Had she listened to her mother, Barb Samardzich might be a secretary today. Instead she is the top woman engineer of 2004 and the person in charge of bringing the “back-to-the-future” 2005 Mustang to market.

The Carnegie Mellon graduate (E’85), who holds master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and engineering management, is executive director of small front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles for Ford. For her work in revamping the company’s automatic transmission production and directing the new Mustang’s development, she won the prestigious 2004 Women in Engineering Achievement Award, given annually by Design News.

Her career took off after she and a Ford colleague developed a three-year plan to turn around the automatic transmission line to achieve a 10 percent increase in customer satisfaction. Ford now uses the plan globally for its transmission plants, which produce three million units a year.

As for the Mustang, its retro exterior (circa 1967) belies 21st Century handling, weight distribution and horsepower improvements that promise to make it a sizzler. As for her mother’s advice, she says she “hasn’t had to fall back on my typing skills yet.” For the record, it was her brother who recommended she go into engine design.