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Two of Tesla Inc.s top executives have left in the midst of the carmakers largest-ever round ofjob cuts, as slowing electric-vehicle demand leads the company to reduce its global headcount by more than 10%.

The cuts could reach closer to 20% in some divisions, two people familiar with the matter say.

In addition, Senior Vice President Drew Baglino resigned from the company, he said on X Monday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. Baglino been one of just four named executive officers at Tesla, leading engineering and technology development for its batteries, motors and energy products.

The 18-year company veteran who co-hosted earnings calls and shared the stage with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk at multiple events, including Teslasinvestor dayjust over a year ago is leaving along with Rohan Patel, the carmakers vice president of public policy and business development. Patel alsoconfirmedhis departure on social media, and Muskrespondedbythankingboth executives.

The carmakers shares dropped more than 3% Monday. The stock has fallen 33% this year.

Musk announced the decision tocut headcountby potentially more than 14,000 people globally amid the deteriorating outlook for EV sales. In an email to staff, the CEO cited duplication of roles and the need to reduce costs.

As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity, Musk wrote in the memo, which was seen by Bloomberg News. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done.

Leaders at Tesla were given aggressive goals to cut costs in their organizations and license to take strong action in reaching them, according to one of the people. That included deeper cuts in some cases beyond the threshold Musk had outlined, the person said.

The departure of Baglino is likely to reinforce concerns among some investors aboutsuccession planningat Tesla, where Musk has been CEO since 2008. The billionaire leads six companies and doesnt devote his full time or attention to the worlds most valuable automaker. Musk also said early this year that he preferred tobuild products elsewhereunless hes awarded around 25% voting control.

The CEO lost another top deputyin August, when Zachary Kirkhorn stepped down as CFO after 13 years with Tesla.

Its not clear whether the departure of the top Tesla executives was connected to broader struggles at the EV maker. Tesla reported vehicle deliveries early this month that missed expectations by awide margin, posting its first quarterly decline in four years.

Several analysts are bracing for the EV makers sales to potentiallyshrinkfor the year, citing slow output of its newest model theCybertruck and a lull in new products until the company starts producing a next-generation vehicle late next year.

Tesla ended last year with 140,473 employees, almost double its total three years earlier. Its been ramping up output at two plants one in Austin, and the other outside Berlin that started cranking out Model Y sport utility vehicles in early 2022. The company startedslashing pricesacross its lineup as those facilities reached higher volumes.

Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe, Musk wrote in the email, which was reported earlier Monday by the blog Electrek. With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas.

Musks biographer, Walter Isaacson, described Baglino as a personable engineer with an easy laugh. In his book on Musk published last year, Isaacson recounted a tense first meeting Baglino had with the CEO over how many battery cells Tesla would need to hit its range target.

I never want to be in another meeting with Elon, Isaacson quoted Baglino saying to Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel, who left the company in 2019 but joined its board of directorslast year.

Isaacson writes that Straubel reassured Baglino, whos quoted saying that Musks battery-cell calculation proved correct.

Read More:Musk Vetoing a $25,000 Tesla Comes Back to Bite

Baglino has netted about $96 million from periodic share sales since he was appointed a senior VP and had to start publicly disclosing his transactions, according to Bloomberg calculations. The sales have been executed under multiple pre-arranged trading plans, filings show.

Baglino and Teslas board chair, Robyn Denholm, set up share-trading plans late last year allowing them tosell significant sumsof stock. Baglino made arrangements to potentially sell up to 115,500 shares through the end of this year, according to aregulatory filing.

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Tesla's top engineering exec, who led development of critical technologies, has resigned after 18 years, adding to ... - Fortune

Ryon Batson 21 always has maintained a strong passion for business, and during his time as an undergraduate at Binghamton University, he was conflicted about what path to choose in life.

During his sophomore year, Batson pursued electrical engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science. Although he enjoyed it very much, he still craved a path that involved a business-inventive aspect.

This led to his discovery of industrial and systems engineering, where he could pursue his entrepreneurial and engineering interests in tandem. After graduation, Batson co-founded FairSplit, an artificial intelligence-powered insurance company designed to reduce tensions between workers and employers during employee transitions.

