Ford Mexico’s Most Creative Women

Fernanda Medina Luna 

She currently has nine patents under her name and each one of them is focused on solving a different problem inside a vehicle as they mainly seek to optimize the storage space surrounding the center console. Though, the last two patents that were recently granted are being used on the airbag system for the Ford Bronco – two- and four-door models – that is built at the Michigan, US, plant.  

Most of her ideas have come from personal experience as a user. Her creative process is that once she has the idea, she discusses it with a multidisciplinary team, looks for existing products on the market and sees how they could improve them or give them another use. Finally, they document the problem, the solution, the technical details and the advantages over other solutions. 

Fernanda is optimistic because she considers that historically women have been characterized by creativity and resourcefulness to solve problems. For example, the first windshield wipers were invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. 

Finally, Fernanda opened up and recommended to her colleagues to try until reaching success and to not be afraid of failing as it took her several rejected ideas before she got her first patent.  

Frida Vargas Garcia 

So far, she has five patents granted and one more that is going through the process to be conceded. Each one is very different from the others and their range go from a deployable hook system to hang objects inside the vehicle, a seat belt system that lights up for easy identification in the dark, to a trunk mat that turns into a box to store objects if it’s necessary.  

Her creative process consists of observing and identifying the problems we experience daily as consumers, and from there, she can start thinking of ideas that will become solutions, which after being worked on with a team and tested, could become a patent. What she likes most about this process is that it is friendly and dynamic since it doesn't sometimes require much technical knowledge or involvement in the total development of the vehicle.  

Finally, Frida believes that women have a significant role in innovation and invites other women to allow themselves to participate and lose their fear when sharing an idea or point of view. She mentions that we must remember that it is when we work as a team that the best ideas emerge. 

Liliana Alonso Vazquez

She currently has four patents, two defensive publications and one trade secret. One of her patents was to design a windshield that can easily break from the inside in case of an emergency while keeping full strength on the outer side, protecting the users inside the vehicle in case of an impact. Another consists of a mechanism that allows the airbag to be accommodated at one end without interfering with the seat belt, allowing part of the air conditioning system to be packed in restricted spaces.  

To generate these great inventions, Liliana likes to think "how else could a product be fixed" even when there is already a solution, a lot of times the key is to generate more to improve the existing ones. 

This great inventor mentions that the participation of women in innovation is fundamental because only diversity increases the possibility of generating genuinely new and all-around ideas. 

Michelle Herrera Gutierrez

Her interest in generating new ideas has led her to have four patents and one more is in the process of being granted. Two of them are systems focused on improving the user experience when you have to change a flat tire. The third is an adaptable airbag for different safety requirements; the fourth is related to a seat safety system to provide more protection from side impacts.  

For her, inspiration can come at any time and for different reasons; for example, some of their ideas came up due to personal situations that she experienced with her car while others due to projects she was working on. Besides, brainstorming with her coworkers is always an excellent option to enrich and enjoy the process even more.  

Michelle believes that women's participation is more common nowadays and is happy to be a part of the “revolution”. Like the rest of the remarkable in this story, she agrees that losing the fear of making mistakes is vital since those mistakes are the ones that help improve the idea and ultimately reach the goal.  

Nicole Herrera Gutierrez  

She has participated in the creation of four patents. One of them, for example, has the purpose of redirecting the flow of exhaust gases to the sensor, which improves measurements in specific situations during vehicle operation. Another consists of a light located in the area where the hydraulic jack is placed, which is turned on by the tire pressure sensors to facilitate the correct location of this object.   

Again, her creative process is similar to aforementioned members of this story. Nicole likes to put herself in the place of consumers to detect a need. Likewise, she works with a team made up of different disciplines to make the idea even more complete, which allows her to consider other factors.  

For Nicole, the future of women in innovation will always be there as long as everyone keeps searching for new opportunities. Regardless, the empathy and understanding are essentials pillars in teams to generate ideas that have a meaningful impact.

Diana Hernandez Cortes 

So far, she has a registered patent and two medium-ranked ideas. Her first patent came about when she and her teammates were looking for a way to solve a safety problem that they had with the seats involved in a crash test. For that reason, they invented an impact diffuser that could be molded into the plastic part of the seats, thus passing safety tests and being implemented in Ford vehicles such as the F150. 

Diana is interested in creatively solving design problems, avoiding adding complexity, cost or manufacturing processes. In this way, together with her colleagues, she can create new solutions. 

Finally, as advice, she mentions that "the best way to achieve something is to keep striving for it, as along the way you will learn from the experts as well as the downfalls." 

Paula Moreno Roa

She has participated in the creation of a patent. This invention is about an intelligent seat, which consists of an internal vision system of the vehicle that calculates the ideal position through image processing; once the information is processed, the seat is automatically adjusted.  

For Paula, paying attention to the user's needs is vital, and she likes to imagine that the idea could have a large-scale impact and that many people could benefit. 

Paula knows that conditions for women are not the same in every part of the world. Therefore, she feels lucky to be part of the small percentage where she can develop adequately and where men value her work and encourage a healthy working environment.  

She recommends not limiting creativity because, even if the ideas are not good enough, they can still be reinvented and improved over time. 

Each of these women and their teams inspires us to continue building a better world where ideas become products and not just stay in the mind.