BLACK ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS CAREER ACHIEVEMENT—INDUSTRY
Alicia Boler-Davis Vice President, Global Quality & U.S. Customer Experience General Motors
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n today’s extremely competitive automotive industry, General Motors (GM) is rebounding from a difficult period and they are determined to reclaim their position on top, which is why they are extremely excited to have Alicia Boler-Davis on their team. GM’s Chairman and CEO, Daniel F. Akerson, said that if he had more people like Boler-Davis they would reach that posi- tion even sooner. Akerson described her as a perfectionist and a go-getter; both are qualities that go hand in hand with her roles as vice president of Global Quality and U.S. vice president of Customer Experience. Boler-Davis is the first ever vice president of Customer Experience―a position newly created so that GM’s customers can receive the best customer service in the industry. Boler- Davis made up her mind to become an engineer after attending General Motors Institute’s Academically Interested Minds pro- gram in high school. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University, where she chaired the Society for Black Engineers. Later, she earned her master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. During her undergraduate years she completed internships at Dow Chemical and Ford Motor Company. The first full-time engineering job that Boler-Davis held was a project engineer
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT—INDUSTRY Robert L.
Curbeam, Jr. Vice President, Mission Assurance, Quality & Raytheon Six Sigma Raytheon Company
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obert Curbeam is all about attention to detail, consistency, best practices and controlling risk. Last May, he told a story about quality to 200 suppliers at a Raytheon Operational Excellence and Mission Assurance
event. In 2006, Curbeam, an astronaut from 1994 until 2007, said he had “a little problem with his glove” during his first space walk on his final NASA mission. The glove, unbeknownst to him then, had a cut in it, and one millimeter of nylon sepa- rated him from death. The contractor, however, had done its job, and the Maryland native survived. Curbeam told the suppliers the same commitment to quality is unalterable as he, they, and Raytheon “are in the business of saving lives” through the goods and services that protect U.S. troops and the nation. As the vice president of a unit producing about $62 million
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at Upjohn Pharma- ceuticals followed by a manufacturing engineering job at Frito-Lay. She then joined the GM team in 1994 as a manufactur- ing engineer.
In 2010 Boler-
Davis worked her way to becoming the plant manager at the Orion Township assembly facility in Michigan (home of the Chev- rolet Sonic). She was not only the plant manager but she was also the Sonic vehicle line director and chief engineer. This means she oversaw both the engineering and the manufacturing of the car. This is the first time anyone in the history of General Motors has ever done that. Even with all the success professionally she still keeps in mind what is really im- portant, her family and her community. She has been married for 12 years and is the proud mother of two sons. Alicia is also very devoted to giving back, as she is very much involved in many community service programs.
in revenue, Curbeam’s responsibilities include Integrated De- fense Systems, its supply base, business partners, and customer base. He joined Raytheon in 2011 after serving as president of the Aerospace and Defense Division of ARES Corporation since leaving NASA in 2007. Raytheon is a $25 billion technol- ogy company specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets, and IDS is a $5 billion division. The Integrated Defense Systems portfolio includes weapons, sensors, and integration systems used in areas including air and missile defense radars, early warning radars, naval ship operating sys- tems, and robotics for domestic and global customers. During his NASA career, besides completing three space shuttle missions and seven spacewalks, Curbeam served as the deputy associate administrator of Safety and Mission Assur- ance. He created NASA’s first standard operating procedure for spacewalks, which delineates how such procedures should be performed and how to avoid repetitive mistakes. The former U.S. Navy captain is a graduate of Navy Fighter Weapons (Top Gun) and the Navy Test Pilot Schools, and has more than 3,000 flight hours in 25 different aircraft and spacecraft. He earned his bach- elor of science degree in aerospace engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy, a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering, and an advanced degree in aeronautical and astronautical engi- neering from the Naval Post Graduate School. One recommendation by a Raytheon colleague, who also served at NASA with Curbeam, said he has, “a thorough knowl- edge of aerospace and defense systems, strong technical leader- ship and the unique ability to work across functional and organiza- tional boundaries.”
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