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Designing cars helped me fight global poverty | Cristina Balan | TEDxBucharest


I had a dream how many times did we

actually heard that phrase I had a dream

to design cars yep

real cars I think I heard twice the

persons that told me give up then the

excited you know the fact that I love

cars I really really really love to

prove people wrong I kind of did few

times um I was thinking okay I want to

make my dream you know reality I don’t

want to say again I had a dream I want

to say I had I have and I will leave

this dream so this is it I’ve been

through all of them I didn’t put quite

all just the most important ones it was

easy

nope not even from my parents it’s not

easy to have automotive career in a

man’s world but they push me to a limit

that I can say without them I will not

be here today

after the University I was thinking okay

I have the bachelor in here in Romania

what do I do now I have no clue how to

build a car okay what do I do next and I

had the pleasure and luck and the

opportunity to choose if I want to

follow my career which I did and I flew

to

America where else for an automotive

industry you know Korea I did all these

in the meantime I actually said why not

and try the one that you see in the

corner Boeing is for a reason it’s

nakorn er I always thought that you know

everything that flies has to do with

rocking science not with the four-wheel

zona or some type of wheels on the

street I’ve been through going you know

for almost four years it was nice but

what I you know field inside is that I

needed real that the car gives you I put

quite a few people in here on two wheels

just to prove that I can do it and some

of them they know and as soon as another

opportunity for automotive industry came

up I jump on that’s my baby this the

other one i starving part of the core

team of Tesla since 2010 from the

beginning beginning um I think it was

the blessing of my entire career and

some moments that I will you know

cherish for my entire life you’re

thinking wow they must be like the most

brilliant people in the world doing that

yep but only 66 0 this is how many

people started designing this car we

didn’t have the outside when I started

we had kind of like the idea where the

wheels will be and they said you’re

really good to the interior and the

plastics you take on the module what are

the modules well the modules are those

you know beautiful you know pieces that

actually made mother less mother less

and like in the interview process I look

at them and I said are you guys kidding

I thought that you guys want to make

Anna Lee

trickle car I’m a mechanical engineer oh

it was not the case you’ll not believe

it but there are a lot more mechanical

parts in this car than electrical why

because the batteries are from Panasonic

no that’s not do not produce batteries

but why did I accept first the interview

because of this guy actually because of

these two I know a lot of you here

they know that Elon Musk is the brain of

Tesla which I really loved him he did a

lot of things for Tesla but the thing is

those two guys are actually the brain

that kind of you know in one point they

said we have to do something to change

the world’s idea about electric cars if

time does someone said electric cars

they are thinking about like golf car

and it’s true this is what it was up to

them those two and Elon kind of went

beyond and said no we will prove them

wrong trust me I know that each time

that we try to approach a supplier they

said can you spell that

das la oh it’s a Toyota thing

no it’s Tesla Motors in when we start

the battery and this is what you see in

here it’s kind of like you know the

chassis powertrain what Tesla represent

before we had Model S in and this is the

module that I was telling you about 16

of those may Model S Model S and trust

me after driving a Ferrari model s is

like 20 times better and the people that

actually owned one or if you drive in

one knows what I’m talking about the

excitement it’s amazing even from one

light to another and I’m not kidding

so when we start designing the battery

we didn’t had quite an idea

how the you know the car will look like

but we want to do something cool we you

know good we went back and forth so it

was not easy you know everything that

you know the press shows about Teslas it

shows just the end result we had like

months without you know breaks and which

were fun I know I’m crazy three months

without a Saturday and Sunday said this

girl is not with everything but after

you know a few almost a year we finally

had a prototype and we finally had a

chassis but we didn’t had a seat

so I said ok how we will actually know

tested we put a other battery on the

chassis and we put a good one on a what

type of seats something so someone could

easily sit down and that’s a moment that

I will never ever forget and all those

moments that the people in our saying

you’ll never end up you know really

designing cars are wrong it doesn’t

matter if you’re a woman a mom which I

am a wife I think we are really strong

and I believe it if I end up in here all

of you can and especially Romanians I

know that but I was really off and I was

really a tomboy and all the tests one

was it including Elon Musk but we don’t

get to that point right now and they may

be a surprise after the battery was done

and they engrave it my initials in all

the batteries around the world for Model

S and Model X

[Applause]

