Automotive Design & production

Andy Ridgway, president of IAV Automotive Engineering an organization that provides engineering expertise in areas including powertrain, lightweight construction and software, wants engineers who are comfortable with the future . . . right now.

“We’re gearing up to serve what we call the ‘new mobility’ market, where autonomous driving is a reality and staying creative is imperative, ” Ridgway says.

Because IAV exclusively provides engineering solutions and doesn’t manufacture things, the company has an edge in finding innovative solutions that aren’t tied to specific products, he argues.

“Our engineers must tolerate ambiguity, ” Ridgway explains. “They must like grayness, fuzziness.”

A major focus area for IAV is finding ways to bridge the gap between consumer and automotive electronics. One key factor is speeding up the development of automotive electronics to keep up with rapid changes in the consumer market.

“We’re trying to make technology development easier for automotive electronics by taking a top down approach, ” Ridgway says.

This “top down” approach challenges engineers to look at an anticipated future objective (i.e., autonomous driving), and work immediately toward developing and integrating solutions to meet the desired goal. He contrasts this with an approach taken by other companies that have products that they develop and aggregate toward the goal.

To further this objective and recruit the most capable, agile engineers, IAV recently opened an office in Silicon Valley.