BIO

Terry J. Woychowski obtained his dream job in 1998 when he was appointed the Vehicle Chief Engineer for the General Motors Full Size Truck Platform. The Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Hummer trucks he helped create where highly successful in the market, won numerous industry awards and generated multiple billions of dollars of profit for the company. It was in these intense and challenging environments and other assignments like this that he forged his own leadership skills, and ingrained his commitment to help develop leadership skills into those he worked with. Terry’s ubiquitous engineering talents were developed in his home environment where his father, Harold J. Woychowski, growing up in a rural farming community in the thumb of Michigan enlisted his sons to assist in the repair and maintenance of every family owned car, truck and appliance that required attention. After moving to the suburbs of Detroit his father became a Technician at the General Motors Noise and Vibration Laboratory. At dinner he often spoke of tough engineering problems to be solved and the many challenging assignments he faced. When Terry announced that he too wanted to become a Technician at the Noise and Vibration Lab at the GM Milford Proving Ground, his father said no. He was encouraged instead to attend college, to obtain a degree in Engineering, and then to get hired by GM and to become his father’s boss. With this vision Terry attended Michigan Technological University and in four years’ time earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering. Directly out of college he was hired by General Motors and became a Test Engineer at the NVL, where for a brief period he became his father’s boss. Terry completed his career at GM after 33 years, where he had become the Global Vice President of Program Management, and then as the Global Vice President of Quality and Vehicle Launch.Terry retained his affinity for Michigan Technological University where he was invited to serve on the College of Engineering Advisory Board. In 2007 he was honored by being inducted into the Michigan Technological University Academy of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. The Academy honors distinguished alumni for excellence and leadership in engineering and civic affairs. Later, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed Terry to serve on the Michigan Technological University Board of Control, where he is the Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee and serves of the Leadership Committee and the Michigan Tech Fund. Terry was awarded his Doctorate in Business Management, honorus causa, from Indiana Wesleyan University in December of 2003.

Terry has devoted much time to the support and furtherance of the engineering profession and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. Terry has served on the Board of Directors of the Engineering Society of Detroit where he served as the President Elect, the Chair of the Young Engineers Council and then as its President for two years. During his time at the ESD he orchestrated a trilateral partnership with the ESD, MTU and GM to create and offer a retraining program for displaced engineers in the southeast Michigan area who wished to retool themselves and prepare for job opportunities in the growing area of advanced propulsion. This effort has been repeated several times and has developed into a Master’s Degree program at MTU. Terry is a member of the Executive Leadership Team of Project Lead the Way, a STEM based educational program designed to introduce the engineering disciplines into elementary, middle school and high school programs. He is often requested to provide key note addresses in STEM education and community service forums. Terry remains involved in many civic outreaches as well. He has traveled to Port-au-Prince Hattie to assist in relief efforts following their devastating earthquakes as well as to Albania to assist in the establishment of refugee camps for victims fleeing from the Kosovo conflict in the Balkans. He founded the Woychowski Charitable Corporation (foundation) and enlisted his children and their spouses as the board of directors. Together they have sponsored several Michigan Tech Senior Design project teams to design and build human powered grain mills. Partnering with World Hope International, several of these mills have been built and deployed in villages in Zambia Africa.

After retiring from GM, Terry was appointed as the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Quality at the American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) company.

Terry has enjoyed working closely with Roy Link on serval industry projects and has jointly served on several board positions with him. In 2016 Terry accepted an assignment as the Vice President of North American Test Operations for the LINK Engineering company and is headquartered in the Link Dearborn Test Lab.