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Front Page
Profile of Ford Ergonomics Engineer, Liza Patrzalek
Staff, Friday December 14, 2001.
Page 1 of 1
She gets to work on all the buttons, levers, gadgets and other controls of Ford Australia's locally-built vehicles ? a job that undoubtedly would go a long way to satisfying the gadgetry fetish of the famous cartoon character!
Liza is Ford Australia's Ergonomics Engineer with responsibility for ensuring all the features of a vehicle, both inside and out, can be used easily, safely and comfortably by the occupants.
Can the driver reach the light switches, indicator, cup holder, and radio controls comfortably? Do the seat adjustments operate easily? Are they where the driver expects them to be?
Liza says they're all the things that a driver shouldn't even have to think about if she is doing her job well.
Just four years after completing an engineering degree and at only 26 years of age, Liza is relishing the responsibility her job entails.
She says she never imagined she would be involved in building something as major as a car when she finished her secondary education at a catholic girls' school in Geelong, Victoria in 1992.
She was one of only three girls from a class of 125 who made the decision to study engineering and she faced some resistance as a result -- not least of all from her grandmother, who commented: "Why would you want a job where you climb ladders and wear hard hats!"
"I'm a first generation engineer in our family so we have all come to better understand what it means to be an engineer as my studies have progressed and I've taken the job at Ford," she responds with a smile.
Her interest in science and maths, and a love of "building things", drove her decision to enter engineering.
After graduating with a manufacturing engineer's degree in 1997 from Deakin University in Geelong, Liza joined Ford in mid 1998. Her first job involved designing vehicle components on state-of-the-art computers in Ford's Research Centre.
Late 1999 she was appointed to her current position of Vehicle Ergonomics Engineer, evaluating components and features of Ford's new Falcon vehicle range to be released late next year.
Recently she has been able to see the results of the last two years of her work with early prototypes of the new vehicles being assembled in Ford's plant.
She can't say much about the details of her work for competitive reasons but nevertheless she says the new range represents the highlight of her short career.
"Ergonomics is all about designing for people and ensuring human characteristics, capabilities and limitations are accommodated in the design of the vehicle," she explains.
"We have really listened to our customers in developing the new range and they will see this in the vehicles, particularly in the levels of sophistication and technology."
Although building cars was not on her agenda earlier in life, she is an avid follower now and could not imagine working in any other industry.
"I get exposure to so much variety, working across so many features and components of a car ? anything else would be boring," she says.
"I'm also aware of working in a global environment ? a lot of my work is benchmarking the best products in the world and using global data. There are lots of challenges and opportunities, which I like."
It doesn't bother her that she is one of few women in her field of expertise.
"The numbers of women in the industry are increasing so I don't feel unusual. But women are not in the majority as yet, so you do stand out, but in a positive way ? you are called upon for your opinions and as a role model."
Her family is also very proud of her achievements. Sadly her grandmother has passed away but not before she came to appreciate Liza's passion for engineering.
That passion is now rubbing off on other members of the family with her younger brother studying engineering and undertaking a postgraduate project with Ford.
As generations of the Ford family can attest, the motor industry can really get into your blood!
For further information contact:
Ford Australia Communications
Phone: (03) 9359 8491
