Ford Motor Company recently named Barb Samardzich vice president of product development, Ford of Europe. She oversees all product development activities in the European region. It’s a critical position, considering Ford will launch 20 new or significantly freshened vehicles before 2014. Samardzich, who earned her master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 1985, had been vice president of Ford’s global product programs.

In your new position, Ford’s automotive engineers must answer to you. Because it’s typically a male-dominated field, has that presented any particular challenges?

Engineers don’t operate that way—they judge you by how good an engineer you are. It doesn’t matter if you’re green or from Mars or a woman. That’s secondary. They are so data driven and fact based that they tend to look at their world through the same lens.

You’ve had to move from Michigan to Cologne, Germany. Is that a new experience for you?

I worked abroad about 11 years ago, too. But then an unexpected job opened up back in the States, so my family [husband Raul Samardzich (TPR’90) and two children] ended up moving back and forth overseas twice in less than a year, which I don’t recommend to anybody [laughs].

What do you like best about working at Ford?

My first job was in the nuclear business, where you didn’t actually see your customer using your product. In the car industry, you see people using your product every single day, loving it and hating it. And it’s just a wonderful feedback loop on your job all the time.

How did Carnegie Mellon prepare you to become an automotive VP?

Some people think, “Oh, I don’t use anything I learned in college for my job.” I have used everything I’ve learned in college in my job! You couldn’t do engineering without it.

Do you have a favorite motto or philosophy that you live by?

“Everything will work out.” I try never to panic. In engineering, it’s just a question of money and time. You may not like the cost, you may not like the time, but there will be a solution.
Shannon Deep (CMU’10, HNZ’11)