24:37] Jan Griffiths: All right. Here you go.
[00:24:40] Jose Flores: Oh, wow. Okay.
[00:24:43] Ian Gibson: All right. Hello, Jose. How are you?
[00:24:45] Jose Flores: I'm doing pretty well. Thanks for having me again.
[00:24:46] Ian Gibson: Thank you. Yeah, thank you for being here. My name is Ian Gibson. I'm a junior studying electrical engineering at Kettering University and I'm taking over the mic for today.
[00:24:55] Jose Flores: Yeah, that's great. That's a lot of pressure for you.
[00:24:57] Ian Gibson: Sounds good. All right. So, I have a couple of questions for you. As the CEO of Ancor, what is it like being such a young CEO leading a company with such a deep background and a long history?
[00:25:09] Jose Flores: I think it's challenging, but it's fun challenging. It's a 40-year-old traditional company. I was the youngest CEO that took over. It's a lot of pressure, but it's also very highly rewarding, right? It's very meaningful and everything you do has impact—not only on the people, but in the industry. So, it's very highly rewarding.
[00:25:30] Ian Gibson: Definitely. Yeah. What's been your greatest experience as CEO? How do you feel that you've been impactful?
[00:25:35] Jose Flores: I think one of my biggest accomplishments has been transitioning the company from manufacturing and bringing the people on board. When I took over, I had a lot of people that were working on the company for more than 30 years. So, I came on board, they look at me like, okay, who's this young guy? Now he's going to tell us how to run the show? Like I don't believe that. I don't buy that. So, the two main accomplishments was how did I convince them to be fully on board, believe in my mission and my vision, the way I'm seeing things, the way I want to take the company, but also, the other one is transitioning the company from manufacturing to data management and software solutions. I mean, we started doing labels and now we do software solution. We even took labels to a whole different level. We now have Bluetooth labels, 5G labels. Nobody thinks about that, but like, I think that's the two main accomplishments that I have done so far.
[00:26:26] Ian Gibson: Yeah, super impactful and really changed the scope of the company, right? Changed what you're doing and it seems like it's been a very positive direction.
[00:26:35] Jose Flores: Yeah, I think it goes along with the ecosystem we're trying to build here in Detroit, being more of a mobility, startup innovation ecosystem. There's companies like us, like manufacturing traditional companies that either pivot and adapt or die. So, that's what we did. And now, we're in the digital transformation journey, and we also help companies in the digital transformation journey.
[00:26:55] Ian Gibson: Awesome, awesome. If you had one piece of advice, or a couple pieces of advice, for an aspiring engineer like me who would like to be in a corporate position just like you one day, what's something that you could give me?
[00:27:06] Jose Flores: I think right now it's the perfect timing, especially for engineering and demanding roles. For example, the EV -related jobs here in Detroit just last year jumped 30%. So, there's a 30 percent higher demand for your type of roles in engineering, and I think it's the perfect opportunity.
The only advice that I will give you is you need to have your goals very clear—short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Have a plan, and have a plan A, B, and C because your plan is not always going to go the same way. And something that I did that made me very successful on my early days was that I really put the hours and the effort, and I was really passionate about what I do. It doesn't matter what you do—it doesn't matter if you're a barista or an engineer or a constructor—as long as you're passionate about it and you're the best at it. So, I sell labels. People think labels are boring, but I'm the best in selling the labels, and I'm very passionate about it. So, I think that's my advice: hustle, create, and just put the hours in, because now when you reach the top of the mountain—they will always be on our higher mountain, by the way, —but you will look back, and you will feel rewarding, and feel that every sacrifice that you did was totally worth it.
[00:28:19] Ian Gibson: That's awesome. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you, Jose, for letting me take over and thank you for all of the advice.
[00:28:25] Jose Flores: No, my pleasure. Great job.
[00:28:26] Ian Gibson: Thank you. Thank you, Jan, for letting me take over.
