Driving Innovation: Ford Motor Company engineer Hannah Bailey, a 2016 mechanical engineering alumna, was a member of Rose-Hulman’s Efficient Vehicles Team and Valeo Innovation Challenge project.

It hasn’t taken long for Hannah Bailey to make a difference at Ford Motor Company and the city of Detroit.

Through the company’s Thirty Under 30 program for promising leaders, the 2016 mechanical engineering alumna is spending this year helping nonprofit organizations focus on community issues of food insecurity.

In its second year under Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Thirty Under 30 strives to develop young employee leaders who also serve their communities.

“This program is unique in that it allows our employees to harness their creativity and passion for helping people in a way that’s relevant today,” said Ford in a company news release.  

Bailey, who works in the Body Exterior and Safety Engineering Department, is helping Detroit’s Pope Francis Center develop strategies to help connect with younger generations who represent a future donor and volunteer base. She also is involved in Ford’s Women in Product Development group, which connects employees for networking, learning and mentorship; presents middle school career day safety engineering demonstrations through Ford’s Volunteer Corps; and helps a local church operate a store that donates its earnings to charitable organizations.

“Ford’s company culture is very people focused, values its employees and diversity, and shows commitment to continuous improvement,” says Bailey, who was an intern before being hired full time through Ford’s College Graduate program. At Rose-Hulman, she was a member of the Efficient Vehicles Team and Valeo Innovation Challenge project, and attended the North American International Auto Show in connection with an initiative to encourage more women in the automotive industry.

In her young tenure at Ford, Bailey has developed models to simulate and characterize the performance of a vehicle during a crash and to help optimize the structure for occupant safety. She now is managing the design of a vehicle’s roof system to ensure that it is functional, safe and compliant with Ford’s styling requirements.

“I wanted to work in this field because I like how it focuses research, technology and process development around something that people rely on every single day,” Bailey remarks. “At Ford, there’s a desire to do something new. The company produces cars, which is not changing, but how it produces the cars, the car’s design, its fuel and whether or not the car is driving itself are being re-evaluated, developed, tested and proven continuously.”