Mobility Fast Forward: Accelerating Innovation Across All Modes of Mobility
The third edition of the MIT-OPmobility Symposium brings together global leaders from industry, academia, government, venture capital, and startups to accelerate innovation across the full spectrum of mobility. From road and rail to air, micromobility to autonomous systems, this event explores how every mode of movement is being transformed by technology and collaboration.
Following two groundbreaking editions in Paris, this year’s symposium arrives in Detroit, the historic heart of mobility, to spotlight the technologies, partnerships, and ecosystems shaping the future of how people and goods move. Join us for a dynamic day of bold ideas, real-world case studies, and collaborative momentum toward the next generation of mobility across all domains.
Managing Director, OPmobility
Félicie Burelle graduated from the ESCE Business School and holds a graduate degree in business and finance from London South Bank University, as well as an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa Business School in Madrid.
After beginning her career at the Plastic Omnium group in 2001 as accounting manager at a subsidiary of the Auto Exterior division in Madrid (Spain), Félicie Burelle moved to the Mergers & Acquisitions department of Ernst & Young Transaction Services in 2005. In 2010, she returned to Compagnie Plastic Omnium and took over the Strategic Planning and Commercial Coordination department of the Auto Exterior division, also joining its Executive Committee.
Félicie Burelle has been a member of Burelle SA board of directors since 2013. In 2015, she became Strategy and Development Director of Compagnie Plastic Omnium and has since been a member of its Executive Committee. Félicie Burelle was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Compagnie Plastic Omnium on 1 January 2018 and then named Managing Director effective 1 January 2020.
Executive Vice President & Chairperson of North America, OPmobility
Phil Budden is a Senior Lecturer at MIT's Management School, in Sloan's TIES (Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic-management) Group, where he focuses on 'innovation-driven entrepreneurship' (IDE) and innovation ecosystems.
Phil co-teaches in the successful 'Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program' (REAP), an Executive Education program for regional teams from around the globe interested in accelerating 'innovation-driven entrepreneurship'; in the related 15.364 class, known as the 'Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Lab' (REAL), aimed at MBAs and Sloan Fellows; and on similar topics in a variety of degree and Executive Education settings.
Prior to joining MIT, Phil has held these posts with the British government: British Cabinet Office, London (5/6/2001 - 6/30/2002); British Embassy, Washington DC (7/1/2002 - 8/5/2007); 1st Secretary (UK-US Technology, Science & Innovation) Washington DC; Adviser to the PM at No10 (European/institutional strategy) London, UK.
Phil holds a BA and MA in History from Lincoln College, the University of Oxford; an MA in History and Government from Cornell University; and a PhD (DPhil) in History and International Political Economy from the University of Oxford.
Accelerating Innovation: Competitive Advantage through Ecosystem Engagement explores how companies can thrive by engaging with innovation ecosystems rather than relying solely on in-house R&D. Drawing on global examples, from smart cities to advanced manufacturing and quantum technologies, Phil Budden illustrates how corporations can collaborate with startups, universities, investors, and government to accelerate innovation cycles and stay ahead of disruptive change. For the automotive industry, navigating electrification, digitalization, and mobility transformation, these insights offer a practical playbook for leveraging external ecosystems to drive faster innovation and long-term competitiveness.
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement Principal, See to Solve LLC
As a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Spear teaches in graduate and executive education programs and has advised several dozen graduate theses. He is also senior fellow at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and Associated Faculty at Adriane Labs of the Harvard School of Public Health. His publications have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, Health Services Research, the Journal of Nursing Administration, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and USA Today. Spear's research has had broad application and impact, serving as the basis for the Alcoa Business System, the DTE Operating System, the Pittsburgh Region’s Perfecting Patient Care System, the Pittsburgh Women's Center and Shelter hotline, and significant programs at companies like Toyota, Intel, Pratt and Whitney, Intuit, Novelis, and GSK. He’s been an advisor to a Secretary of the Treasury, an Undersecretary for Health Affairs at the Veterans Administration, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Naval Research, the Director of the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force, and several corporate leaders. Spear has a Doctorate from Harvard University, where disruptive innovation thought leader, Clayton Christensen, was one of his dissertation advisors. He has a Master's in engineering and in management from MIT, and a Bachelor's from Princeton University, where he studied economics under Nobel Laureate David Card. He’s a board member for the Maimonides School, YI Brookline, the NE ADL, and the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership.
In Wiring the Winning Organization, MIT’s Steven Spear reveals how industry leaders like Toyota, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and others achieve exceptional performance—not through the brute force of size and resources. Rather, they deliberately design their organizations to see and solve hard problems better and faster than is typical, bringing valued solutions into practice quicker and more reliably, winning the rewards for doing so. The combination of slowification—to make problem solving easier, simplification—to make problems easier to solve, and amplification—to make it more obvious there are problems that need attention, helps enterprises move from firefighting to innovation, turning challenges into opportunities for growth. For automotive suppliers navigating electrification, digitalization, and supply chain complexity, these insights offer a powerful playbook to build agility, resilience, and a lasting competitive edge.
