The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Michelle

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next two weeks is Michelle T., who is based at Westport’s head office in Vancouver, Canada.

Michelle’s work on the human resources team at Westport puts her in daily contact with Westport employees in all buildings at Vancouver head office. She helps with recruiting, processing employee title and manager changes, and general human resources program review and maintenance. Clearly, the enjoyment she tells me she receives from meeting new people and helping employees makes her well-suited to her role!

Until her recent graduation, Michelle’s time outside work was occupied with school (congratulations Michelle). Now her well-earned free time is spent spoiling her yellow lab Bailey, enjoying fashion blogs, and a love of shopping for shoes! She put herself through school decorating cakes, so she now has fun taking cake decorating classes for pleasure. A west coast girl, Michelle is a fan of seafood, especially eating fresh steamed crab right on the beach.

Michelle is particularly excited she was a winning bidder in our recent internal auction supporting United Way. She will have one of the Westport-WiNG power system-equipped Ford F-250 trucks for a weekend. And what will she do with it? “Just drive it around! I may take it up to Whistler for a day.”

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline, John L & John H, Astrid, Lance, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, Manoj, Mats and Tomas, and Melissa, Brad, Jonathan and Tina.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Tina

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next two weeks is Tina H., who is based at Westport’s head office in Vancouver, Canada.

Tina works as the director of Westport’s Internal Audit function; she and her team are responsible for helping Westport develop and implement best practices throughout the organization and foster awareness of risk and internal controls. Tina enjoys the “small, big-company” atmosphere at Westport, where the growth over the last few years has been phenomenal, and Tina is seizing the opportunity to take her experience in mature global organizations and apply it to Westport as the company grows further.

Tina’s role occasionally takes her away from head office in Vancouver to visit Westport’s operations around the globe, and she has plans to visit all locations over the next 12 months. No stranger to travel, Vancouver-native Tina left a decade ago to pursue experience in London and New York. She returned to Vancouver last summer with her family to enjoy a slower paced lifestyle.

When not at Westport managing her growing and energetic team of Internal Auditors, Tina is in the new home she is enjoying since her move back to Vancouver. She says, “We are relishing the fact that we do not have to take a plane to visit half of our family (the other half is in England). We are simply enjoying the peaceful back garden with our daughter!”

Tina kick-starts the morning with coffee, but then adrenaline and the fast pace of Westport’s activities carries her through the day. Tina’s favourite food is sushi, which she says is very expensive in New York and London so the plentiful selection of affordable, high quality fish in Vancouver is a treat.

Tina claims a nice dinner date-night out with her husband would be her indulgence – a rare occurrence for them, each with a demanding career and a little one in the family.

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline, John L & John H, Astrid, Lance, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, Manoj, Mats and Tomas, and Melissa, Brad and Jonathan.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Jonathan

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next two weeks is Jonathan M., who is based at Westport head office in Vancouver, Canada.

Jonathan is not new to social media. He uses Twitter for personal news as well as for research at work. As a research assistant on the Sustainable Energy Futures team, he spends a great deal of time researching and compiling data on everything related to natural gas for transportation including policy and macro energy trends.

He says he enjoys working on sustainability issues in a real-world and practical way, and being part of something “effecting change today and tomorrow.”

In his free time, Jonathan would rather be in an ocean canoe somewhere on the BC coast. He goes canoe-camping or bicycle camping as often as he can. In town or out, Jonathan may be found writing. Perhaps surprisingly, he often develops ideas while riding the bus!

He indulges in serial television dramas. He attends local live music events, especially electronic or experimental music. On the restaurant scene, he’s all over the recent Neapolitan pizza craze across Vancouver. He likes anything spicy, French food, and cooking at home is enjoyable as well as eating out.

If he could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, real or fictional, he says without a doubt it would be one of his “favourite dead authors” to whom he could pose many questions. The list includes David Foster Wallace (Infinite Jest) and one-time North Vancouver resident Malcolm Lowry (Under the Volcano).

