Call it bias, but it came as a surprise to some when LG Chem Power Inc. announced that Denise Gray would be succeeding Prabhakar Patil, who served as CEO for 10 years.

LG Chem Power, Inc., a subsidiary of LG Chem, Ltd., is bringing the power of lithium-ion polymer battery technology to North America for Hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV), plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV), Electric vehicle (EV), and stationary power applications in the automotive, commercial, and military markets.

For industry insiders, it was simply the right decision to select Gray to head up LG Chem Power Inc., the North American subsidiary of LG Chem Ltd., one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery manufacturers.

Before joining LG Chem Power, Gray built an impressive track record in vehicle electrification, including directing Global Battery Systems Engineering at General Motors (GM).

At GM, Gray and her team, working closely with LG Chem, developed and launched the lithium-ion battery system that powered the original Chevrolet Volt. The Volt uses LG Chem battery cells produced at the company’s plant in Holland, Mich.

Gray also had served as vice president of electrification powertrain engineering at AVL List, GmbH, a global leader in engineering services, simulation, and testing technology for powertrains.

“My work builds on itself,” Gray said in a phone interview with Women of Color magazine this summer.

“What I do now is approximately what I’ve done for the past fifteen years. Electric powertrain technology has moved very aggressively, and we have had to move as fast as we can,” she noted.

Since Gray took over as chief executive of LG Chem Power, its battery systems have been selected to power an impressive array of cutting-edge vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt and Chrysler Pacifica hybrid-electric vehicles.

“We believe our technical strengths [and] engineering and manufacturing expertise position us as a leading battery and control system provider for electric vehicles today and in the future,” Gray said.

“Our experience with entire battery packs, including cell design and manufacturing capability, and our expertise in vehicle integration, makes us the ideal battery supplier for the Pacifica Hybrid as well as others,” she said.

Gray encourages young people interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to learn the skills needed to develop battery and control systems because demand will continue to increase.

“The battery is a multi-disciplinary product, and putting it together takes specialists from different types of engineering,” she said.

Gray’s teams have included electrical engineers, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, and people skilled in electronics hardware, software, and controls design.

“Industry is always going to need people who can innovate,” she said. “The technology we have today wasn’t here when our parents were young. We Americans love to be the first at doing something. Innovation is a part of our core.”

At GM, Gray had global responsibility and oversight of GM’s hybrid battery development efforts. She also served as director of transmission controls and director of engine and transmission software and control systems integration.

But it took some years of gaining experience in a number of positions before earning that level of responsibility.

Gray was no stranger to mastering numerous disciplines.

A graduate of Kettering University in Flint, Mich., she was named to the university’s Co-op Hall of Fame in 2009. Her co-op experience at Kettering exposed her to a five-year rotation in electrical test labs, vehicle assembly plants, prototype manufacturing shops, and software design, all of which helped her gain valuable experience and expertise.

That training helped her develop a vision for what she wanted to accomplish at GM.

“I wanted to be the best entry-level engineer that I could be and, from there, continue to contribute great ideas and innovation as a senior engineer,” she said.

After years on the job, Gray found that the manufacturing industry needed managers who were good communicators and people oriented in order to bring a product to market.

“It took some courage,” she admitted, “but I found that I’d progressed toward leadership. It was a natural evolution. I wasn’t fighting it.”

Gray’s rise from graduate to her first managerial position was spread over more than a decade. Working on the Volt program from 2006–2010 exposed her to decision making at the highest level.

“The Volt program was a collaboration of suppliers and OEMs. We were creating capital as we were building a product that didn’t have a market. It was new; it was different,” she explained.

Gray and her husband, a retired GM executive, have been married for 30 years. The couple has two sons, 27 and 23. Both trained in engineering and program management.

“Faith in God, family, and work is all we’ve ever had,” she said.

Denise Gray is the 2017 Technologist of the Year.