Aeva creates Automotive Center of Excellence in Germany
The company says it is responding to increasing interest in its frequency modulated continuous wave technology for silicon photonics-based LiDAR
Aeva, a company developing silicon photonics-based sensing and perception systems, has announced that it is expanding its presence in Europe with a new Automotive Center of Excellence (COE) in Germany, to support its growing momentum with automotive OEM customers. Additionally, autonomous vehicle industry expert Axel Gern has joined the company as Head of Engineering in Germany and will lead the COE.
Aeva says it created the COE in response to growing interest from the automotive market in its unique frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technology. Through the COE, the company is aiming to intensify its partnerships with automotive OEMs by providing direct support for their programmes focused on advanced vehicle automation, including engineering and rapid validation and testing. Through this close collaboration with the European automotive industry, the COE is also intended to benefit Aeva’s development of next-generation 4D LiDAR sensing and perception technologies as the industry progresses towards implementing fully autonomous passenger and commercial vehicle programmes.
Citing Axel Gern’s more than 20 years of experience in the development of advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous driving, and software development, Aeva says he is building and leading a strong local engineering team within the COE. Previously, Gern has held senior engineering leadership positions at Mercedes Benz, Daimler Truck and Torc Robotics. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Managing Director for Torc Robotics Europe. Prior to Torc, he helped build the strategy and team for Daimler Truck’s Autonomous Technology Group (ATG). Axel gained experience with the Silicon Valley style of innovation during his time at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America in Sunnyvale where he built up its Autonomous Driving Department.
“I am thrilled to join the talented team at Aeva who is pioneering FMCW 4D LiDAR which is a critical enabling technology for the next phase of vehicle automation,” said Gern. “I’ve worked closely with their team since the collaboration with Daimler Truck and Torc began and am excited to build a team of strong engineers and technical expertise in Germany to continue to support the work with Daimler Truck and Torc as well as new collaborations with OEMs in Europe and around the world.”
Mina Rezk, cofounder and CTO at Aeva, said: “Axel brings significant automotive engineering leadership to Aeva through his career developing autonomous driving technologies at global passenger vehicle and commercial trucking OEMs. He will play a key role in building Aeva’s engineering team in Europe and leading our Automotive Center of Excellence as we ramp up to support our production win with Daimler Truck and support the growing interest and engagements with automotive customers globally.”
