Valeo

Project: Functional safety for various automotive and off-highway systems

Customer: VALEO
Period: October 2012 – December 2013
Role: Functional Safety Engineer & Consultant

As a central functional safety expert at VALEO, I was responsible for the safety engineering of a broad portfolio of innovative electrical and electronic vehicle components. I supported several high-profile projects from conception to ensuring the complete safety case.

My core responsibilities included:

• Developing functional and technical safety concepts.
• Conducting and evaluating safety analyses (FMEA, FMEDA, FTA) and calculating metrics (SPFM/LFFM).
• Coordination as technical R&D interface between end customers (OEMs) and suppliers.

Project highlights under my responsibility:

• Automated parking system (Mercedes-Benz S-Class): Validation of the world's first system that enabled parking via mobile phone using Bluetooth.
• Steering column lever unit (BMW): Safety concept for the integration of turn signal, windshield wiper, and light switch functions.
• Control steering lever for construction vehicles (ZF): Adaptation of safety principles for off-highway applications.
• Sensors (e.g., rain sensor): Validation of standard vehicle components.

Project completion:
The mandate was terminated by VALEO as a strategic precautionary measure. The reason for this was legal uncertainty at the time due to a court ruling that redefined the use of external service providers for the endcustomer Mercedes-Benz. The termination was not related to the project performance.

Project impact:
I played a key role in enabling VALEO to develop a wide range of technologically leading and safety-critical products for various well-known customers. My work ensured standard-compliant implementation and enabled the realization of highly innovative functions such as remote-controlled parking.