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline, John L & John H, Astrid, Lance, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, Manoj, Mats and Tomas, and Melissa and Brad.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Brad

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next week is Brad, who is based at Westport head office in Vancouver, Canada.

Brad works in the Heavy-Duty (HD) business unit at Westport, where he is responsible for the sales teams for North America and Australia as well as the marketing, government and regulatory affairs teams, who coordinate their efforts in support of the sales teams. As a result, Brad travels regularly across North America to meetings or events with customer or prospective fleets, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers.

Brad finds satisfaction in interacting with colleagues and business partners, “working with prospective fleets to identify Westport solutions that will meet their business needs,  lower their operational costs and reduce the environmental impact of their business.” He enjoys the opportunity Westport presents him, “to participate in a company that will have a transformational impact on the current transportation industry.”

In his downtime, Brad may be found on his bicycle, at Whistler skiing, or water-skiing behind his boat at Sakinaw Lake on BC’s gorgeous Sunshine Coast. He and his family have lived in Calgary, Toronto and, for the last 21 years, Vancouver.  Brad and his wife have two grown children – one in Calgary and the other in Sydney, Australia.

While Vancouver has a great selection of restaurants, Brad’s favourite is Malaysian.  Interestingly though, when asked what his indulgence is, he says simply “Cheezies!”

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z, Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, Manoj, Mats and Tomas, and Melissa.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Melissa

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next two weeks is Melissa, who is based at Westport head office in Vancouver, Canada.

In her role as program manager for the High Horsepower development team focused on rail at Westport, Melissa is currently focused on managing the design and development of an LNG tender car for use with natural gas locomotives in North America. This finds her travelling fairly often to meet with partners on decisions on the project.

New to Twitter herself, she says, “My only experience with Twitter was in 2009 when my husband decided he would tweet the birth of my second child.  It actually ended up being a good way of making our far-flung friends and family feel a part of the experience.”

When Melissa is not working, she may be found with her family – she has two children – or back home in Ontario, checking out GlobeandMail.com or interior design website Houzz.com for great ideas, or indeed eating.

Melissa says she loves food and it is very difficult to pick a favourite cuisine. “I like it all: Indian, Italian, Mexican, etc.  Although a night at Vancouver hotspot Vij’s Restaurant for some fantastic Indian fusion or a fresh caprese salad are high on my list!” Her indulgence is, in her words, “Wine, chocolate, as previously mentioned, food.  I wish I just had one favourite, but alas there are many.”

When asked who she would dine with, if she could choose anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, it is Melissa’s grandmother that she names. “She passed away many years ago and I miss the dinners we used to share at her table, which were often followed by long card games.” Being much younger when she lost her grandmother, Melissa says, “I failed to appreciate all the history she embodied and if we had one more dinner together, I would be sure to fill our conversation with questions about her life, in particular her time in the Air Force during the second World War.”


As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z, Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, Manoj and Mats and Tomas.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Mats & Tomas

Mats

In The Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account for the next two weeks are Mats and Tomas, both based at the Westport facility providing natural gas systems for Volvo cars in Göteborg (or Gothenburg), Sweden.

Neither Mats nor Tomas have used Twitter before, but they have used Facebook a little. Mats’ favourite website is DagensIndustri.se (Swedish and international news and finance) and Tomas is an avid Google user.

Mats is the Commercial Director at Westport LD subsidiary in Sweden and Tomas is the Sales and Marketing Manager for the company, where natural gas systems are installed on Volvo cars. Tomas is often travelling within Sweden as a result. Tomas and Mats both enjoy exploring new possibilities in the natural gas automotive area. Being part of the natural gas alternative for Volvo, with their location right next to the Volvo headquarters, is interesting work.

Tomas

When not working to grow the business making natural gas Volvo cars, Tomas may be found with his family, including two young children, skiing, fishing, at the cottage on the east coast of Sweden or in Greece. Mats, who has four grown children and a cat, enjoys time on his sail boat, skiing, hiking or walking in the forest and travelling Europe.

