Ford Mustang’s Chief Engineer Says Get Involved In STEM
Ford’s Transou says “It’s not just about nuts and bolts”
Ford ($F) recently launched its 2024 Mustang, normally you think of men behind the wheel of this sports car, but the muscle behind this machine is Laurie Transou. Transou is currently the Chief Engineer of the Ford Mustang program.
Unusual perhaps, but more and more women are breaking into the industry. According to Catalyst Knowledge Center, women have nearly 27% of the positions in automotive manufacturing and vehicle equipment manufacturing industries.
STEM & Cars
STEM jobs in the Automotive industry are vast, everything from a mechanic in your local neighborhood to the engineer who plays a role in designing the hot new car debuting at the Auto Show. It starts with education. In the 2020-2021 school year, more than 514-thousand STEM certifications were given to men, while 276-thousand went to women, according to Statista. There are a lot of opportunities out there for women to participate.
“STEM is a great place to start,” said Transou, whose father was a lead engineer for Ford racing and gave her a love of cars. “Within the auto industry there are all kinds of opportunities for young women interested in engineering.”
For younger women, she recommends getting into a mentorship program, Ford and General Motors ($GM) both have STEM mentorship programs.
STEM is in every part of the Auto Industry
Your question might be, what kind of STEM degrees should I get if I really like the auto sector? According to Indeed, a student might want to consider the following engineering degrees: industrial, quality, sales, environmental, chemical, mechanical, network, civil, audio and electrical.
Earlier this year, Clemson University announced it is launching the first undergraduate Bachelor of Science program in automotive engineering. The program expects to launch with up to 30 students in the fall of 2023. Other top schools for automotive engineering degrees are Lawrence Technological University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Kettering University.
Transou told Yahoo Finance and Built By Girls it's not just about the nuts and bolts of building cars. “We do strategy, we think about what products could be, we think about our customer, and how do we appeal to them.”
Transou has worked on Ford trucks like the F-150 and F-250, the Ranger and the Ford Expedition. She loves the evolution of designing.
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