Kevin,obviously I would never ask you to disclose anything against your contract obligations. However to satisfy my curiosity can you say if you were supplying plastic parts, metal, rubber, or automotive fluids?
I did do some autonomous vehicle design work... That one was pretty cool but I would definitely get in trouble for sharing.
The oem supply chain has been a very fascinating topic for me. However I can't do too much reading on the topic due to the lack of information due to non disclose situations.
It was long enough ago that its not an issue. I worked for an east coast optical encoder company (Dynamics Research) that won a contract with GM. We supplied position sensors for the first generation of GM electronic controlled Diesel injection pumps. Basicly, it was an optical encoder on the pump shaft that ran submerged in fuel. The original design was done by Stanadyne and we ended up with the contract to make the sensors. That was 1992 or so! It was a very demanding application. Fuel, optics, sensors, light sources and electronics all in one package getting vibrated by being mounted directly on a injection pump..
I was just out of school and it was a good learning experience to get involved with. That was pretty much it it for me and direct experience with automotive. What I got was a good appreciation of the process.
Right now, I'm involved in designing plastic parts for printers. Crazy high volumes and accuracy requirements combined with working with overseas vendors.
