UTFR x SAE Central Ontario presents: Reliability in EV & AI in Automotive with Dr. Jay Zhou

​Speaker: Dr. Jay Zhou

​Dr. Jay Zhou is recognized as a distinguished SAE Fellow and Mentor, as well as an ASQ Fellow. He had worked at Ford Motor Company gaining a wealth of global experience in quality and new product launch. Dr.Zhou held various leadership roles, including Vice President of Ford AsiaPacific, Corporate Executive Technical Leader, and member of the Technology Advisory Board (TAB). His academic journey includes earning M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan.

​Dr. Zhou's contributions extend beyond corporate leadership, as evidenced by his publication of over 30 technical papers and the attainment of a US patent in the field of vehicle durability. He has engaged as a keynote speaker and panelist at various conferences and trained over 15,000 engineers in more than 20 countries. His accolades include being honored as the ASQ Quality Professional of the Year in 2009, receiving the ASQ Testimonial Award twice, and being the recipient of the Taguchi Robust Design award three times.

Reliability of Electric Vehicle 
 
As EVs start to make up an increasing number of vehicles on the roads, there are still hurdles that are slowing their adoption. One of those hurdles is reliability of this new type of vehicle. This lecture will review the current state of EV reliability, introduce a 5-Step Product Development for Electric Vehicle Reliability, and discuss the strategies for avoiding failure modes in hardware, software, and human errors. The discussion will include the following topics:

• ​Current EV Reliability (Recall, Reliability Ranking, Initial Quality)

• ​Battery Cell, Module and Pack

• ​Major Battery Loadings

• ​Major Battery Failure Modes

• ​EV System Engineering V Models

• ​EV Robust Design and Robust Engineering

• ​Battery Module Design for Reliability (series systems and parallel systems)

• ​Computer Simulation for Reliability

• ​Reliability (Mechanical, Electronics, Software)

​AI Applications in Automotive Industry
 
AI is generating significant interest across various industries. This presentation explores its potential applications within automotive value chain, including:

• ​Design

• ​Manufacturing

• ​Marketing/Sales

• ​Driving Operations

• ​Maintenance

• ​Insurance

• ​Traffic Management

​Agenda
Date:    Thursday, November 13, 2025

​Time:   6:00-6:30pm Food & Networking

​             6:30-6:35pm Introduction

​             6:35-7:35pm EV Reliability Presentation

​             7:35-8:00pm Break & Networking

​             8:00-9:00pm AI in Automotive Presentation