MechE 7T1, MEng 7T7
Inducted: 2011
Ted is one of Canada’s pre-eminent automotive engineers. Throughout his career, he has held the most senior engineering
executive positions in his profession, and has been responsible for multibillion-dollar annual budgets and for the design and
production of 15 million vehicles on the road.
He began his engineering career in 1968 at General Motors (GM) of Canada Ltd. There, he rose to the position of Chief Engineer
before moving to the U.S., where he took on senior leadership roles which culminated in his appointment to Chief Engineer at
General Motors Corp.
He was then promoted to Chief Engineer for mid-sized trucks and was responsible for a $2.2 billion engineering budget and $15
billion annual revenue. In 2002, Jack Smith, Chairman of GM, gave Ted the title of Chief Engineer Emeritus upon his retirement.
He was the longest serving Chief Engineer at GM and is the only person to be awarded the title of Chief Engineer Emeritus in the
corporation’s 100+ year history.
Following his retirement, Ted served as Vice Chairman of ASC Inc., and then President of SAE International, where he was the
first automotive leader from Canada in that prestigious role. He then joined Magna International Inc. in 2006 as Executive Vice
President, and was later promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer.
Ted is now Vice Chairman & President, North America, of Magna E-Car Systems, and Chief Technical Officer the Americas for
Magna International. He leads Magna’s activities in electric vehicle propulsion, including the highly promising Ford e-Focus
program.
His honours include:
- Outstanding Younger Member of SAE, 1979
- Donald B. Scolville Award for Outstanding Governing Board Member of SAE, 1981\
- Fellow, SAE, 2010
- Green Car Vision Award, Ford, 2011