Q: What attracted you to Watson College?

A: When I came to Binghamton University, I wasnt sure what I wanted to do as a career. My dad was an electrician and had a private electrical company, and during the summers I would go out to work with him. I enjoyed doing electrical work, so I figured that I would follow in my fathers footsteps and pursue electrical engineering. In addition, as a first-generation college student, receiving an engineering degree seemed like a very notable thing to do.

Although I didnt get into Watson College my first year, I persevered and got accepted my second year after applying through the intra-university transfer application. With the Engineering Design Division program at Watson, I was able to explore the various options in engineering.

Q: Why did you choose ISE?

A: I quickly realized that electrical engineering was very different from being an actual electrician. The time invested in studying compared to my academic results quickly made me realize how important it was that I followed my own passions. I always had a passion for entrepreneurship, and I became conflicted with pursuing electrical engineering and wanting to transfer to the School of Management.

When I transferred to Watson, not only did I have my mind set on engineering, I also invested my first year taking general education courses directed toward Watson College. Transferring to SOM certainly would have set me back. I didnt want to drop engineering totally, so I went to speak with my counselors and advisors, and they mentioned a program called industrial and systems engineering. I wasnt aware of what it was, but it sounded like business with engineering principles. I started taking some courses, and I could immediately sense that my passion was being fulfilled.

Q: Where did you intern as an undergrad?

A: I interned for three startup companies Relo, Unified Scholars and Beam (formerly Edquity). I was privileged enough to learn the inner workings of launching a company. I was able to apply the knowledge that I was receiving at Watson directly to these companies, and that reassured me my decision to pursue ISE was the right call.

Primarily, it involved immersing myself in various roles within the companies, gaining practical experience in the process of designing and coding systems. This allowed me to witness the progression of projects from inception to completion firsthand.

Q: Did your experiences in your internship influence the development of your startup, FairSplit?

A: Absolutely. Funny enough, Relo is now FairSplit. I stayed involved with Relo past my internship, first as a volunteer, then as a part-time employee, and eventually becoming full-time as a co-founder and COO of FairSplit. At that time, we were focused on developing a system for people to relocate from one area to another and provide an insurance in the case they defaulted on their payments.

Since then, the pandemic and the advancement of technology prompted us to pivot from our original concept and confront a broader challenge. It became evident that our services were irrelevant without a stable income. Consequently, we decided to address the root cause: the transitions of employees into unemployment.

FairSplit, now an AI-powered insurance company, focues on streamlining various business activities such as mergers, acquisitions, headcount reductions and employee transitions through automated compliance measures. Additionally, we offer real-time insights into finances, employee benefits and industry trends to aid our clients in risk mitigation, thereby reducing costs. Our prepaid insurance system enables us to decrease the expenses related to offboarding benefits by over 15%.

Q: Did you ever think your ISE degree would lead you to this career path?

A: I didnt quite know where my ISE degree was going to lead me. I originally thought it would have been either a heavily focused engineering path or a path related to business somehow. To my very own surprise, I landed a career thats allowed me to apply both my technical background and the hint of business that industrial and systems engineering prepared me for.

Q: Can you share any specific lessons you learned from your journey?

A: You must learn how to measure the small wins. It is easy to become discouraged if you only visualize success from the broad scope. I like to say that every stroke of the paintbrush on a canvas matters to the overall concept or final image. Its the same with developing a business. Every code written, every system built and every idea thought of contributed to the overall execution of the business model. Learning to value the small wins is necessary to be successful.

Secondly, successful entrepreneurship is more than just an amazing and unique idea. The idea is merely just the first step to entrepreneurship. There are other factors that go into being successful as an entrepreneur, like an exceptional founding team, and the ability to convince investors and partners that you are the one to execute this vision. Are you a second-time founder? Did you have a successful exit prior? These are also important. If the answer to these questions is no, you must be prepared to produce exceptional results and persevere much longer than your counterparts whove accomplished these things.

Q: Do you have any advice for Binghamton students?

A: Practice your introspection. If we take time to deliberately examine our thoughts, emotions and experiences to gain insight and self-awareness, we empower ourselves for greatness. This is a practice I have been doing subconsciously since 2017 when I decided to no longer pursue electrical engineering. That decision set me up for all my internships and led me to co-found FairSplit.