They both claim their favourite food is “raggmunk,” which perhaps does not sound appealing to English speakers at first, but in fact raggmunk are delicious potato pancakes! Gothenburg is a coastal city, so fish is often on the menu, but both men enjoy Italian food and Tomas is a fan of Greek cuisine as well.

When asked who each would choose to have dinner with, if it could be anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, both Mats and Tomas choose their wives. But they have other ideas as well. They list Bo Inge Andersson (a Swedish guy, CEO of the biggest Russian automotive company), whom they believe has an interesting job balancing interests in and outside his company. Mats and Tomas also chose Hillary Clinton, as one of the most influential women in the world, and Winston Churchill, for his determination – though they wish for the table to be wide as “we should not sit too close to him,” formidable figure that he was.

Finally, perhaps to tease their Canadian colleagues at Westport, they say they would like to have dinner with Leif Eriksson, the first European to discover an area that is now part of Canada, nearly 1000 years ago (the site is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list).

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z, Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, Maureen, and Manoj.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Manoj

Our next contributor is Manoj S, based in Vancouver, Canada.

Manoj is responsible for creating and expanding Westport business in South Asia, particularly in India. His market creation and market development activities cover new technologies or new initiatives across all Westport business units, targeting potential opportunities in markets from automotive through to high-horsepower.

Fuelled with coffee and his favourite read, ­Harvard Business Review, Manoj often finds himself on a plane to, or staying in India (and we mean often – about 40 percent of his time)! He finds enjoyment and satisfaction, and great scope for creativity, in applying his knowledge and experience (much of it gained in India) to grow the Westport brand and business. Presenting solutions that make business sense, he says, but also make the world better with the advantages of cleaner fuel, is rewarding work.

Originally from India, his career there includes over a decade of experience at a huge multinational company where he was exposed to a lot of cross-functional activities and the pursuit of excellence in business. This, he says, “has trained me to seek what will make an impact on the business to take it to the next level,” and is highly relevant to his role at Westport.

When he’s not building relationships and seeking partnerships for Westport, Manoj is at home with his family, visiting Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park or occasionally playing tennis.

Manoj claims good fortune is having a spouse who is an amazing cook of Indian cuisine, which is his favourite. He says she has great skill at creating Indian food without the typical characteristics of too much oil or spicy heat. Mexican cuisine is Manoj’s other favourite.

Other than his family, his choice of dinner companion, could it be anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, is President Barack Obama. This is simply because Manoj would like to meet him in person, ask him questions and hear his insights on life, leadership and business.

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z, Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, Ronghuan, and Maureen.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Maureen

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z, Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, Nicole, and Ronghuan. Our next contributor is Maureen G, based in Vancouver.

Maureen is responsible for executive assistance to the CEO, CFO, EVP, VPs and the Board of Directors, as well as leading the office services team at Westport. In this role, Maureen finds herself in many places supporting the executives and the Board. She enjoys travelling and planning meetings around the world.

When not keeping our senior management informed and organized, Maureen enjoys travelling for pleasure too. Some of her favourite spots include Rome, Venice, London “and of course New York,” she says.

Maureen is fairly new to Twitter, using it mainly for following others so far, but she is on Facebook often (very often, she confesses).

Maureen’s indulgence is British Columbia wine, both red and white; one of her favourite wineries is Quinta Ferreira in Oliver, BC. She enjoys these with Italian or Greek cuisine – her favourites! If she could share just such a delicious meal with anyone, alive or dead, real or fictional, she would choose her parents, whom she lost long ago and misses terribly.

Mother of a 21-year-old daughter, she boasts that they “survived the teen years and are good friends now!” They even travelled to Europe together in April 2011 and ended the trip in London just in time for the Royal wedding.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Ronghuan

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z,  Lance F, Monica F, Fabio, and Nicole. Our next contributor is Ronghuan W. (RH), based in Beijing. Read on to learn a little more about him.

