Cindy Svestka on the cover of Woman Engineer Magazine

Cindy Svestka isn’t just a female engineer. She’s a shining example for men and women everywhere who want to have an impact on advanced vehicle technology.  

Cindy started off like a lot of students, not really knowing how she was going to make her mark and what career she wanted to pursue. However, she did have an eagerness to learn and an interest in cars and helping others and wanted to make a difference. After joining the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) program as a student, she and everyone around her quickly learned that automotive technology was not only an interest, but a passion that she immersed herself in with intense commitment and dedication.  As a team leader in the Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, Cindy stood out among the others because of her exceptional leadership and teamwork skills, her meticulous attention to detail, and her passion for the project. Now, after more than ten years in the AVTC program, Cindy has translated those skills into a successful career and serves as an example to thousands of current and future engineering students of how hard work and commitment can take you far.

 After graduating from Utah State university in 1998, Cindy took a job at Argonne National Laboratory as the technical coordinator on the AVTC program where she he helped organize and manage the Ethanol Vehicle Challenge and FutureTruck competitions.

After two years at Argonne, Cindy joined the General Motors team. Cindy spent her first four years at GM in the fuel system group and eventually took on the role of lead design engineer on the launch of the ethanol (E85) flex-fuel systems for the full-size pick-up and SUV applications. In 2004, Cindy took over responsibility for the energy and drive quality performance of the Chevrolet HHR.  After successfully launching the Chevrolet HHR program, Cindy joined GM’s hybrid vehicle group and worked on meeting fuel economy and vehicle performance targets for the 2009 Saturn VUE Two-Mode Hybrid program.

Cindy graduated with a Master of Science degree in engineering from Purdue University in 2006.  In August 2007, she took the role of executive technical assistant and business process manager for GM’s Powertrain/Vehicle Integration group.

During her time at GM, Cindy has remained active in supporting the AVTC program, supporting the 2001 FutureTruck competition and serving as the GM technical lead for Challenge X in 2005 and 2006.  She continues to support the AVTC program as a member of the steering committee for EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge.