Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement - 120W

20151109-Sup1--0120-NAT-CCI-AN_--

11/2/2015

1:15 PM

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120W * NOVEMBER 9, 2015

L E A D I N G

W O M E N

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SHIRAZ AHMED

ANDRICA

NUECHTERLEIN

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Vice President, Global Sales - Electrical | Lear Corp. |
Southfield, Mich. | Age: 51 | Education: B.S., industrial
engineering, Wayne State University; MBA, Oakland
University

>> HAVING HER SAY:

autonews.com/
● What attracted you to the auto
nuechterleinvideo
industry? I always lived in the
Detroit area. I got an internship at
GM, tried them for a couple of summers and really loved it.
● First automotive job: Manufacturing engineer at General Motors
Pontiac East assembly plant in 1986
● Big break: Lear's seat contract for the full-size GM SUVs and
trucks. We were doing all the pickups and SUVs. It was huge. I had
sales and program management.
● What is the major challenge you've faced in your career? The
recession was a difficult time for everyone. We were all in it together.
The pace at which we resolved issues was really quick. Issues that
normally took months to resolve took days. I think we came out much
stronger, with closer relations with our customers.
● Who has had the biggest influence on your career? I would have
to say both Frank Orsini [president of the electrical division] and Ray
Scott [president of the seating division], who I first worked for in the
Lear seating division.
● Tell us about your family. I've been married 18 years to a
wonderful husband. We have two stepchildren who are grown.
● What's your favorite weekend activity? I love any type of
exercise. We also have a cottage up north.
- David Sedgwick

CINDY NIEKAMP

●

Senior Vice President, PPG Automotive OEM Coatings |
PPG Industries | Troy, Mich. | Age: 56 | Education: B.S.,
industrial engineering, Purdue University; MBA, Harvard
University
● What attracted you
to the auto industry? I
was born and raised in
Dayton, Ohio. It was a
big GM town. That was
the top job to get. I got
a summer internship;
they paid well. I ended
up loving the
manufacturing floor.
● First automotive
job: GM internship,
1978
● Big break: Going to
France and being an operations manager.
● What is the major challenge you've faced in your career? Worklife balance.
● Tell us about your family. I have two daughters. One is graduated
with an MBA, while the other is a senior at Purdue University.
● Name one thing about yourself that most people don't know. I'm
a ballroom dancer. I plan to compete next year.
● If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it
be? Steve Jobs
● Name one talent you wish you had. I wish I was more artistic.
- Vince Bond Jr.

KIMBERLY PITTEL
Vice President, Sustainability,
Environment & Safety Engineering |
Ford Motor Co. | Dearborn, Mich. |
Age: 56 | Education: B.S., chemistry,
University of Michigan; MBA,
organizational theory, Wayne State
University
● What attracted you to the auto industry?
When I was 16, there was an intern program
[at my high school], which is why I'm such a
believer in STEM programs. In my senior year, I
went to school half the day, and the other half
day, I was at General Motors in Flint in their
metallurgical laboratory. The metallurgical
engineers I worked with were wonderful, and
they hired me every summer as a college
intern. That internship program changed my
life.
● First automotive job: At Ford in 1985 in a
manufacturing test lab doing the same darn
work I did at GM for my internships
● Big break: Moving from the
manufacturing/testing environment into
actually manufacturing engineering proper and
then going into full production management
● What is the major challenge you've faced in
your career? Managing dual careers between
my husband and me. I think every couple faces
that challenge when you have two people who
have significant careers. My husband is in
finance at another Fortune 500 company, so I
think that the biggest challenge we faced was
managing both careers and having a family.
● Who has had the biggest influence on your
career? I faced a big challenge when I made it
to plant manager - we then joint-ventured our
facility to another company, so I was without a
job. My director at the time was Linda Miller,
who was the first female plant manager for
Ford Motor Co., and she recommended that I
talk to this woman in product development who
was looking for fresh perspective named Barb
Samardzich. The two people who had the most
significant influence on my career were Linda
Miller and Barb Samardzich, and I love saying
that in this industry - it was two women in
completely different skill teams who helped me
make what I consider the biggest move in my
career. When women get together to help

●

women, it changes people's lives.
● What should be done to encourage women
to enter the auto industry? I don't think we
sell this industry very well. I don't think anyone
understands that we're not the "dirty" industry.
I don't think it's just attracting women into this
industry, it's attracting young people. You
could have a career in manufacturing or
product development, but we also use
engineers or technical people in purchasing.
You could have a career in finance, and we
also have good development programs that
include marketing and sales. People don't
understand that within this industry, there are
multiple careers. Young people don't
necessarily have a firm, fixed vision of their
future, so the idea that you can go in at one
thing and then realize, at least in this
company, you can go anywhere. You could
have 10 careers in one company.
● Tell us about your family. My family is my
husband, who, ironically, works for a shredder,
and they shred cars. Here I am, the vice
president of sustainability. He's in finance, so
he's not running the shredders, but they
recycle the material from shredded vehicles
and sell it back into the market. So we are a
full-circle family. I make 'em, he shreds 'em
and sells them back. We've been married 26
years.
We have a 22-year-old daughter who graduated
from Michigan State University, and she's
teaching chemistry and physics in Chicago.
She will be a role model for young women
going into the sciences.
● What's your favorite weekend activity? I
read a lot. I also have a pool, so I read in my
pool. I like to float and read. One of my favorite
authors is Vince Flynn.
● Best advice you've ever gotten? In my
young career, I was asked to do something
really not good. Someone said to me, "Yes,
this is not a fun assignment, but do you just
want to be like everybody else, or do you want
to be the person that takes it on?" I thought, "I
do want to be that person." When somebody
comes to you and tells you to step out of your
comfort zone, don't step back. You have to be
willing to take a chance in order to succeed.
- Nora Naughton
http://www.autonews.com/nuechterleinvideo
Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement

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