Winner: John Heinricy, General Motors

It’s always inspiring to work for great people, and the message coming loud and clear out of General Motors’ Performance Division is that there is nobody those engineers would rather work for than John Heinricy, GM’s director of High Performance Vehicle Operations.
Heinricy was first nominated for this award by his own engineers. One said, “Although John is an executive within GM, which comes with a lot of responsibility, he can often be found working directly with the product during critical phases of a program. Whether it be riding damper tuning iterations with the development engineer, or working directly with the chassis controls engineer to hone the exact feel he wants from the stability calibration, John’s evaluation and tuning skills are very sharp and well respected.”

Under Heinricy’s leadership, the Chevy Cobalt SS, HHR SS, and Cadillac CTS-V have all been launched in the past 12 months. All have been praised in the media, and with Heinricy behind the wheel, all have set class records on the Nordschleife.

The judges agreed that Heinricy deserved the award in 2008. “Few engineers have had such an impact on so many people as this winner,” commented Kim Wolfkill, publisher of MSN Autos. “Not only is he the director of performance vehicle operations for a major auto maker, he’s also an accomplished professional racer who brings both passion and expertise to any projects he oversees.”

A delighted Heinricy commented, “I’m honored to receive the Dynamicist of the Year award. Leading a high-performance vehicle team has been particularly rewarding for me. As all chief engineers in our industry know, it takes a terrific and talented team to develop high-performing cars. And, it also requires a true racing spirit, in which that team strives to be the best it can be. Our GM Performance Division was responsible for getting 19 vehicles into production – as well as many racing wins – over the past several years. This award validates the team’s hard work.”