Point B welcomes, Najib El Ajjani, ISO 26262 functional safety expert and Head of Safety and Cybersecurity at Cubonic GmbH, to discuss road safety and the role autonomous vehicles will play in improving it. Take a drive with us as Najib outlines challenges automakers have faced, particularly in the EV and AV sectors, why EVs are better designed to support autonomous vehicle operations, and how to cover all levels of safety through testing and certification, OEM responsibility, and thinking ahead of industry standards. Don’t miss out on all this and more in this exciting episode of Point B!

Najib is the head of Safety and Cybersecurity at Cubonic GmbH, a startup based in Cologne, Germany with a mission to create the first integrated eLCV (electric Light Commercial Vehicle) enabling autonomous driving and connected ecosystems.

For the last 12 years, Najib has shaped his career working for automotive international OEMs and Tier1 suppliers. He started his mission within functional safety prior to the publication of the first safety standard release ISO 26262 in 2011. Eventually, he participated in the automotive industry’s preparation for the adoption of the new upcoming safety standard.

Throughout his career, he worked on challenging projects and advanced technologies creating safety concepts for cutting edge HW technologies and advanced SW platforms.

Najib has been actively contributing to the mobility transformation from its first applications of emission reduction solutions, e.g., stop and start, engine management systems, and post-treatment active regeneration for diesel and gasoline engines. Ultimately, accompanying the vehicle electrification from hybridization to full electrification.

During his career, Najib has always been passionate about actively contributing to shaping safe, secure, sustainable, and accessible mobility. During this path, he actively implemented multiple organizational changes to reach state-of-the-art safety compliance and organization awareness. This all, while working closely with board members and engineering teams. 

He also took part in the ISO technical committee working group for Automotive Cybersecurity which is responsible for the ISO/SAE 21434 Cybersecurity Engineering standard definition.

Najib holds a B.A. in Electrical Engineering and an M.A. in Quality and Dependability Engineering from Polytech Engineering School in France.

In this groundbreaking episode of Point B, Shawn Turner, Senior Research Engineer at Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), sheds light on the innovative use of connected vehicle data, machine learning, and AI in the realm of road safety. Delving into the intricacies of data collection and analysis, Shawn outlines the challenges in handling massive datasets, various use cases of connected vehicle data, and how data is leveraged to enhance road safety. He also talks about the role of V2X and V2I technologies and the importance of ensuring data privacy and protection in this rapidly evolving field. All this and more in this episode of Point B!

Shawn Turner is a Senior Research Engineer at Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), where he has conducted and managed applied research for 32 years. Shawn is a nationally recognized expert with practical experience in multimodal travel data collection and analysis, performance measures and monitoring, and mobility analysis. In short, he is a data nerd. Shawn works with the public and private sectors to advance the use of the best available and high-quality data in transportation.

In this episode, Alexander Rosen, Co-founder of DeepDrive, sits down with us to explore innovations in the Tier 1 automotive sector. From extending EV battery range to revolutionizing powertrain technology and intelligent modules that amalgamate numerous functions into a singular unit, we discuss how these innovations are not only disrupting the Tier 1 sector but enabling automakers by significantly reducing total cost of ownership, enhancing safety, and setting new standards in serviceability. 

As a co-founder of DeepDrive with vast research experience in wheel hub motors, fault-tolerant electric machines, and manufacturing technologies, Alexander played a pivotal role at Fraunhofer Institute before contributing to Bosch as a Senior Expert in Electrical Machines.