Mario Campos, BS '89

Ford Motor Company Executive

For some graduates, their major while in college prescribes the course of their worklife.  For Mario Campos, BS '89, a bachelor's degree in engineering was a major steppingstone to a career much broader than the degree would imply: ensuring that millions of people are safer behind the wheel of their car.

Campos credits his "well-rounded education" from UB with helping him land his first job after graduation.  His studies in two then-hot areas, systems engineering and quality control, led him to Niagara Falls, where he worked in systems engineering.  His next move was to Indiana, working as a quality-control engineer for a few years, an experience that helped him realize that his true interest lay in designing and planning products.  A product-design project during a later stint at automotive component supplier Federal Mogul offered him experience and "much more interaction" with the design of products from start to finish.

Ultimately, Campos's manufacturing and quality-control background led to Ford Motor Company.  "That kind of experience helps you understand whether you can make money on what you design," he said.  Indeed, Ford was looking for someone with quality control, manufacturing and lighting engineering experience.  With his move to Ford, Campos transitioned into the product-design world he'd craved.  "I ended up doing much more vehicle work - determining how the lamp fits into the vehicle design and the car's system.  Again, my industrial engineering background helped me understand that," he says.

Overseas stint

Campos's next step with Ford was a three-year assignment in Germany with the company's European division, where he focused on vehicle lighting systems.  He was involved in three major programs:  The Ford Focus when it was first launched; the Mondeo, a midsize car available only in Europe; and the Transit program, a European commercial van much like the Ford Econoline.  He returned to the U.S. in 1996 and went into overseas engineering, working to get products from Ford's U.S. and European plants into GCC, Russian, South America and other markets.  "Every country has certain regulations," he says.  "You have to not only understand the regulations, but you also have to determine the price for meeting those requirements."  His efforts during this part of his career were oriented toward the project-management end of production:  "'How can I get this entire vehicle to the Russian market?'"

Tactile experience

In 1999, Ford promoted Campos to a managerial position in its Safety Office.  There, he was assigned with ensuring that engineers from a number of vehicle lines - the Lincoln Town Car, Ranger pickup truck, Expedition SUV, Mustang and Fusion - understood the regulations and requirements for certain vehicle systems.  "In the U.S.," he explains, "the entire vehicle has to be tested for certain regulations when it's totally complete."  In a test chamber, a vehicle's emissions - not only from the tailpipe, but also from its plastic parts, paint and steel - must be measured.  With Fusion," he notes, "I was involved from clay model stage to launch."  In addition, he was more connected to the design facet of auto engineering, which allowed him the tactile experience of actually driving vehicles to get a better vantage of the entire product. 

Duty in Iraq

From July 2004 to February 2005, Campos had a hiatus from Ford while he served with the U.S. Navy in Iraq, obtaining the Army's Meritorious Service Medal for noteworthy service under extreme conditions.   He came back to Ford's U.S. Safety Office when his service ended, but quickly moved to the company's Global Strategy Office, where his current title is senior strategy analyst.  In that role, Campos manages Ford's safety strategy for the organization's portfolio of vehicle groups.  That means he examines each product line for profitability, regulation compliance, and, ultimately, when a vehicle can meet phased-in schedules for safety requirements.

Campos says he's now doing a lot less engineering work and more of the kind of work that for which the MBA he received in 1991 prepared him.  "That's what I hoped for," he adds. 

He seems proudest of the fact that he's working for one of the world's premier vehicle manufacturers, even if times are tougher than they used to be.  Says Campos, "We're struggling, but it has been an extremely rewarding experience for me working for Ford Motor."

Mario and his wife Kelley Adams-Campos live in Ferndale, Mich., blending a family with their four children: Andrea (12), Aidan (11), Mia (8) and Mario Junior (14).

Written by Grace Lazzara

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