Dakroub demonstrating a Visteon product at a convention in Los Angeles.

DETROIT — Dearborn resident Husein Dakroub was one of the youngest engineers when he was hired into Visteon Corporation in 2011, a leading automotive global supplier based in metro Detroit.

Last month, Dakroub, 25,  represented Visteon’s upcoming project at the Society of Automotive Engineering World Congress convention at Cobo Hall, where hundreds of automotive leaders from around the world gathered to collaborate and address current technologies, challenges and opportunities in the auto industry.

Since starting with the company, Dakroub has emerged as the mascot for young aspiring engineers. Last week, Visteon published an article on its blog, written by Dakroub, that highlights the importance of the auto industry hiring younger engineers.

Dakroub noted that younger engineers are needed more than ever in his field of work. With evolving technologies that are now being incorporated into vehicles, the millennial and post-millennial perspective is important.

“I’ve seen firsthand that opportunities for young engineers are expanding with the emergence of electric vehicles, connected and autonomous cars and advanced driver assistance systems,” Dakroub said.

Visteon designs, engineers and manufactures innovative cockpit electronics products and connected car solutions for most of the world’s major vehicle manufacturers.

Headquartered in Van Buren Township, Visteon has nearly 11,000 employees at 50 facilities in 19 countries and had $3.1 billion in electronics sales over the last 12 months.

Born in Beirut, Dakroub came to the U.S. with his family in 1997. He said he always aspired to be an engineer, due to the lack of technological companies in the region.

“In the U.S., we are blessed to have a good educational system and a good corporate work place that teaches you how companies are built from ground up,” Dakroub said. “I want to be an inspiration to people in the Middle East, to look at the possibilities of starting innovative companies. I thought engineering would help me achieve that goal.”

After graduating from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a Bachelors in electrical engineering, Dakroub jumped on an opportunity to intern with Visteon.

As one of the top students of his class academically, he had opportunities to put his foot through the door with the three big automakers, but ultimately decided to gain experience with a supplier company because he would learn how to build and manufacture products.

Four years later, Dakroub is now a technical lead engineer for infotainment and telematics at Visteon. He also obtained a Masters in computer engineering.

He and the company are ready to introduce an innovative system likely to be incorporated into vehicles by 2018.

Dakroub.

Dakroub and a team of Visteon leaders have already led the innovation of products such as OpenAir®, an infotainment system installed in vehicles that can easily connect drivers’ mobile devices, make and accept calls, stream media and get real-time data services such as news, traffic and weather.

Dakroub assisted on the architecture, design and delivery of OpenAir® before its rollout to targeted Southeast Asia, South Africa, South America, Middle Eastern and East European markets last year.

The company expects to roll-out SmartCore™ by 2018, a product which it says provides a cost-effective, security-focused approach to consolidating separate cockpit electronics products on a single, multi-core chip–a first of its kind for the industry.

SmartCore™ is being dubbed as a game-changer that offers unique advantages over traditionally separated and non-connected infotainment systems. Various operating systems would run side-by-side on a single processor, while several levels of information –from safety-critical vehicle data to personal information from the Cloud – are combined into one system for the first time.

Dakroub said the technology will be user-friendly and less confusing for drivers.

“It’s the trend where the auto industry is heading and we will be the first company to bring it in 2018,” Dakroub said. “Currently, you have redundant systems and processors around the vehicle. We are consolidating it to a single system that offers enhanced security, efficiency and reduced cost.”

During his tenure at Visteon, Dakroub has paved the way for several other Arab Americans to work for the company.

He encourages young Arab Americans to pursue the field of engineering if they have an interest in it. He believes that many are reluctant to do so, due to family pressure to go into medicine or law, instead.

However, Dakroub added that now, more than ever, there are opportunities in engineering that can very well be occupied by motivated Arab Americans. He said the work ethic and culture of Arab Americans makes them an ideal fit for the field.

 “The amount of engineers in general is less than the opportunities there are, so there’s going to be a lot of demand for engineers,” Dakroub said. “I think our background as immigrants will help people become engineers. You have to be passionate, creative, innovative and willing to work hard. You have to have leadership skills. A lot of people in our community have those characteristics.”

For him, personally, chasing his passion was the ultimate reward.

“People have to think about their future and utilize their opportunities,” Dakroub added. “Some might think its too difficult or the reward may not be clear. But people should be chasing after their passion, not the reward. I guarantee the reward will come through hard work and dedication.” 

To learn more about Dakroub and Visteon, visit http://blog.visteon.com.