Faces of GM

Alisyn: former skeptic becomes advocate, change is good

November/9/2009 at 1:58 pm

At the Dragon Bridge in Ijubljana, Slovenia

Alisyn Malek, Release Engineer for Charging Components
When I get in the groove: My taste in music is very eclectic – rock to bluegrass. Most people would be really surprised by what they find on my iPod – Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and Robert Fripp. I grew up on Neil Young and still love his music.
When I cook: I love to spontaneously cook. Just throw things together and see what happens. Eggplant parmesan using fresh eggplant from my urban garden is my favorite.
When I relax: I wanted to learn to play the guitar but my fingers didn’t agree, so I ended up learning to play the mandolin. I also spend a lot of time knitting or in my studio at Russell Industrial Center with two sewing machines and more material than any normal person should have. I hand paint fabric to quilt and craft some of my own patterns to make clothing.

I am a native Michigander. My grandfather worked for GM at the tech center for more than 20 years. Much like my father, who is an acoustical engineer, I was not going to work in the automotive industry.  Then during my senior year at the University of Michigan I learned about the work GM was doing with hybrids and battery development and realized this isn’t my grandfather’s car company – things are changing.

I’m working in a totally new field – vehicle electrification, and it’s a big part of what is changing the automotive industry and part of what changed my decision. I get to look into the future and make predictions – I help determine which systems we will need once we start putting plug in electric vehicles on the road. My job is to make sure that you are thoroughly satisfied with the vehicle charging and strive to give you more miles of electric, petroleum-free driving.

My own personal beliefs drive me every day. I believe we have to broaden our thinking and place more emphasis on how what we do today impacts the future, as individuals and as a company. It’s less about instant gratification and more about being strategic, seeing the big picture and the legacy we will leave behind. I share this belief with my family, friends and co-workers and I’m really starting to see the difference. I have my friends and family thinking and talking more about the importance of everything from where their food comes from to how they get their electricity.  I have become a defacto myth buster for some.

This past summer I volunteered with the Wayne State Cultural Association building the North Cass Community Garden, an urban agricultural garden in downtown Detroit near the campus. We spent five full Saturdays working hard to bring the garden to life. There was a lot of manual labor cleaning up the lot, moving dirt, planting; and in the end the veggies that I produced in my plot of the garden were a great reward. Beyond that I knew that we were doing something that would last more than just a summer. We saw the long-term possibilities that will benefit the community and inspire others to develop urban gardens around the city.  

My plot

Life is funny. I went from refusing to work in the automotive industry to becoming an advocate. Ironically, I even live just a few blocks away from the old GM headquarters. Driving by the building every day reminds me of where our industry was, and that makes me work harder to help lead the industry in a new direction.  I’m inspired by the work I’m doing and the people around me, to keep pushing, keep opening new doors; not just doing it well but doing it better and doing things the right way. I think I’ll stick around and see what happens next.

Editor’s note: Read more about GM’s battery technology program and Alisyn in dbusiness magazine.