I am a tech-focused innovator and manager and have worked in corporate innovation and R&D my whole career. I spent 17 years at General Motors leading the Silicon Valley innovation office, where our small (3-5 person) team worked with 200+ startups to identify promising new technologies and trends and establish relationships back to the GM business units to develop prototypes and work towards commercialization.

Among other successes, my team was responsible for:

• Identifying Cruise Automation as a potential acquisition target for GM, ultimately strengthening GM’s brand value and increasing its stock price;

• Initiating the work that led to GM commercializing the first in-vehicle wireless device charging solution through partnerships and engagement with the Wireless Power Consortium; and

• Developing the initial in-vehicle audio cues for the Chevrolet Volt to alert drivers to important changes in vehicle state to increase owner satisfaction and avoid issues such as accidentally leaving the vehicle on overnight and draining the battery.

I have a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University for research on audio interfaces for blind users. I have strong expertise in accessibility and usability, particularly multimodal and divided attention situations such as found in automotive HMI and infotainment.