What #EngineeredforAutomotive means to me

Today is my birthday.

My daughters serenaded me at breakfast with a beautifully off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday,” which I know they will repeat tonight over cake and ice cream.

I think they’re just excited because Dad is home to celebrate his birthday, and they’re going to make it extra extra special (like surprising me outside my office this morning with birthday signs). Enjoying my birthday at home with my girls is an exception to the rule, and they know it. My birthday generally coincides with the Consumer Electronics Show, and I’ve spent the last 10 on the ground in Las Vegas with my teams. But this week – for obvious reasons – I’m not planning to board a plane.

Moving into 2021 did not magically make COVID-19 disappear like many of us wished it would. It has endured and will continue. It’s clear large trade shows like CES will push all-digital formats for much or most of 2021, giving us the unique opportunity to tour booths and interact with customers from the comfort of our own homes or offices.

This is just one example of how we, as one global community, are making the most of the pandemic. The unpredictability of today helps reaffirm how fortunate I am to work for Corning Incorporated, a 170-year-old company that is no stranger to the ups and downs of our environment, market, and different industries. You could say that, between the talent we have today and those who came before, we’ve seen it all. And we’ve persevered.

We thrive because of our intrapreneurial spirit, meaning we patiently invest internally in smart people with smart ideas. That’s how we continue to ideate and pursue new opportunities in markets we know very well, like the automotive industry, where we’ve innovated for more than 100 years. By combining our market access and material know-how, we’ve created technical glass products that are specifically engineered for use in automotive, or #EngineeredforAutomotive if you’ve been following our video series on social media.

To me, #EngineeredforAutomotive is more than a catchy hashtag: it’s a passion, a product, and a promise. And as the leader of Corning’s start-up Automotive Glass Solutions business, I work to infuse it in all we do:

• It means we look at familiar markets and ecosystems in new ways, solving tough challenges and creating new opportunities.
• It means we transform our existing technical expertise in materials, reliability, and optics into a new arena for glass, delivering new value to our auto customers.
•  It means we stand behind our innovations, knowing that we did our due diligence in developing a reliable product that’s fit for the road.

While I won’t be meeting with our customers in-person at CES, I’m optimistic that I will sometime this year. When that happens I plan to deliver the value of “Engineered for Automotive,” backed by our strategic customers, collaborators, and the passion for our products that keeps us moving forward. 

But today I think I’ll enjoy a cozy evening at home. Tonight’s festivities are largely a surprise, but I know I can count on three things: my wife will cook a delicious Italian meal, there will be wine, and dessert will be cake and ice cream…accompanied by another endearingly off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.”