[00:28:34] Jan Griffiths: And joining me at the mic is Matt Fortescue. Matt is the Director of Enrollments at Kettering. Matt, how are you?
[00:28:39] Matt Fortescue: I'm great.
[00:28:40] Jan Griffiths: Great to have you on the mic today.
[00:28:42] Matt Fortescue: Yeah, it's great to be here. Very excited to talk to you.
[00:28:45] Jan Griffiths: As Director of Enrollment, I've got to imagine that being here at Automobility at the Detroit Auto Show is a pretty important event because you're going to have a lot of prospective students walking through.
[00:28:58] Matt Fortescue: Yeah, we had some prospective students walking by and it's always great to talk to them. We've also brought in some of our current students too, which we worked with last year. It's really special to see, you know, some of our freshmen that just started and have already gone through a semester or term and they've done their co-op at this point. And, you know, a year ago, they were in a high school class. So, it's really special to see that.
[00:29:26] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, that's great. What do you look for in a student coming into Kettering? Is there something special about them or tell me about that?
[00:29:35] Matt Fortescue: Well, number one is we're looking for somebody, maybe what are their interests, you know, and we try to figure out why are you geared towards maybe engineering, or do you have a love for math or something like that? What's really making you excited about education? So, from there, once a student applies to Kettering, we're looking for a certain math level. We like to see Algebra 2 class with trigonometry involved, and if they're taking pre-calc, that's a pretty good sign that they're going to be prepared when they get here. And also, science classes too, like chemistry, physics, and biology look really good for a student. But a lot of times, students, they get hung up on, " What do I need to get in? And what do I do? I'm really scared about this." And I like to put students at ease and say, like, "Hey, we want you to be successful here, and we want this to be the right fit. And maybe if your math level isn't where it needs to be, let's get you there, and then you can come to Kettering so you're prepared for that."
[00:30:44] Jan Griffiths: That's a great approach. And I've heard you say that the Kettering education is a very personalized experience. What do you mean by that?
[00:30:52] Matt Fortescue: You know, a lot of students in the state of Michigan are born with a mentality of going to a state school. We have a lot of state schools in the area that are very attractive to them. Kettering is very different. You might have a max of 40 students in your classroom and you're going to know your professor's name. They're going to know you, you're going to know everybody in the class. You're going to have a relationship with the people there. Not only that, you're going to have a co-op person—your go-to person—to help you get into a job immediately. You're going to have an academic advisor, where you're not going to walk into an office, take a number, and it's a new person each time. So, that's personalized and it's based on the student. And we try to learn them while they're learning themselves as they're going through.
[00:31:42] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, I love that. Yeah. What advice would you give to somebody considering a Kettering education?
[00:31:48] Matt Fortescue: First of all, come and see campus. Visiting—we try to personalize that too. We just started a class shadow program called Bulldog For A Day, where you're going to come in, and you're going to see a student that's in the program that you're interested in, and sit in class with them. And then after, go have lunch on campus. And if you're in really interested in one of our clubs on campus, maybe you go and see that too. So we personalized for every admitted student that wants to do that, and I think that really shows what the environment's like and how we're different from a state school.
[00:32:26] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, I really love that. Can I come and visit? I haven't been to the campus yet.
[00:32:31] Matt Fortescue: Yeah, absolutely. We'll set you up on a Bulldog For A Day.
[00:32:35] Jan Griffiths: I could be a bulldog for a day. There are some in this industry who would argue I was a bulldog for many days in my career, but that's a subject for another day. Matt, thank you so much for joining us at the mic today.
[00:32:46] Matt Fortescue: Thanks for having me.
[00:32:52] Jan Griffiths: And joining me at the mic is Ted Serbinski. Ted is one of the original founders of the Startup Ecosystem in Detroit. Ted, how did that happen?