I encourage everyone to take note of the outcomes when you are following your instinct or gut feeling. Monitor the results of those decisions, and monitor what happens when you do not. The results should increase your confidence to follow that internal feeling. That is your guide to success.

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Alumnus guides AI-powered company using systems engineering | Binghamton News - Binghamton University

The College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) welcomes Alex K. Jones as the Klaus Schroder Endowed Professor for Engineering and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department (EECS).

Jones joins Syracuse from the University of Pittsburgh, where he had a 21-year career in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) with courtesy appointments in computer science (CS) and physics and astronomy.

Alex K. Jones

Im thrilled to join Syracuse University at this important time, says Jones. The designation of Syracuse University as a core partner in a Regional Tech Hub for computer chips along, with the establishment of the new Micron fabrication facility, is a tremendous opportunity to become a national leader in the semiconductor space with direct access to opportunities through the CHIPS and Science Act. I am also excited about the outstanding potential within EECS in topics like artificial intelligence, sustainable energy, quantum science and information, and many others thanks to the talented faculty, students and staff. In partnership with ECS and Syracuse University, broadly, I think you will see great things from EECS in the coming years that will benefit our students, our city, our state and beyond.

Jones research interests are broadly in the areas of computer architecture and compilers. He is best known for research and leadership advancing the field of sustainable computing. His contributions are related to applying full lifecycle thinking to the study of environmental impacts and optimizations for computing systems including projections of environmental impacts, such as with servers in data centers.

Jones demonstrated that the critical environmental impacts from manufacturing these servers can meet or exceed those from the powering their operation in data centers. This trend has started to be noted by industry over the last half decade. More importantly, in handheld systems like mobile phones, 80% or more of the greenhouse gas emissions comes from manufacturing.

Among his research contributions in this area, Jones work has demonstrated that leveraging existing silicon in novel ways, such as processing-in-memory, creates an opportunity to holistically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has created a tool suite called GreenChip to help encourage the use of environmental-related metrics in the development of next generation computing systems. Jones has received a Carnegie Science Award, a Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation Faculty Fellowship and was elevated to Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to sustainable computing.

Jones has a significant background in academic leadership. He served as Pitts director of computer engineering from 2011-17, a joint program comprised of faculty from the CS and ECE departments. He led the program to unprecedented growth and an increase in visibility and rankings nationally. Jones philosophy combined better engagement between students and faculty in the program and a curriculum that included the newest developments in the field and aspects of the excellent research undertaken by computer engineering program faculty. During his tenure as director, computer engineering at Pitt became a top 50 program nationally, where it remains today.

Following his tenure with computer engineering, Jones joined the National Science Foundation Space, High Performance and Resilient Computing (SHREC) Center and served as associate director from 2018-20. He led a project team in memory reliability for high performance and space applications. He demonstrated that off-the-shelf dynamic random access memory (DRAM) used in commodity computers had specific radiation properties such that 9599% of the faults were from predictable locations. He developed a technique that combined a fault repository and low-level error correction that could protect standard DRAM from radiation faults in space, avoiding the need to use radiation hardened devices that are expensive and trail the state of the art by several generations.

In August 2020, Jones joined the NSF as a program manager in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate in the Computer and Network Systems (CNS) Division as part of the Computer Systems Research (CSR) cluster. A significant accomplishment was his creation of the Design for Environmental Sustainability of Computing (DESC) program. He was also the managing program director of the ATHENA AI Institute led by Duke University. In his third year at the NSF, he was elevated to serve as cluster lead for CSR. In his fourth year, he was appointed as the deputy division director for the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Division, which is a member of the senior leadership team of the Engineering (ENG) Directorate.

While at NSF, Jones established a new personal research direction in quantum computing. Attracting nearly $3 million in funding from foundation and Department of Defense grants with his physics colleague Michael Hatridge (Pitt/Yale) and the latter with Hatridge and Robert Schoelkopf (Yale) to develop modular computer architectures, Jones research demonstrates better target quantum gates and interconnection topologies that can be realized with high fidelity superconducting systems. These approaches improve the size of quantum applications that can be solved in noisy quantum machines.

