Among the speakers for this year’s event:

Robert Hursh, Dana, Inc., Manager, Materials Engineering  Bob Hursh is the manager of materials engineering at Dana’s World Headquarters and Maumee Technical Center. In this role, he leads the company’s global material engineering development activities for automotive driveline products.  Based in Maumee, Ohio, the company’s operations in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan were selected as a Top Workplace for the last two years by The (Toledo) Blade.  

Bernard Swiecki, Sr Project Mgr, Center for Automotive Research  Bernard will be sharing with us impacts and changes in the auto industry for our region between the 2008 automotive bailout and now.  He will also share with us the evolution of legacy costs for the Big 3 OEM’s and if there is still a gap between the domestic and the transplant companies. 

Kristin Dziczek, Director of Industry, Labor & Economics, Center for Automotive Research  Kirstin joined CAR in 2005, and has more than 25 years of experience as a researcher and policy analyst. She is globally recognized as an expert on automotive labor, employment, and trade issues.  She will be discussing the current international trade and tariff issues swirling in the auto industry. 

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Wil Schroder, Plant Manager, Veoneer-Nissin  Founded in 2018, Veoneer is a new company building on the heritage of more than 60 years of automotive safety development as part of Autoliv and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.  Veoneer-Nissin is a JV company with Nissin Kogyo and designs and builds state-of-the-art hardware, software, and solutions for active safety, ADAS, autonomous driving, restraint control and brake systems. 

Shri Desai, Nemak Innovative Lightweighting Nemak is a global leader in the Automotive Industry, specializing in Aluminum Cylinder Heads, Blocks and Powertrain Components. As the Head of Sales for the Vehicle Structures Business Unit for North America, Shri is responsible for increasing Nemak’s market share in the Aluminum Chassis, Body in White and Battery Tray Products. 

Aaron Foster, Technical Sales Mgr, NAVYA   NAVYA is a pioneer in the autonomous vehicle market, assisting cities and private sites around the world with autonomous, driverless and electric solutions. Aaron is NAVYA’s third North American employee which has given him the opportunity to help shape the company’s future in the U.S. 

Matt Holtsberry, Sales Manager, Reineke Ford Lincoln of Lima With multiple locations serving the Lima and surrounding communities, Reineke Family Dealerships operates Reineke Ford Lincoln and Reineke Nissan in Lima, OH.  Known for strong customer loyalty and high sales and service ratings, Reineke Family Dealerships is family owned and customer driven since 1960.