[00:33:04] Ted Serbinski: A cold email—so, how did it happen? I was in San Francisco 15 years ago, and a cold email to Dan Gilbert's team brought me to Detroit. I had no idea what I was signing up for, but 15 years later, I'm still here, excited with all the change and growth, and to continue building here.
[00:33:25] Jan Griffiths: 15 years ago—so, you've seen the growth, right? You've seen your ideas and your work take hold and take shape. And I know that you advise a lot of startup companies, but now there's a bit of a switch in direction, isn't there?
[00:33:39] Ted Serbinski: Yeah, so what I've seen over the last 15 years is helping tech companies, over 100 startups around the world, from the earliest stages. So, from the idea stage through raising millions of dollars, tens of millions, to exiting the business, this identification of what do you do next? So, when you're kind of maybe mid-thirties, late thirties, early forties, and you've been a tech entrepreneur, there's a, "I want to do something again, maybe more mission-driven this time or join up with a few friends." And I found myself personally in this role a couple of years ago where I was kind of done with the investment side, just more worn out from that realm. But I was like, I'm still a tech entrepreneur. I still want to do this. And I found myself one day— I have four little kids, at 1.5, four kids under the age of five—and they brought home an iPad during COVID. And I'm like, "Who set this up?" Like, this is not how I would set it up." And one thing led to another, and I started an IT company for schools. And I didn't think I would pursue it much more beyond that, but that's kind of where what I've kind of found myself working on.
[00:34:53] Jan Griffiths: So, that's the new mission.
[00:34:54] Ted Serbinski: So, my new mission was really by having kids and seeing things through their eyes and kind of melding the admissions together. So, coming to Detroit, being part of this startup ecosystem, 10 years from now, what does it look like? And I'm like 10 years from now some of my kids are going to be maybe in that ecosystem. There'll be done with college. What are they going to see around here? What are their peers going to see? And as startups continue to grow here and there's more investment downtown and change and the auto industry continues to grow. It's really about this next generation. So, not college students today, but kids in elementary school, are they going to want to stay in the region that have these high tech jobs or entrepreneurial? And I'm looking directly at my kids and what are they learning today not around the reading and writing, but technology.
[00:35:49] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, I love that. Wow. You know, it's interesting—we're here at the auto show, the Detroit Auto Show, and we're at the Kettering booth, but we've really talked about education from so many different angles. And now here you are, talking about it very, very early age. We had Alisyn Malek, on talking about changing lanes and later-life career. We've here at Kettering, talking about more of the traditional path. We've covered it from all angles. And I think, when we talk about the automotive ecosystem and mobility ecosystem, there's an education and academic ecosystem that's morphing and changing too.
[00:36:26] Ted Serbinski: Exactly. And I think that what interests me most about kind of the K-8 of the elementary —and it's not unique to it—but it's this when I think about the digital divide, yes, there's parts of America where this still exists, but for the most part, people have access to devices and the internet. What they don't have access to is the know-how. What apps do you use? What do you not use? And we know that the harms of social media. There's a book, The Anxious Generation, that talks all about it and how today's kids—maybe in high school and in college, maybe millennial are Gen Xers—are affected by it. But the next generation, so where my kids are—the Gen Z, the Alpha, and the Beta —we know the harms of social media, the harms of technology. But at the same time, there's this tension of: you need to know how to use technology. You can't have a job in the future without knowing technology. And so, I'm really a more on a mission of it's not about having a device; it's knowing how to use it. And knowing how to use it comes down to how is someone setting it up? Are they setting you up for success? When you buy an iPhone or an Android phone, it comes with a bunch of default apps. When I show people what's on my phone, they're like, "Why do you have those apps?" And so, it's like kind of taking that thinking but to a school level.
[00:37:44] Jan Griffiths: I love it. Ted, thank you so much for joining us at the mic today.
[00:37:48] Ted Serbinski: Thanks for having me.
[00:37:55] Jan Griffiths: And our final guest today is a student at Kettering. Of
course, we need to have a student on the podcast. It is David Glover. David, welcome to the mic.