Jones received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, where he was a Walter P. Murphy Fellow. His first major paper at Northwestern on translating MATLAB applications into hardware descriptions went on to be a seminal work (top 25 paper of all time) in the IEEE Field Programmable and Custom Computing Machines (FCCM) Conference. His Ph.D. work in compilation/high-level synthesis of C/C++ codes into hardware descriptions crystallized his interest in compilation and configurable computing. This work informed some of his early work at Pitt in design automation of coarse-grain reconfigurable computing fabrics and radio frequency identification (RFID) devices. Compilation remains a core focus of Jones research as applied to configurable architectures and most recently in terms of programming quantum systems (transpilation).

In his spare time, Jones is a freelance clarinetist. In Pittsburgh he was the principal clarinetist of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic, where he has been a featured soloist, served briefly as its artistic director, and served as guest conductor. He also enjoys downhill skiing.

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Alex K. Jones Is New EECS Chair in the College of Engineering and Computer Science Syracuse University News - Syracuse University News

Like many students, University of Virginia civil and environmental engineering student Reese Hertel wasnt sure when he arrived at the University of Virginia which path his career should take.

He thought he might want to use his Spanish skills. He considered working close to the Earth somehow. But one thing he was sure about.

One of my core beliefs is that it is my generations responsibility to fight climate change and to mitigate its impacts, he said.

Heres how Hertel, a fourth-year student, found his way to a job at Equinor, an international company focused on producing cleaner, greener energy.

During the spring of his first year, Hertel signed up for a coffee chat through the Center for Engineering Career Development.

Little did I know that this meeting at the Oakhurst Inn Cafe would end up being one of the most influential moments in my UVA career-development journey, he said.

Hertel met with Julia Lapan, director of the center. They discussed not just potential paths, but more importantly, our lives and our values.

Since that initial conversation, he has met with Lapan numerous times to discuss career goals, review resumes, conduct mock interviews, and evaluate internships and job offers.

Hertel likes to travel and explore, so he spent two of his college summers abroad.

He worked one summer for the environmental nonprofit Wellkind Guatemala doing reforestation work. The conservation internship allowed him to contribute to the 75,000 new trees the organization has planted since 2019.

Hertel also spent a semester in Valencia, Spain, where he completed his Spanish minor.

I knew that UVA had the potential to provide me with international opportunities, and I tried to take advantage of as many of these as possible, he said. These experiences were extremely rewarding and reaffirmed my desire to eventually work internationally.

Last summer, Hertel split his time away from coursework between a pair of internships.

The first was assisting professor James A. Smiths research in South Africa. Smith is the inventor of the MadiDrop+, a silver-embedded porous ceramic tablet for purification of household drinking water. About a fourth of the world does not have access to safe, clean water.

The second internship was as a project engineer for renewable energy firm East Point Energy in Charlottesville.

These experiences represented two directions, Hertel said. While I enjoyed some aspects of research, I preferred the work in clean energy and chose to continue on this career path.

In the fall, Hertel took professor Andrs Clarens Introduction to Green Engineering course. It was good timing. The professor was named an assistant director of the White Houses Office of Science Technology Policy earlier this year.

The introductory course on renewable energy covered a variety of topics, which exposed him to diverse careers within the field, he said.

We had opportunities to apply engineering knowledge and business principles to real-world situations, Hertel added. The course further increased my enthusiasm to work in renewable energy.

Part of the capstone process for completing the engineering program is refining ones personal mission statement.

I defined my philosophy as work that contributes to sustainable progress, improves the resilience of society and the environment, and leads to financial independence without sacrificing happiness or well-being, the civil and environmental engineer said.

Hes now headed to work for Equinor, East Points parent company, which is based in Norway but has locations worldwide. The company prides itself on its low-carbon energy portfolio and its push for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Hertel will work in multiple departments, including internationally, as part of the companys graduate rotational program.

The opportunities for continuous learning, contributing to fight climate change and working abroad attracted me to this position, and I could not be more excited, he said. One of the biggest lessons that I learned during my time at UVA is that you do not need to know exactly what job you want to do, but it is incredibly important to understand and apply your core values to decisions about your future.

