Tim Yerdon is currently the Executive Director for SAE Industry Technologies Consortia leading the automotive and commercial ground vehicles sector. He specializes in bringing together industry member companies in neutral forums to drive collaborative mobility solutions for key technical challenges around the ecosystem of automated, electrified and software defined vehicles. Tim was previously leading Plymouth Technology Advisors, a global consultancy providing strategic guidance to vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, technology companies & start-up organizations. Prior to consulting, Tim held various executive roles at Ford Motor Company around software, services & hardware integration. He also was an initial member of the internal startup Team Edison, Ford’s dedicated team for battery electric vehicles that developed the customer-inspired and award-winning Mustang Mach-E SUV, F-150 Lightning truck, and E-Transit van. Before Ford, Tim served as Chief Marketing Officer at Visteon Corporation, a $3.8B global technology leader in vehicle cockpit electronics and connected car solutions. Tim is currently co-chair on the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Industry Advisory Board and as an Innovation Judge for the prestigious Automotive News PACE awards. Tim holds a master's degree in manufacturing systems from the University of Michigan - Dearborn and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology from Penn State University – Behrend.