[00:38:06] David Glover: Hi, thank you for having me.
[00:38:08] Jan Griffiths: Well, it has been an insane couple of days—a lot of activity going on here at the Detroit Auto Show. So, tell us: what are you studying, why are you studying it, and then share with us some of your thoughts about the last couple of days.
[00:38:23] David Glover: Okay. Yeah. So, I'm currently a senior at Kettering University, studying computer science with a concentration in artificial intelligence. I chose computer science because I used to program as a kid. My mom put me in an afterschool program, and they had us programming small video games, and I took interest in that. But after that program, I kind of took a brief break from programming altogether and then found the love for it before I went to college. So, I chose computer science, dove back into it to catch up because I was a bit behind because of my brief gap there. And I chose artificial intelligence once I got the Kettering due to just a growing demand of AI needs within automotive space and just about every space there is
[00:38:57] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, I'm gonna say that was probably a really smart move.
[00:38:59] David Glover: Yeah, no, it's helped out a ton. There's still a lot of need for it today, and a lot of people are coming to me. I know you said you had Ted on the podcast. I just recently talked to him about an AI need, so that was an amazing opportunity.
[00:39:10] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. So, you've met some interesting people here today.
[00:39:12] David Glover: Yes, most definitely. It was an eventful day.
[00:39:14] Jan Griffiths: Some of the most notable people that you met that really, you know, stayed in your head.
[00:39:18] David Glover: Yeah. Ted, um..
[00:39:19] Jan Griffiths: Ted Serbinski.
[00:39:21] David Glover: Yep, Ted Serbinski. And... what's his name? Jose?.
[00:39:23] Jan Griffiths: Jose Flores.
[00:39:24] David Glover: I spoke with him briefly, but it was an amazing conversation, and a couple of other smaller companies here that have AI focuses. I think I flew under the radar personally because, you know, this is an auto show, but I have an interest in AI. So, I spoke to some of the AI companies and got their insight on the market.
[00:39:38] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, that's great. So, what's next for you?
[00:39:41] David Glover: Um, you know, I thought I had it planned out, but then I realized I just got to go with the flow. Just recently meeting Ted today was an example of that—I mean, just going with the flow. And I realized as long as I work hard and stay working towards my skill set, it'll pay off. So, really just working towards my skill set of software engineering with the introduction of AI and moving forward. I'm currently a co-op at General Motors, so working there is something I've always wanted to do. So I'm doing that and bringing my skillset to them.
[00:40:09] Jan Griffiths: What is it about your Kettering education that really resonates with you that's deeply personal that you've enjoyed about Kettering?
[00:40:18] David Glover: I would say the number one thing that Kettering does to support me is support. I know I said support, but support is the biggest thing, especially from the computer science department, the administrator Christina Nelson, and then the previous department head Michael Farmer. They've always made it a personal goal of theirs to just shoot my way any opportunities there are to develop myself in ways of like hackathons, which are like coding competitions and job opportunities, just about anything under the sun. They shot my way. So, just the support I get from Kettering. If you want to speak, if you speak up, people will help you. So, just as long as you speak up and ask for the help, they'll help you.
[00:40:50] Jan Griffiths: And there it is. That is a beautiful way to close today. So, thank you, David, for joining us at the mic.
[00:40:56] David Glover: Okay. Thank you so much.
[00:41:02] Jan Griffiths: And that's a wrap from the Detroit Auto Show at Kettering University at AutoMobili-D. And remember, Kettering is for the driven, and we are all about driving the automotive industry forward through its massive period of transformation. Talk to you soon.
Thank you for listening to the Automotive Leaders Podcast. Click the listen link in the show notes to subscribe for free on your platform of choice and don't forget to download the 21 Traits of Authentic Leadership PDF by clicking on the link below. And remember, stay true to yourself, be you, and lead with Gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership.