Magna teams up with Silicon Valley minds

Magna International headquarters in Aurora, Ont.

Global automotive supplier Magna has created a Technology Advisory Council through a partnership with a number of top minds from Silicon Valley.

The purpose of the council, according to a news release form Magna is to to contribute to future innovation projects, provide direction to Magna’s technology road maps and identify additional business opportunities. It will be led by the company’s chief technology officer, Swamy Kotagiri and include experts in the automotive and technology industries, some of whom are experienced in product innovation and the implementation of new technologies.

Members include:

• Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod, an inventor of the iPhone, and founder of Nest and has authored more than 300 patents.
• Mei-Wei Cheng, a member of the board of directors of Seagate Technology PLC. He is the former chief executive officer and president for the Chinese subsidiaries of AT&T, Siemens, Ford Motor Company, and General Electric.
• Ian Hunter, professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has founded or co-founded 25 companies.
• John Maddox, CEO of the American Center for Mobility. He has previous held roles as research engineer at Ford, as associate administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and compliance officer at Volkswagen North America
• Paul Mascarenas, a member of the board of directors at ON Semiconductor, and the United States Steel Corporation. He was previously chief technical officer at Ford.