“What do you do for a living?” Typically, the answer follows with teacher, nurse, musician, etc. But for those of us who work in the automotive functional safety profession, the answer does not always roll off the tongue as easily. I can recall countless times drumming up a scenario during a friend’s dinner party to better explain what I do for forty hours a week. What seemed like a lighthearted question all of a sudden evokes a very serious answer. My story goes something like this…
All cars these days are powered by electronics, such as steering, braking or shifting gears. Imagine that one day on your drive home from work one of these electronics malfunctions. You lose control of your vehicle and end up in an accident at no fault of your own (or so you think). Maddened by the situation you contact a lawyer and threaten to sue your car’s manufacturer.
Now let’s rewind for a minute. Where does working at kVA fit in?
Before the car accident, before the release of the vehicle into production, there was a design engineer somewhere. Whether the engineer was responsible for the entire system or just the driveline or powertrain, his or her end goal was to ensure your safety.
At kVA we work as certified independent safety experts to mitigate risks and hazardous scenarios. We’re someone you’ve probably never heard of and maybe never will. We’re the ones teaching automotive engineers the ABCs of functional safety by using the ISO 26262 standard as a guideline. We help OEMs and suppliers assemble a safety case so that in a court of law they can stand confidently knowing they met the state-of-the-art standard in functional safety and reduced risks to a reasonable level.
The dinner party continues and the awkward pause is lifted. Your friend is left dumbfounded by your response. “Wow, that’s powerful stuff…,” they say. You shrug it off and try to switch the conversation, knowing that for a short moment in time you’ve left them speechless, and that’s ok. Saving lives with the help of innovative technology is what we at kVA strive for. We’re the guys who help stop accidents before they happen. We do more than practice safety, we are your Automotive Functional Safety Engineers.
To learn more about job opportunities at kVA visit our careers page.
