PAVE US
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Tell us a little about yourself and your role at AVL.
For the last almost 4 years I have been responsible for the global business development for ADAS/AD Engineering and for the ADAS/AD Strategy. In my role as Vice President, I have a direct report to the board. I appreciate the interactions with different cultures, which offer the unique possibility to analyze challenges from different perspectives. This is generating a value, which brings AVL forward within this dynamic automotive domain. Of course, my family is also very important for me and I love to spend time with my children and my wife, when I am home.
How is AVL approaching ADAS/AD strategy in 2025? How has that been shaped by industry developments and trends?
Well, the challenges within ADAS and AD are coming from multiple angles. While the worldwide legislations are still not aligned and each market is having specific legal boundaries, which need to be followed, the topic of trust is one of the the most challenging aspects. For us as AVL we are shaping the strategy for 2025 within the technical areas where we offer the highest expertise. Integration of HW and SW, data-driven development and virtual verification and validation paired with our proving ground AVL ZalaZONE are the key pillars of our portfolio. These disciplines will elevate AVL on a higher level compared to where we are standing today.
Data-driven development is a big area of focus for you right now. How is AVL leveraging data to further enhance automotive safety? What role do your simulation and testing technologies play in this?
In AVL we have the freedom to gain data from multiple sources. One is our internal setup based on our long-term engineering competence paired with commercialized simulations tools and testing capabilities such as HiL systems. This is a unique setup, which none of our competitors can leverage. Additionally, our proven functional safety competence towards ISO 26262 and SOTIF (ISO 21434) supports our customers in mastering the challenge of trust in a better way. Another important aspect is reflected in our simulation portfolios for ADAS and AD applications. Here we recognize an incremental need for more simulation from our clients the more we are moving towards L3 and L4 features. Especially for AD features the virtualization with our tools like AVL SCENIUS™ and methodologies enable our clients to be more efficient in their development and therefore gain more speed for bringing products to the market.
How does AVL balance the need for rigorous testing on public roads with the challenges of regulatory compliance and safety standards?
This is an additional value proposition of AVL. Thanks to our global presence we have access to all relevant markets and detailed insights into legal boundaries – this is an added value of AVL. Additionally, we have a dedicated ADAS/AD legal department, which is screening the global legal patterns and provides feedback to the entire organization. As a consequence, we are able to consult our customers and support them in developing solutions to meet the legal requirements with a state-of-the-art approach and therefore generate an added value for our clients. Finally, we use the variety of our public road testing capabilities in Europe, America and Asia to provide the last evidence to the homologation authorities. By the way: we do have a MoU with TÜV Rheinland, which gives us and therefore our clients the benefit to be prepared for the homologation procedures.
Looking ahead, what are some of the biggest opportunities AVL sees for expanding its presence and impact in the U.S.?
The US is an incredibly important market for us. Our presence in Michigan with a team of more than 600 employees is a strong basis to address the challenges of our US clients. For 2025 we plan to significantly increase our ADAS/AD footprint. These additional teams will allow us to master large size projects and also bring AVL’s competences for ADAS and AD to our US clients even more than today. This is also why it is important for us to be part of the PAVE organization and therefore extend our visibility on the US market. We also want to encourage all stakeholders in applying and using the ADAS and AD features for a safe driving experience.