In RH’s role as the vice general manager for Weichai Westport Inc., Westport’s joint venture with Weichai, he travels on business very often. RH enjoys the working in the advanced technology industry with a bright future ahead of it, where he interacts with both employees and external stakeholders. He also appreciates the different corporate cultures he navigates between North America and China. Twitter, for example, is not available in China, so RH is a social media newbie and he will be tweeting through the team at head office.

When not working, he says Vancouver makes a great travel destination. “I enjoy the clean air, friendly people and great natural landscape very much.” (Thanks, on behalf of all Vancouverites RH!) In China, RH dreams of living in Yunan. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and the peace that he has been away from for a long time.

He says he cannot live without tea and coffee, adding “sometimes I like to mix them,” (Wow!) but when it comes to food, his favourite cuisine is Cantonese. And the reason? “I am Cantonese.” RH sure knows what he likes when it comes to fuel!

If he could dine, on Cantonese food of course, with anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, RH has two responses. One is Mr. Hu, President of China, to whom RH wishes to provide suggestions, and the other is Warren Buffett, whose wisdom RH admires and would like to acquire. 

Website favourites like Baidu search engine and Sina provide RH with his news and information for both work and life. Father of one son, RH’s indulgence is simply “computer games!” 

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Nicole A.

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z,  Lance F, Monica F, and Fabio V. Our next contributor is Nicole, based in Vancouver. Read on to learn a little more about her.

As director of communications for Westport, Nicole finds herself all sorts of places talking to various Westport  stakeholders – even driving the Westport WiNG-equipped bi-fuel Ford F-250 pickup on a road trip from Detroit to NYC using CNG only.

Nicole enjoys the openness to all types of innovation at Westport, and that trying new things, introducing new ideas and taking risks are encouraged.

When she is not speaking with the media at events such as the Kentucky facility opening or planning communications strategies, Nicole enjoys trying new restaurants (pizza is a favourite!), spending time with her family, and eating popcorn covered in truffle butter and parmesan cheese while watching The Amazing Race.

She claims she really likes to eat. So much so that her favourite website is Scout Magazine – they list all the new restaurants in Vancouver. If Nicole could dine with anyone, alive or dead, real of fictional, it would be her grandfather. “We were very close, but he died when I was young and there’s so much I’d like to ask him and talk with him about.”

An avid traveller, Nicole has been many places. One of her favourites is Italy. Her goal is to visit 50 countries by the time she’s 50. “I’ve got about 12 to go. Top of my list right now are Croatia and Cambodia.” Worlds apart, those two are, but Nicole will surely make both trips reality before long.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Fabio V.

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z,  Lance F and Monica F. Our next contributor is Fabio - read on to learn a little more about him.

As the sales and marketing director for Westport LD Italy-based companies, Fabio is responsible for developing, with his team, sales and OEM business relationships in accordance with group strategies and revenues targets. With these responsibilities, Fabio is kept very busy travelling the globe about forty percent of the time.

Based in Pernumia and Brescia, Italy, Fabio says he appreciates the opportunities to meet people from many regions and different cultures, thus learning about those cultures and the ways of doing business.

Fabio enjoys the international breadth of his role, where he can contribute to solving the challenges of the exciting compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) market, which he believes will grow to be a major future fuel worldwide.

The trusting relationship with his experienced superior and the daily activities with his skilled sales team makes his experience at Westport really interesting: there is a “lesson to learn” every day.

When he is not configuring solutions and keeping updated on market developments, Fabio is with his family – including 3 boys and 2 dogs – at home, travelling, skiing and snorkelling.

When asked who he would have dinner with, anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, he says certainly his wife. “I am often travelling for work and we have a lot of things to share and tell each other.” Between work and their “big, challenging, but wonderful family,” one can see why!

If there is ever a free hour for Fabio, he can be found woodworking or online reading woodworker forums for ideas and techniques.

Fabio’s indulgences include a meal at a good restaurant or a visit to a great winery. Not surprisingly, his fuel is coffee and Italian cuisine is his favourite, but he loves sushi, spicy Mexican food, and wine. Frankly, he says, he finds food for his tastes wherever he goes!