so that moment for me meant something

every single one of you in here that

received that his Romanian or his

Romanian are wrong there are a lot of

good and bright engineers in the US and

in Canada which I was so I’m sure the

99% of you guys are the same when they

show me that thing it was not easy they

said is something wrong with the battery

can you fix it I hear right there were

seven more than 7000 part in that room I

couldn’t fix something so when they show

me this I cries for the first time I say

haha you are a woman it’s like yeah

finally you know because I was doing so

well for Model S I designed the the next

challenge for Tesla which was the ref

for Toyota said hmm

a bunch of crazy guys really succeeded

but not quite him can you prove it and

we proved it with rav4 after that method

is you know said ah Tata had them how

about we you know challenge them and

make the big class I did that too with

an amazing team of engineers which we

sleep more in the half is done at home

and my husband actually knows that and

I’m happy that I have anyway but this is

what happened

after we released model X I said I think

I want to do something for myself

something that I dream all my life and

have my own design house of course I had

the same you know ideas then reaction

from people I don’t think you’re doing

the right thing right now and I said

well I think after cars the one that I

loved the most it proved you wrong and

by kind of deep because I right now I’m

an advisor for four different disrupting

new startups and I know that a lot of a

lot of you guys love the words is

rapping and I will go to something that

I wanna patent right now what you’ve

seen here it’s a idea that I had during

Tesla time they end up not implementing

it in there and it’s about the wind she

you’re thinking so in shell it’s

actually a film that instead of being

you know saying some really nice words

because of your Sun Visor which was

invented in 1931 by the way I created

this film that that this idea for

automotive is not mine but in automotive

never had idea to actually implement it

and you just touch your glass and

everything becomes black this black

after you touch it again it become clear

like you don’t even know that it’s here

it’s not ready yet but it’s in the

moment another with this one someone

told me if you show this one to Elon

first we will get in trouble or you’ll

get fired I didn’t get fired

he actually said Wow you have my full

attention which doesn’t happen too often

and that’s after I show him they

actually how does it work another

project that I have is this beauty you

think it’s a car I think what the heck

it doesn’t have just three wheels it’s

not a car it’s a bike it’s a bike for

who for the guys in Canada they are four

brilliant engineers they came to me and

said we cannot pay you but we really

really need you and I said okay let’s

make it happen so we did it it’s now an

obsession in Canada you can bike like I

said or you can drive it it doesn’t go

more than 35 kilometers but trust me the

girls

they love it this is hot look so you

don’t have pedals you have just you know

not the normal pedals about the bike

ones and I believe that it’ll be a the

connects disrupting thing in Canada

alone not not just Canada alone it fits

in bikes places it yeah it actually does

is really spacious the beauty is that

each thing that you open the door

everybody’s like ocean oh it’s something

everybody will say what the heck is this

well I love this project more than Tesla

why because I can put all that I learn

all the passion that I receive from here

from Romania all the humanity that it’s

in this country and I’m helping the Red

Cross and the company that in section in

Detroit and the border with Doctors

Without Borders to build drones to help

people that actually need technology not

just want it and I want to emphasize it

need not one it what you seen here it’s

actually a real prototype that Rio did

it’s in Madagascar he flew just one way

it’s a prototype with vaccines blood

supply and medical devices so it will

help straight village that you cannot

get they are Justin just with the with

foot it’s saved a lot of people right

now it’s actually asking us to send it

to Brazil full of mosquitoes no I didn’t

made a mistake full of mosquitoes to

fight with the bed mosquitoes that has

the Zika virus so as you can see

innovation

and passion and the guts to try and

follow your dreams it can become reality

a lot of people from China from Germany

from all the no company that I they want

you know my services right now they ask

me where do you think the next big

disrupted thing will know what country

it will come up and I said in this

moment because Tesla did something else

besides electrical cars he actually

opened the gates for all of us to dream

big those three people that start Tesla

dreamed big those 16 engineers the

design something that we never thought

that it will up to end up in here they

dream big it’s up to us not to live your

dream go away I know in here and nothing

here but in Europe it’s a be different

from from us and from Canada North

America but I beg you don’t let your

dream go away as someone told me you’re

you’re a woman and a mom the wife and

the engineer that did this all and to

answer where the next big thing will

come up from from all the countries that

I’ve been through and all the people

that I interact I think if we change

just a few things and we start believing

in yourself and the people behind you

the people in front of you and the

colleague of work we can be the next

Silicon Valley thank

[Applause]

you [Applause]

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