In view of the increasing shortage of skilled workers, women are an important target group when recruiting for many manufacturing and engineering companies. We spoke to Franziska Gempp (32), HR Manager, at the international automotive supplier ARaymond in Lörrach, Germany, and the trained technical draftswoman Yvonne Maschat (34) about how the specialist for fastening and assembly solutions is doing at its German locations Lörrach and Weil am Rhein, what support the company needs from politicians, what perspectives women have, and what makes a technical profession so exciting.

Ms. Gempp, how are you affected by the shortage of skilled workers and what kind of support would you like from education policy?

Franziska Gempp: The shortage of skilled workers is of particular concern to us in the area of ​​technical jobs. In many cases, we lack skilled workers here – such as a good electrician or a toolmaker. Against this background, the increasing academization worries us. For us, a good education is just as important as a good degree. We are currently noticing that a large number of young people immediately think in the direction of studying and that training is becoming less important. I wish that we would emphasize the value of our very good dual training system in Germany much more. One of our trainees told me that the career orientation at her high school was exclusively geared towards studying. I think schoolchildren should be aware that they can start an apprenticeship with a high school diploma and, based on that, develop further professionally. And they should be able to test whether they are more the type for scientific or practical work. For me, that would be important content that should be discussed in the career orientation phase.

What contribution does your company itself make to career orientation?

For example, we offer many internships, of course also for girls and young women. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, women are an important target group for us, as are career changers or somewhat older applicants. When it comes to women, I think the most important thing is to get them excited about technology at an early age. That's why we target girls at school and bring them into the company through campaigns such as Girls' Day or internships. We often get feedback like "Wow, I hadn't imagined it that way, that's really interesting." Or "I thought that was much more difficult." In addition to the exciting technique itself, this certainly has something to do with the fact that production conditions have changed significantly in recent years and the technical production jobs are no longer associated with heavy physical work. We have lifting aids, etc., so the jobs are suitable for everyone — men and women, but also older workers.

When the women are with you: How does, for example, a technical production job go together with the topic of children or caring for relatives — both topics in which women in particular continue to withdraw from their jobs?

We see to it that we get the best possible outcome for our employees and for us as an employer with flexible working time models – in other words, in production, for example, we talk about shift models that are suitable for childcare. In areas such as construction and development, mobile working is also possible for better compatibility. And then of course we have many part-time models, which are normal for us wherever they are feasible. We keep in touch during parental leave: Many employees come by regularly or, of course, are part of the team at events such as a Christmas party or a barbecue.

Ms. Maschat, as a trained technical draftswoman, you now work as a project manager assistant in the development of ARaymond. How did you get into this technical job?

Yvonne Maschat: I did my training as a technical draftswoman here at ARaymond (today that corresponds to the job profile of a technical product designer) and, with the support of the company, I went to evening classes to do further training to become a technical business administrator. As a result, I got my current job as a project manager assistant in construction. As a technical draftswoman, I was entrusted with developing fasteners for the automotive industry and deriving the drawings from them. As an assistant, I still design today, but I also do a lot of customer communication and know what customers want.

— Content provided by ARaymond

STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN ― StradVision, an AI-based vision processing technology company for Autonomous Vehicles and ADAS, announced that it has obtained the ISO 26262 certification for automotive functional safety from TÜV Rheinland, a globally renowned third-party testing, inspection and certification company.

The ISO 26262 certification was established as a global standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2011 to minimize risks from electric or electronic system malfunction in vehicles. StradVision, which recently unveiled its new North American headquarters in Sterling Heights, has been recognized as a software supplier with a high level of functional safety, satisfying automotive customers' demands by meeting the requirements of ISO 26262 throughout the development and management process of its camera perception software SVNet.

“The automotive industry is transforming into a new business that provides new mobility, transportation, and various experiences in the car as a service, and software is the most powerful driver of this change,” StradVision CEO Junhwan Kim said. “The acquisition of ISO 26262 Functional Safety Management certification demonstrates StradVision's competence as a global leader in software, a key component of future mobility innovation.”

Currently, the automotive industry is focused on adopting various driver assistance features in vehicles to improve safety and convenience for drivers and pedestrians. As the performance of semiconductors and adoption of diverse sensors in vehicles continues to increase, the importance of safety standards for software, and their level of sophistication, has also risen.

“StradVision has successfully built its management system that delivers camera perception software meeting the functional safety requirements for automakers and automotive tier-1 suppliers,” said Frank Juettner, CEO of TÜV Rheinland Korea. "We are pleased to present ISO 26262 certification for the software that will contribute to enhancing functional safety in the automotive industry.”

StradVision, established in 2014 in South Korea, continues to accelerate the advancement of Autonomous Vehicles. SVNet, its AI-based vision perception software, achieves higher efficiency in memory usage and energy consumption and can be customized and optimized to any system on a chip (SoC).

The software that has been honored with the Gold Award at the 2021 AutoSens Awards for Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems is currently used in mass production models of ADAS and autonomous driving vehicles that support safety function Levels 2 to 4, and will be deployed in more than 50 vehicle models from 13 OEMs worldwide.

StradVision Appoints Sunghyun Chang as Chief Financial Officer  

StradVision has also announced the appointment of Sunghyun Chang as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In this position, Chang will lead StradVision’s financial team and is responsible for corporate financial actions and strategic growth initiatives, as well as investor relations.

StradVision expects to further strengthen its overseas business capabilities by recruiting Chang, who has accumulated experience in international financial management throughout his career.

“This year, we plan to expand our business in key markets where major automakers are located, including North America, and for this, we want to strengthen investment and recruitment in overseas subsidiaries,” StradVision CEO Junhwan Kim said. “We anticipate that the appointment of Sunghyun Chang, Chief Financial Officer, who has experience in financial management in various industries, will give us greater strength to achieve this strategic goal.”

Chang is a finance expert who started his career at KPMG, one of the four largest accounting firms in Korea. During his tenure at KPMG, Chang served as an overseas dispatcher in Europe for three years. Since then, he has worked for various companies and industries such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer; Gencurix, a molecular diagnostic solutions company, and B2Link, a K-beauty commerce company.

Chang holds a U.S. Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) certificate in addition to his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualification, and has been mainly in charge of financial management of multinational corporations, attracting foreign investment for startups, and managing investor relations.

NASCAR’s bet on a spectacle in L.A. paid off

Many doubted NASCAR when this unprecedented event was announced. But between the amazing and historic venue that looked beautiful on TV (and no doubt in person, too), tremendous on-track action and musical entertainment from Pitbull and Ice Cube, and an impressive crowd, the Clash at the Coliseum is something that exceeded NASCAR’s wildest expectations.

Joey Logano put on a tough battle with Kyle Busch up front to take the inaugural win for the Next Gen car, and in the process NASCAR exposed itself to a California audience largely composed of people who don’t normally follow the sport. Here’s hoping they stick around and remain fans of the sport as we head into the Daytona 500 and beyond.

I can see the Clash coming back to the Coliseum next year, but we need to be careful to make these things special, and not try to do them multiple times a year. Make it a destination every February; and later, once it’s served its purpose, give another stadium a chance. 

One thing is certain. The Clash, which had become an almost forgotten and frankly boring event at Daytona, has been revitalized, and we’re not going to back to the old ways again. Kudos to Ben Kennedy, the future of the sport’s leadership, for pushing the sport in bold, new directions despite some howling from legacy fans.