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign: Monica F

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our Twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, Astrid Z and Lance F. Our next contributor is Monica F, read on to learn a little more about her.

Monica F

Monica’s fuel is coffee…

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Monica has the responsibility for purchasing and supplier development at Westport. As team director, she and the group find suppliers and ensure they can deliver parts that meet Westport requirements and quality standards. Monica travels quite often, meeting or seeking new suppliers. Though Westport needs automotive suppliers, the technology is new in the sector, especially for cryogenic-related components. So Monica finds herself seeking suppliers in surprising places, like aerospace shows, where suppliers are familiar with the pressure levels some Westport products require.

The best suppliers are the ones who believe in Westport technology. Monica builds relationships with companies that see future potential and share similar visions with Westport. That can be challenging, and it’s a challenge Monica enjoys. She clearly excels working with people and thrives on the fact that one day and the next are never the same.

When Monica isn’t at work, she can be found at her home just south of Vancouver where she likes to enjoy the calming atmosphere of nearby Garry Point, a park looking out to sea. Otherwise, Monica may be found in her kitchen, where her native Mexico provides inspiration because, “nothing in Vancouver is really Mexican food” and therefore cannot compare. Her favourite dish is chiles rellenos, chilies stuffed with cheese. When online, Monica loves YouTube for searching out cooking and hair-styling demos.

Monica is a fan of lists. She and her family, which includes two daughters and now a French bulldog called Lolo, make a list each December of everything they wish to do the next year – everything from big purchases to vacation ideas. Since moving to Canada in 2008, they’ve been exploring the area near Vancouver, and they have plans to see more. They also vacationed in China, where Monica says they were struck by how different life was.

Counted among her indulgences are girl-time with her daughters for manicures or pedicures and a thrice-weekly coffee with her husband while the girls are at swim club ­­– family time Monica wouldn’t give up.

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign - Lance

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H, and Astrid Z. Our next contributor is Lance F, read on to learn a little more about Lance.

Lance F

Fuel: Café 

In Lance’s role as Vice President, European Market & Partnership Development he deals with many people in his travels – in fact, extensive travel – but he is a complete newbie on the online and social media side. Lance is responsible for helping to create the commercial arrangements Westport enters into with its partners. He has been involved in designing and negotiating Westport's agreements with Weichai, Volvo, Caterpillar, and Delphi, among others.

Lance enjoys this role structuring commercial arrangements, and, as he puts it, “Working with some very smart people, within Westport and its globally-located strategic partners, to creatively structure the commercial arrangements that extract value for all stakeholders from the opportunities associated with natural gas fuelled transportation.”

When not working and travelling for Westport, Lance enjoys exploring Lonely Planet’s website to find places to visit with his family; he and his wife have three boys and two dogs. Relocated from Vancouver to Lyon, France in 2010, he says his downtime is spent singing his kids to sleep at night, walking through Lyon’s markets with his family, and jogging past the Roman ruins in and around the Lyon area, once the capital of Roman Gaul.

Indulgences for this physicist cum lawyer cum negotiation expert include watching sports with his sons (or imposing educational programming on them) and having dinner out with his wife. Foods he particularly enjoys are Thai green curry, Vancouver sushi, or Rhone valley cheeses. When asked the question who he would have dinner with if it could be anyone from any era, even fictional, Lance replies, “...it would be Newton and Einstein together – just to see the sparks fly.”

Even folks who know him may not be aware that Lance has a collection of electric and acoustic guitars and loves to play them. This writer is still trying to figure out when he would have time for this!

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign - Astrid

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our twitter account (@WestportDotCom). To date we've heard from Nick S, Caroline S, John L & John H. Our next contributor is Astrid Zeppenfeld, read on to learn a little more about Astrid.

Astrid Z

Based in: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Fuel: Coffee in the morning, tea all day

In her role as Program Director at Westport, Astrid’s responsibilities are to cross-functionally manage all stakeholders and ultimately deliver the HHP Fuel System to the customer, on time and on budget. These are the Westport projects for very large engines such as those in locomotives.