Read this article:

Graduating Engineer Took These Steps to a Career in Greener Energy - UVA Engineering

In the past four years its become increasingly common for part or all of a university students learning to happen online. This transition to digital learning platforms has highlighted the digital divide within educational contexts.

In poorer, less resourced and connected countries like South Africa, this divide is not merely a matter of who has access to digital devices and who doesnt. Its also about whether students are digitally literate. This is about more than merely navigating digital devices and platforms. Its also about being able to think and evaluate information critically and to creatively use technology in problem-solving.

Universities and other educational institutions need to urgently integrate digital literacy training into their curricula. Students need to become familiar with the technical aspects of digital tools and develop the mindset to use these tools for learning, research and innovation.

So, how can this be done? My PhD in engineering education research centred on how novice engineering students at a South African university of technology use e-textbooks to develop digital literacy skills. My findings suggest that e-textbooks could make engineering education more inclusive and engaging. Students found the e-textbooks features helpful for grasping complex engineering concepts. This, in turn, enhanced their conceptual understanding.

This suggests its a good idea to integrate e-textbooks into engineering education in South Africa. Its not enough to focus on the technological aspects, though. There must also be a concerted effort to address the socio-economic and educational barriers that students face.

E-textbooks are becoming an increasingly integral part of university education around the world. These digital resources conveniently give students access to learning materials from any location at any time. They are also cheaper than paper textbooks.

E-textbooks are interactive, with embedded multimedia elements and quizzes. This caters to diverse learning styles, making study sessions more engaging and effective. The ease of updating digital content also ensures that students have the latest information. Thats a big advantage in rapidly evolving fields such as engineering.

Unlike traditional textbooks, e-textbooks can include interactive elements that encourage students to work with their peers.

Features such as shared annotations, discussion forums and interactive exercises can make them a dynamic platform for collaborative learning. This enriches the learning experience and fosters a sense of community among students, a critical factor in educational success.

I invited first-year students at a South African university to participate in my study. A total of 73 students from two engineering departments Chemical Engineering and Maritime Studies responded to the survey.

I then selected 14 participants for a qualitative in-depth investigation. They engaged in individual and group reading activities. These sessions were followed by interviews. The students offered insights into their understanding and previous practices with digital texts. They also told me how they used the prescribed e-textbook.

It became evident that students were not mere passive consumers of information. Some adopted emerging digital literacy practices. They navigated the e-textbooks easily, using hyperlinks for quick access to previous chapters and revision. They watched embedded videos to grasp complex concepts. They used emojis to annotate and personalise their readings and the highlighting feature to emphasise crucial points.

Others engaged more superficially with the content. In these instances, students simply read the text and viewed the illustrations, much as theyd use paper books. This can likely be explained by the fact that many students, especially those coming from rural areas or under-resourced schools in South Africa, might have limited exposure to digital devices and technology before entering university. Students not accustomed to using digital devices would take time to adjust.

I also found that many students werent using the e-textbooks collaborative functions even though they told me during discussions that they recognised collaborating could be valuable. One student suggested:

The e-textbook should include interactive features for collaboration [online], such as studying in groups where everyone sees each others highlights in different colours.

My findings suggest that e-textbooks could make engineering education more inclusive. These digital resources can help create an environment where students from diverse backgrounds, with varying abilities and learning preferences, can learn effectively.

For example, a student with dyslexia might find traditional textbooks challenging. The different modes that an e-textbook uses to provide content, such as video explanations, offer alternative pathways to understanding complex engineering concepts.

Traditional paper books often overlook the unique needs of learners and students with special educational needs.

However, while e-textbooks present a promising tool for enhancing learning experiences, their impact on educational inequalities cannot be overlooked. The mere availability of digital resources does not ensure equitable access. Financial barriers, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate digital literacy are hurdles that many South African students face.

The adoption of e-textbooks must be accompanied by targeted interventions designed to address these challenges. For example, universities could provide free or heavily subsidised access to e-textbooks to assist poorer students. Partnerships between institutions and publishers may also be fruitful.

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Digital textbooks expand learning for engineering students - South African study - The Conversation Indonesia