By Ashley Reyes
The SEMA Future Leaders Network (FLN) has named Thananthan Sozhane, graduate student researcher at Kettering University, as the network's newest spotlight member.
Get to know Sozhane in his interview with SEMA News below.
SEMA News: What is the best advice you have ever received?
Thananthan Sozhane: Follow what you'll do for free and make it your passion. I wanted to make sure that there are no fatalities happening around by all the standards that I can build with the help of joining communities and teams that have the same vision as mine. "Zero Fatalities."
SN: What keeps you in the industry?
TS: I have almost three years of experience in ADAS as a system engineer for autonomous parking. I have built systems from scratch, like packaging sensors, finalizing them and then validating the positions through both bench testing in a lab car and also on a physical car once the software is at least 20% mature.
SN: Where can you be found on a Saturday?
TS: The golf club, gym, making podcasts or at home editing captured videos of automobiles and natural landscapes.
SN: How do you prepare for an important meeting?
TS: Before an important meeting, I take a structured approach to preparation. I start by clearly understanding the meeting's objectives and the key stakeholders involved. Given my background in both engineering and business, I aim to bring a balanced perspective—whether it's about validating an ADAS system or pitching a business case.
Additionally, I anticipate possible questions, tailor my contributions to create value and always carry a collaborative mindset. For me, every important meeting is an opportunity to align innovation with strategic vision.
SN: If you could go to lunch with one industry leader, living or dead, who would it be?
TS: I would choose Steve Jobs. His ability to blend technology, design and user-centric thinking was decades ahead of its time. As someone pursuing a Tech MBA and building a career in ADAS and autonomous mobility, I deeply admire how he redefined consumer experience by turning complex technology into intuitive, emotional products.
I would love to understand how he maintained relentless focus on product vision, how he handled resistance to innovation and how he scaled disruptive ideas without compromising on elegance or simplicity. In the ADAS domain, where technology must seamlessly integrate into human lives, his philosophy of "making it just work" resonates strongly. A conversation with him would inspire me to bring similar clarity and purpose into shaping the future of intelligent mobility.
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