Principal, Plug and Play
Theodora Preda is a Principal at Plug and Play Tech Center, overseeing EMEA startup investments in Sustainable Mobility, Deep Tech, and Enterprise AI since August 2019. With extensive experience in investing in startups from Pre-seed to Series A, Theodora has played a key role in notable initiatives such as Plug and Play UK and Plug and Play Turkey. Theodora's educational background includes a Master of Science in Corporate Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and multiple Bachelor's degrees in Finance and Investment Banking. Additional involvement with Global Women in VC highlights Theodora's commitment to promoting diversity within the venture capital industry.
Senior Director of Ventures, Newlab
Sean Simpson is the Senior Director of Ventures at Newlab, a global venture platform that helps startups build, commercialize, and scale critical technologies in sectors like mobility, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. Based in Detroit, Sean plays a key role in connecting startups with industry partners and capital to accelerate innovation.
He brings deep expertise in venture investment and mobility technologies, having previously served as:
Principal at Yamaha Motor Ventures, Principal Portfolio Manager at Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund, Investment Manager at GM Ventures.
Sean also has an entrepreneurial background as co-founder of AutoBike, and earlier engineering experience at General Motors, BAE Systems, and FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). His career spans both technical and strategic roles, giving him a unique perspective on the intersection of technology, investment, and commercialization.
Head of Strategic Partnerships, Nominal
Wesley Gow is Nominal's Head of Strategic Partnerships, finding collaborative opportunities to get Nominal in the hands of more engineers. Previously, he worked as a Digital Transformation consultant at Bain & Company, where he saw how existing tool options prevented transformation efforts from succeeding. He holds a degree in Economics &Philosophy from the University of Chicago.
Lead Materials Engineer, 3D Architech
Jae loves to think about atoms and how they bond to each other. Unlike most chemiststhat focus exclusively on carbon-X bonds, he spends his time traversing the periodic table, especially among groups 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7, and of course, the transition metals. When he’s not stumped by the oxo-wall, he’s hiking, cooking, or playing music. He likes doing business in person and prefers doing it over something tasty.
CEO, DiploAI
Baptiste Bouvier is the CEO of DiploAI, an AI-powered platform that is revolutionizing theway manufacturers manage product compliance. Baptiste founded DiploAI to streamline thediscovery, analysis, and distribution of critical legal and regulatory changes, empoweringorganizations to stay ahead of compliance requirements and launch product faster. DiploAI is proud to work with 4/10 of the largest manufacturers, supporting the development of products used by over 100 million people worldwide. Baptiste earned his Computer Science degree from MIT and later studied Public Policy at Oxford. Prior to founding DiploAI, he worked at organizationssuch as McKinsey, Microsoft, Facebook, and JP Morgan in AI, software, product, and consultingroles. Baptiste is based in New York.
CEO, MaplessAI
Philipp Robbel is the CEO and Co-Founder of MaplessAI, a mobility company developing safe remote driving solutions to enable fully remote, driverless fleet operation. Dr. Robbel is anexpert in safety and validation of autonomous vehicle systems. He previously served as Director of Product Safety at Aptiv, overseeing safety and simulation teams. Prior to that, he was Headof Safety and Validation at nuTonomy, a RoboTaxi startup out of MIT, acquired in 2017. He earned his PhD in Robotics from MIT and started his career as a Research Engineer at Bosch inPalo Alto, CA.
Head of Business Development and Operations, Foundation EGI
Harshit Gupta is Head of Business Development and Operations at Foundation EGI, where he drives growth and strategic partnerships. He brings 15+ years of experience in designing innovative products and scaling businesses. Before joining Foundation EGI, he was Head of Business Development at Mercari US, where he launched multiple new business verticals and revenue streams. Harshit has held several key roles at Samsung, most notably leading Global Business Development for AI services and advising top executives on strategic initiatives across products and geographies. He began his career at Apple as a hardware engineer, designing and setting up manufacturing processes for the inaugural iPhone and iPad lines. Harshit holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS from Stanford University, and a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
Chief Executive Officer, OPmobility
Laurent Favre is the CEO of OPmobility. Prior to their current position, Favre served as the managing director of Business Unit Transformers at ABB from August 2018 to November 2019. From January 2017 to August 2018, they were the CEO of Benteler Automotive and from May 2014 to January 2017, they served as the COO of Benteler Automotive. From May 2012 to April 2014, they were the Executive Vice-President BU Chassis/Modules at BENTELER Group. From July 2010 to May 2012, they served as the CEO of Sofedit and from March 2007 to July 2010, they were the CEO of ZFLS Nacam at ZF Group. Prior to that, from January 2004 to December 2006, they worked as a senior consultant at Management Engineers.
Laurent Favre received their degree in engineering from ESTACA - Ecole Supérieure des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile.
Head of Global Autos and European Autos Equity Research, J.P. Morgan
A seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience, Jose Asumendi has been at the forefront of automotive investment insights since joining JPMorgan Securities Plc in 2012. His coverage spans major global manufacturers, with a focus on industry transformation driven by electrification, mobility innovation, and regulatory shifts. Prior to J.P. Morgan, he held equity research roles at ABN AMRO, WestLB, NatWest Markets, and Baader Bank. Widely recognized for his sector expertise, Jose Asumendi is a trusted voice among institutional investors navigating the evolving automotive landscape.
