Profile of Jim Gibbons, Emmy Award-Winning Engineer Develops Ford Hybrid Batteries

Background

Gibbons works in the Advanced Electrification Center in Dearborn, Mich. as manager of the team behind the design of the battery packs in Ford’s plug-in hybrid and full hybrid vehicle line that includes Fusion Hybrid.

He won a Sports Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science in 1994 for developing a system that allows those watching NASCAR races on TV to monitor what is happening within each vehicle.

“I don’t really experience an ‘a-ha’ moment until I get feedback from customers who are not only using the product, but experiencing great success and happily using it,” said Gibbons.

The Emmy Gibbons won is just one highlight of a lengthy career at Ford that has had him involved in various projects – from working as a buyer and landing a major supplier to managing powertrain development teams for the company’s all-important C-platform.

Gibbons was born in New York City and grew up in Ft. Mead, Md. and Flint, Mich. He and his family lived in Brazil for almost five years where he worked for Ford and managed a team in charge of delivering drivetrain systems for the region.

He said the common thread in all of his work at Ford has been being challenged to solve a problem, which is why he said it’s hard for him to pick a specific project as his favorite.

“Like most engineers, I think, I love being given a problem and having to solve it – no matter what the problem is or what the solution may be,” said Gibbons. “Because of that I would have to say my favorite project is always the next one.”

His life and passion

• Gibbons, 49, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) along with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Michigan
• He and his wife Lynne have three children ranging in age from 10 to 15
• When not working on the cars of today – and tomorrow – Gibbons enjoys spending time with his family traveling and doing outdoor activities and home improvement projects

What he does for Ford

• The 40-person team Gibbons supervises is responsible for design, development and launch of the battery packs for Ford’s full-hybrid vehicles like the Fusion Hybrid and plug-in hybrids such as Fusion Energi and the soon-to-be-released C-MAX Energi
• Gibbons said there isn’t a day when he doesn’t like to come to work because he enjoys the subject matter he is involved with along with the diverse group of people and wide array of fresh ideas they come up with collectively
• Gibbons joined Ford in 1989