Pushing The Needle Forward ft. Alisyn Malek of SkillFusion

[00:00:00] My name is Carl Anthony, and I work in the automotive industry in Detroit.

[00:00:06] Sometimes that work encompasses future vehicle technology,

[00:00:10] and that's what we talk about here, for the most part anyway.

[00:00:14] This is AutoVision News Radio.

[00:00:17] In the summer of 2023,

[00:00:21] Automoblog, sister publication to AutoVision News, automotive professionals on understanding and accessing the opportunities within the evolving sector. She is also the author of Intersection, Reimagining Mobility Across Traditional Boundaries, which empowers readers to tackle complex challenges and inspires them to do work they're proud of people for the right job and actually growing the talent base that they can hire to make sure we have enough people that are prepared to help support all of us. Skill Fusion is developing a nationwide talent pipeline of certified electrician and non-electrician workers

[00:03:01] available for EV service equipment, operations,

[00:03:04] and maintenance providers.

[00:03:06] As more electrified vehicles hit the road, If they're out on a long road trip, they might need to refuel. So they also need to think about what types of public charging infrastructure they'll ask, they'll need to access. And so as we think about those two sort of design and decision point, they're starting to be a lot of different vehicle varieties that one can choose from if you're buying your due diligence. Yes, I know there's a charge station there, but when was the last time somebody reported that it was functional, is somebody using it right now, that type of stuff? And as we think about more and more people trying to use the infrastructure that's out there, and the new infrastructure that's getting installed, we know that it needs to operate

[00:05:45] more frequently. employers can view a technicians certification level and areas of expertise. This ensures the right person with the right qualifications will be sent to the charger needing service. Employers of these individuals can actually manage their own workforce. You know, if they know they've got a charge station out with this type of an issue, they

[00:07:00] can filter on their people who has the right certification to go work on that specific

[00:07:05] type of an issue and send out the right people so they're not getting somebody out there of them that are functional. And I was able to like personally add some of that trust. But when we go from this early adopter, where we can have informal networks to help build that trust, and we go to mass market, like that can't be the system that we're relying upon. And so that's where it's really critical

[00:08:21] that we get the infrastructure that's out there,

[00:08:23] back up and running.

[00:08:25] And then we also, as we install new infrastructure,

[00:08:27] we make sure that it's like one of those things that goes very slow until it goes very fast.

[00:09:43] So now we're in very fast space. that we deploy is pretty seamless in terms of helping with that upskilling and certification. We'll be able to move quickly. Allison and I began chatting about her years before skill fusion. I was curious to learn what drew her to engineering and why she ultimately enrolled in the mechanical engineering program

[00:11:00] at the University of Michigan.

[00:11:02] So I was always a good math and science student.

[00:11:06] And I knew I would have to pay off my student loans. education for lean in. Lean in helps women achieve their ambitions and helps companies build inclusive workplaces where women of all identities are supported and empowered. In that article, which is titled, I am not a purple alien. I am a young female that has automotive engineering experience. Allison talks about her time at General Motors after

[00:12:21] college. I'll leave a link to this article in the back of my mind, I'm like, I've been an engineer. I know what validation looks like. There's no way we will be validated by 2019.

[00:13:42] I was tracking some of get to come on board. We started the company was me, him, and 10 people

[00:15:02] out of his research lab.

[00:15:04] And we were able to scale, the easier it is for the A.B. to operate within that environment. And so it ended up looking like a lot of things that

[00:16:22] but easily benefit their constituents without A.B.'s, but I wanted to do something flashy that could give me a headline. I'm like, you can go cut a ribbon on a new sidewalk, I promise. Yeah. So you've done main mobility, now skill fusion. You have a passion for startups where you are wearing

[00:17:42] many hats, doing many this is how it works. And so going to entrepreneurship route and feels like a hurdle, but mentally. And so I realized later on, like,

[00:19:02] I just don't have that hurdle. Kind of I transitioned out of the EV charging space, I kept talking to people in GM and I was like, I just want to do this stuff we don't know how to do. Like that's the most fun to me. And so realized that and then have worked to put together a career that allows me to do those things. As our conversation came to a close, I asked Alison what legacy she would like to leave

[00:20:22] at the end of her career.

[00:20:23] I think for me, it's just scary. And so for me it's really important to think about how do we bring everybody along for these changes? How do we create a culture in the automotive

[00:21:43] industry that can start to adapt more smoothly to change? For me it's like