Robert M. Ottolini

GM Europe Vice President, Quality

Robert (Bob) M. Ottolini has been GM Europe Vice President, Quality, based in Rüsselsheim, Germany, since November 1, 2008. He also serves as a member of the Europe Strategy Board. Prior to his current appointment, he was Executive Director, Global Product Development Quality.

Bob was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA, on July 7, 1955. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (GMI), now Kettering University, in 1978 and his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1979.

Bob joined General Motors in 1973, as a co-op student from General Motors Institute and was hired on full time in 1979. He spent the first 25 years of his career in various assignments within Product Engineering, gaining experience in powertrain, interior and exterior systems, body structures, vehicle development, validation and the analytical or math based simulations activity.

Bob was appointed Engineering Director, Vehicle Synthesis & Global Processes, in June 1999. In this position, he led the continuous improvement of GM's analytical capabilities and developed strategies for the global implementation of Computer Aided Design (CAD) standardized work.

As General Motors North America Car and Truck engineering groups converged into one organization, Bob was appointed Executive Director, Math Strategy. As the engineering convergence entered its fine tuning stage, Bob’s responsibilities were expanded to include Engineering Process & Math Strategy for all of GMNA Engineering and Lead for the Global Engineering Process & Systems Engineering Council.

In the fall of 2002, Bob was appointed Executive Director, Product Development Quality, where he and his team championed both Product and Process Quality across the entire Vehicle Development Process. In 2007, this role was expanded to a global one, with activities and resources in all major regions of the world.