Transportation Management Sales Director, Uber Freight
Steve Kovacs is Vice President of Sales, Transportation Management at Uber Freight, based in Detroit, MI. With over three decades of experience in logistics and supply chain management, Steve has held leadership roles at Schneider Logistics and Diversey prior to joining Uber Freight. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Central Michigan University and an MBA from Wayne State University. At Uber Freight, Steve plays a key role in driving strategic sales initiatives and advancing transportation solutions for a diverse range of clients.
Uber Freight is a non-asset, third party logistics (3PL) provider offering manufacturers, retailers, chemical and consumer packaged goods companies the optimal blend of logistics technology and transportation management services. From complete logistics management outsourcing to SaaS transportation management system (TMS) and supply chain network planning and design to high-quality brokerage services, Transplace has proven the ability to deliver both rapid return on investment and consistent value to customers.
Institute Professor, MIT Department of Political Science Faculty Co-Director, MIT Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM)
Institute Professor Suzanne Berger's research focuses on politics and globalization. She co-directs the Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM,) which brings engineers, social scientists, and economists together to work on how to transform manufacturing. She led the MIT Production in the Innovation Economy project (Making in America: From Innovation to Market, 2013). She created the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative (MISTI) program, which today sends hundreds of MIT students abroad for internships in labs and companies. She participated in the 1989 Made in America project at MIT and wrote Made By Hong Kong and Global Taiwan (with Richard K. Lester). She is the author of Notre Première Mondialisation and How We Compete. Her earlier work focused on political development (Peasants Against Politics) and the organization of interests (Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial Societies and Organizing Interests in Western Europe).
Suzanne Berger served as Head of the MIT Department of Political Science, founding chair of the SSRC Committee on West Europe, and Vice President of the American Political Science Association. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The French government has awarded her the Palmes Academiques, Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Merite, and the Légion d'Honneur.
CEO, Caresoft Global
Mathew Vachaparampil is the CEO of Caresoft Global, a leading engineering solutions company specializing in automotive benchmarking, cost optimization, and product development. With a background in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Madras and a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan, Mathew brings over three decades of global experience across engineering, manufacturing, and business strategy. He began his career at Case New Holland (CNHi), a FIAT Group company, where he held leadership roles across four continents. Under his leadership, Caresoft has transformed the automotive benchmarking landscape by shifting from data-driven analysis to results-focused strategies, helping OEMs save billions through technology optimization and modular manufacturing initiatives. Mathew also holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), serving on its Automotive Network board.
Product Strategy, Amogy
David Zurmuhl is a Senior Product Strategy Analyst at Amogy, a pioneering company in ammonia-based clean energy solutions. Based in New York, David plays a key role in shaping Amogy’s strategic direction across energy markets and emerging technologies. He holds both a Bachelor’s and Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, where he also contributed as a researcher and teaching assistant.
Prior to joining Amogy, David gained engineering experience at EME Consulting Engineering Group and held research roles at the Cornell Energy Institute and Weaver Wind Energy. His technical expertise spans product strategy, energy systems, and mechanical design, supported by a robust skill set in tools like Matlab, SolidWorks, and ANSYS.
CEO and Founder, Navier
Sampriti Bhattacharyya, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Navier, a next-generation company creating zero-emission marine vessels. The company's N30 is America's first electric hydrofoiling boat and the world's longest-range electric vessel, operating 10x more efficiently than gas-powered boats.
With a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and deep career experience in aerospace and maritime with NASA, Fermilab, and TIFR, she pioneered innovations in robotics, AI, and underwater drones through her previous venture, Hydroswarm. Moving from India to America at the age of 20, armed with $200, Bhattacharyya has broken barriers in industries with traditionally limited female representation. She is an advocate for women in STEM fields and has been involved in various initiatives, including Code.org.
Second-Year Master’s Student, MIT
Denzel Carter is a second-year Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering, conducting research in Professor Ian Hunter’s Bioinstrumentation Lab at MIT. His current work focuses on the stop-rotor project, where he collaborates with Kristan to optimize various aspects of the system’s design.
His research and academic experience center on aerodynamic flow, aircraft design, robotics, and optimal design theory. Originally from Florida, Denzel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2020. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked on the development of visuo-tactile sensors for robotic manipulation at Georgia Tech.
Associate Director of Research, MIT Mobility Initiative
Bhuvan Atluri is the Associate Director of Research at the MIT Mobility Initiative. Bhuvan is a mobility & automotive technology enthusiast who is extremely passionate about solving the problems mobility faces today. He has interests across Electric Vehicle Adoption & Charging Equity, Autonomous Mobility & Safety, and Multi-Modal Urban Mobility. He has over 11 years of product, marketing, and business development experience, starting from early days as a brand manager at Unilever to most recently founding & heading the B2B e-commerce subsidiary of NCML. He has an MIT Sloan Fellows MBA, a master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and is a computer science engineer by training.
Vice President of Advanced Innovation, OPmobility