IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2022 - 7

Eventually, all those jobs led Suryanarayana
to her current role at Infineon,
where she sets a vision and a path
forward toward strategic and transformative
business growth. " There is so
much momentum and opportunity for
growth in our industry. Automation and
electrification are big trends, and semiconductors
are at the core foundation for
all of it, " she shares. " When we consider
what the future will look like, there is
so much talk about climate change, sustainability,
autonomous driving, digital
transformation, digitization, and more.
For example, a security camera will talk
to the Internet, or a wearable medical
device will be smart and connected. At
Infineon, we have a comprehensive set
of solutions in all these spaces, such as
a carbon dioxide sensor that monitors
indoor air quality, or a power solution for
your hybrid or electric vehicle.
But there is focus among the passion.
She continues, " The projects that
I'm working on are very aligned with our
mission, focusing on tech's capability to
enable sustainability, security, power,
energy, and more. These are all problems
that need to be addressed, optimized,
and made safer, and it begins
with the customer pain points and then
working backward. That's the exciting
work that keeps me going every day. "
She shares one example of a partnership
between Infineon and Volkswagen
on their ID.4 electric vehicle that has
more than 50 Infineon chips powering
various car functions, including adaptive
cruise control, emergency braking,
and Bluetooth communications. " I had
a chance to look at the car and, while it
looks like a normal vehicle, it's completely
green and it's quiet, " says Suryanarayana.
" This was a pretty unique experience. "
To showcase the car's ability to function,
Rainer Zietlow, a professional driver with
several world records, took the vehicle on
a 35,840.67-mi road trip across the United
States, setting a new world record for the
longest road trip in an electric vehicle
(within a single country).
Sources of Inspiration
Setting world records may not have been
Suryanarayana's motivation for enter+
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ing the technology world, but she was
inspired by pioneers of the day. In 1984,
Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian
man to enter space, and that was a
thrilling time for young Suryanarayana
and her entire family. " My dad was so
excited that he took part of a room in
our home and called it Lalitha's space
room, she says, laughing. " My parents
knew I was curious by nature and that
I had a passion for physics, engineering,
and all things astronauts. "
" In hindsight, I feel pretty grateful
that my parents enabled my siblings
and I to follow our passions, " she continues.
" We are almost three generations
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JUNE 2022
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE
7
19-FA-032 01/20
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IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2022

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