Astrid enjoys the broad, collaborative role she has, bringing together people of varied skill sets and several departments to find solutions and deliver the targets. Westport is a growing company and Astrid finds satisfaction in forming procedures and processes as the program and team develop.

Though she is not a seasoned social media user, Astrid is dependent on email to communicate with family and friends in her native Germany, and she is a fan of Amazon for shopping! Thursday evenings you will find her scouring The Weather Network website to determine her outdoor adventure for the upcoming weekend. As an outdoor enthusiast, and immigrated to Canada only two years ago, Astrid is busy travelling all over BC with her husband every chance she has. They have a truck camper and they take many weekend or longer trips driving throughout BC, the Yukon and Alaska.

Anyone will tell you the scenery and the fishing are wonderful in BC, so when asked her favourite food, I’m not surprised Astrid tells me it’s smoked fish – personally caught and smoked by her husband (yum!) – but she loves a great curry dinner with friends as well. When asked about her indulgences, Astrid is pensive. She concludes, “Well, we are building a sauna in our backyard.” Again, if Astrid’s not working, she’s outdoors!

The Driver's Seat Twitter Campaign - John H & John L

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our twitter account (@WestportDotCom). Learn more about our third contributors, John H and John L, who start in the Driver's Seat today. They are both based at the Westport LD technical centre in Detroit, MI, USA.

John H

Fuel: Coffee! Starbucks or the office espresso machine

John’s role leading marketing and business development for Westport LD involves collaboration with several Westport offices and navigating relationships for the company. Though fairly new to social media, John is pumped to be in the Driver’s Seat of the Westport Twitter account to get you excited about his current focus: the bi-fuel Westport WiNG power system featured in Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks launching this spring. He's just completed a road trip in the truck from Detroit to NYC using only natural gas.

John travels for work, and has always traveled. With over 30 years in the automotive industry, marketing globally, John clearly enjoys working in the sector. He is especially interested now in the transformation of the industry from purely petroleum-based to alternative fueled cars – not science projects, but vehicles available that actually work, right now!

“We have got the potential to change the world,” says John, who is currently based near Detroit, but has lived in Germany, Switzerland and Brazil. When not working to reach that potential, one vehicle at a time, John enjoys traveling for pleasure too. He has been to over sixty countries!

When at home, John keeps busy cooking, celebrating, golfing, hunting and working in his workshop.  Group dinners are frequently on his calendar with his wife and two grown sons, a huge extended family (he’s the eldest of seven) or friends. When asked if he could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, real or fictional, John says the current U.S. President would always be on the list. “I am very opinionated and could give him lots of advice,” laughs John, “though I wouldn’t want the job myself!”

John L

Fuel: It seems John runs on air or water – no tea, no coffee...

John is Vice President of Westport LD, and Managing Director for  North American Vehicle Programs. Like John H, he is obviously much focused on the launch this spring of the Ford F-250 and F-350 bi-fuel trucks featuring the Westport WiNG power system. John is definitely a car guy. He reads many automotive blogs and news, and his favorite website is AutoTrader!

An engineer, John has worked with alternative fuels since 1980. He says, “In many ways it has defined my life’s work, and natural gas is my favorite by far. I have my dream job with people who share the passion.” John is social too; he enjoys working with people in the myriad of professional relationships.

When he is not at work or traveling for work, John says he would be in New York City, on the Jersey shore, or on a beach somewhere, but certainly with his family. When asked his guilty pleasure, he says shopping, but that is family time too – the father of 4 daughters he has had a lot of practice. He especially enjoys the time he spends with the 2 youngest who are still at home with him.

Another family member he wishes he could spend time with is his great grandfather. Having a nice filet mignon steak dinner with him would surely make John’s day. “I can read about other people,” he replies when asked who he would have dinner with, anyone alive or dead, real or fictional, “but I have no other way of connecting to my past and I have so many questions to ask him.”

