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A move from academia to industry created the perfect opportunity for Dr. Nadia Mokhtari-Madani, a Senior Electrification Expert at Garrett Motion, to combine her love of technology with a desire to protect the environment.
As part of Garrett’s Electrification Center of Excellence, she is building an electrical component validation team.
Meet other members of Garrett’s electrification team here.
Nadia had excelled in her original 15-year career as a university lecturer at an engineering school but then an approach from an automotive manufacturer opened a new chapter…and a new career at the leading edge of electrification. It’s a journey energized by a passion for learning and a determination to make a difference.
Embarking on a new journey for a cleaner future
“I was 40 and I wanted a new challenge, even though I loved teaching,” says Nadia. “This was a great opportunity for me to be part of the electrification revolution, to contribute to cleaner cars. This was something very attractive to me.”
“My transition to industry was perhaps smoother than I had expected because of my university background in electrification and inverter technologies. I felt comfortable working on advanced solutions and integrating model-based development processes. The biggest difference I noticed was the dynamism involved in working on parallel projects.”
What it’s like to work for Garrett Electrification Center of Excellence
In 2020, Nadia joined Garrett, ready for a new technical challenge in turbochargers and eager to help advance the company’s progress in electrification. For Nadia, this meant working on boosting technologies reaching up to 200,000 rpm – in stark contrast to her previous technology experience involving rotational speeds around 22,000 rpm.
“The approach at Garrett is open, with lots of collaboration and sharing of ideas. My ideas feel valued – I know that my contribution can make a real impact.”
Based at Garrett’s R&D center in France, Nadia is leading the growing electrical component validation team at Garrett. She has the responsibility of setting the strategic framework and elaborating strong and innovative validation principles and tests for new electrification technologies.
Garrett has a global footprint of engineering and R&D centers where hundreds of experts are pioneering electric and electronic vehicle technologies. Recently, the company has added a new high technology electric and electronic laboratory to its facility in France. The new lab can support essentially any electrical product or inverter Garrett is developing or researching.
“We feel that what are we doing makes sense, helping to advance technology for a new automotive era. This is what drives us as engineers.”
“Turbos are different technically, but I was curious to know how I could use my experience in traction machines and automatic transmission in this new field.”
She found Garrett’s culture to be unlike any other she had experienced. “This is one of biggest differentiators. The approach here is more open, with lots of collaboration and sharing of ideas among technical people.”
“My ideas feel valued – I know that my contribution can make a real impact. We are at the beginning of the electrification adventure, working in an area of rapid development in recent years but where there are still many challenges to be solved.”
“We feel that what are we doing makes sense, helping to advance technology for a new automotive era. This is what drives us as engineers.”
Pushing boundaries for young women engineers
The collaborative environment and culture of knowledge-sharing at Garrett resonates strongly with Nadia’s personal ethos.
“Here, I can continue to help people learn – this gives me great satisfaction and at the same creates value for the company. People have different skill sets and how we take these differences into account is vital in creating a strong team.”
Nadia is passionate about encouraging more women to become engaged in technology and is a powerful advocate of STEM careers.
So, what would her advice be to her younger self? “I’d say the same thing that I tell my own daughter – that wider society sometimes tries to impose limits on us, but we need to challenge these boundaries to achieve our potential.”
More generally, her advice for aspiring engineers is to choose a career they love. “Technical work can be challenging but can also be extremely rewarding when you are passionate about what you do.”
Visit Garrett’s Careers page to see how you can join our growing vehicle electrification team.
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