The Driver’s Seat Twitter Campaign - Caroline Santoso

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our twitter account (@WestportDotCom). Learn more about our second contributor, Caroline Santoso, who starts her turn in the Driver's Seat today.

Caroline Santoso

Based in: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Fuel: anything crunchy… and it’s sure to have hot sauce!
Coolant: coffee

As the Manager of Investor Relations at Westport, Caroline has contact with stakeholders on a daily basis; however, this is her first experience personally writing for the Westport Twitter account. Caroline is based at the Westport head office in Vancouver where she is responsible for investor and analyst communications.
What does she enjoy most about her job? People.

Giving clear and correct information to investors and having exposure to the people and events in different business units are tops on her list. “Then I know what’s going on in the whole company,” explains Caroline. “I like seeing the whole picture.”

Originally from Jakarta, when Caroline is not describing Westport technology and strategy to investors, she enjoys travelling to Indonesia to visit family and old friends. When at home in Vancouver, Caroline can be found trying new restaurants in town, visiting friends or watching movies.

Her guilty pleasure is shopping for shoes and handbags (come now, what woman doesn’t at least browse?). When asked the question about whom she would have dinner with, if it could be anyone, alive or dead, real or fictional, Caroline had to think on it. She decided on Barack Obama. She says, “Besides being the first African American U.S. President, he spent some of his childhood in Indonesia!” Order your own dish Obama; she puts hot chili sauce on everything!

Now famous at the office for her charity talent show entry involving an impressive cheerleading stunt routine, Caroline enjoys helping at many other community events and fundraisers with her family and friends.

The Driver’s Seat Twitter Campaign - Nick Sonntag

As mentioned, Westporters are taking turns in The Driver's Seat of our twitter account (@WestportDotCom). Here's a little more information about our first contributor, Nick Sonntag.

Nick Sonntag

Based in: Lyon, France
Fuel: Thai food
Coolant: thé, s’il vous plait

Travelling the globe for Westport, Nick brings a leadership perspective as the first employee contributor in The Driver’s Seat of Westport’s Twitter account. Nick is based in Lyon, France; he is President of Westport Europe and Asia and is responsible for the growth and development of Westport's emerging OEM global partnerships. Read his full official bio at Westport.com. Nick enjoys the challenge to change the world’s use of energy that his work at Westport brings. Working with people is a pleasure for him, and anyone who knows Nick will tell you it’s definitely one of his strengths.

“I have been working internationally more or less for the last twenty years,” says Nick, a Canadian. “I really enjoy working with teams and have always wanted to feel whatever I do is making a difference. Thus, I have had a career-long dedication to work that in one way or another embraces sustainability and societal change.”
Bringing an inclusive, diplomatic and friendly attitude with him wherever he goes, when Nick is not negotiating partnerships with global automotive manufacturers for Westport, he would rather be: golfing or walking in Southern France, Gibsons, British Columbia or Greece.

Clearly short on time due to business and travel, Nick says watching movies is a guilty pleasure! When asked who he would choose to have dinner with, alive or dead, real or fictional, Nick claims Einstein has been a hero of his ever since high school, inspiring – at least in part – Nick’s undergrad degree in engineering physics. Evidently, they would be eating Thai food, Nick’s favourite cuisine…

Westport Employees are in the Driver’s Seat

Westport Innovations is on the leading edge of natural gas technology with a diverse global presence. And we’re so much more. One of our great strengths is our people, and so we’ve decided to use social media technology than to showcase who we are and what we do.

Over the next six months, Westport is putting its employees in the Driver’s Seat of our Twitter account @Westportdotcom. Inspired by the RotationCuration phenomenon that was launched by @Sweden in December 2011, Westport’s Twitter feed is going global and giving employees around the world unlimited access to Tweet about whatever they find interesting, engaging or entertaining. Work or otherwise.

Each contributor will share their thoughts, ideas, interests, and respond the feedback they get from you. We want to show the world how diverse we are as a company, in terms of our what we do every day at work, and in our free time. We hope to inspire some new ways of thinking about Westport, natural gas technology, and our world.