GE would not be the company it is today without its employees. From working mothers to U.S. military veterans, GE has a diverse team that should be recognized and celebrated. So, we created a series called the “Quick Six”—six questions we are asking employees to help us learn about their talents and backgrounds. Together, GE works.
In our next installment of Quick Six, The Bike Shop sat down with Maria Giuseppina Motta, a GE Programs Director at Avio Aero in Italy.
"When I was child I yearned for a passionate, motivating job that would both challenge me and give me the chance to travel the world." It seems like Maria Giuseppina Motta finally accomplished her wish! Maria Giuseppina is the GE Program Director at Avio Aero and she holds this role since October 2017. Additionally, starting from this year she co-leads the Avio Aero Women’s Network. That’s why, themes like gender equality, diversity and inclusion valuing are key in Maria Giuseppina’s value system: “I strongly believe that diversity is a value to be fostered because it brings benefits in every environment, starting from the work one, because it generates new ideas and opportunities. For this reason, I commit myself along with my colleagues within Women’s Network and our sponsors, aiming to enable actions for gender gap reduction."
What has been your career path thus far? Did you also work in other industrial sectors or have you always been an aviation lover?
“I started my career in Avio Aero right after graduating in Aerospace Engineering, I worked at the Acerra blades and vanes production plant at that time (successively Acerra was absorbed inside Pomigliano site ed.) that is nearby Naples and not very far from my hometown. There my path began, in the Engineering department, structural systems. And after I spent some years in Rivalta di Torino, in September 2011, I moved to GE Aviation in Cincinnati, as Technical Representative. I stayed I Cincinnati for one year and a half and in 2013 I got back to Rivalta becoming the LEAP Program Manager, it was few months before Avio became part of GE. Since then I started my adventure in the leadership programs, common in the career paths at GE. In 2014 infact I joined the CLS (Corporate Leadership Staff, as it was called at the time) and my first assignment was again in Cincinnati, in the Service team. At the end of 2015, as my second rotation started, I held the Customer Quality Leader role in Avio Aero Rivalta site. In 2016, at my third year in the Accelerated Leadership Program (which in the meanwhile was transformed in the XLP), I worked in a cross-business and cross-functional project, focused on e-commerce. I didn’t move to the US, whilst I travelled there many times. Since last fall (after returning from maternity leave) I took on the leadership of this department and this will also be my last XLP rotation.”
What about your experience in the US?
“I lived in the USA, in Cincinnati, twice: the first time it was for a year and a half, the second for ten months. During my very first experience as the Technical Representative at GE, I dealt both with turbines (for the GEnx engine) and transmissions (GEnx and GE90) and I acted as the technical liaison between Avio Aero, GE and the third parties. During the second experience, instead, I worked in the Service as Business Manager for CFM56 engine. From both these experiences I took away a revived passion for this business, for GE and its beliefs.”
What have you both learnt and taught?
“The list of learning is so long, but above all I’d say I learnt to be a business manager with a wider view of the external world and even the business. And I think (and hope!) I shared the Italian culture, also the culinary one.”
What’s a lesson learned while you worked at GE Aviation headquarters? Which would be your advice to any colleagues?
“For sure, the power of networking, the positive one without a hidden agenda. The advice that I would give to my colleagues is going beyond email, chat, and build a more personal relation with the overseas colleagues we use to work with. An in the end to embrace the best all the self-development opportunities the company has to offer.”
Which is the best place in the world that you have visited?
“No place is like home, but until now the most beautiful place I visited is Hawaii.”
What is a surprising passion that your colleagues, or the people who know you, may not know about you?
“I’m an outstanding cook, I love to prep desserts and make bread, handmade like it was once upon a time. In addition, I think I visited around 30 out of the 50 United States of America.”
Did you know Quick Six is a series? Read our previous features:
- Quick Six with Greg Gass, a director of strategic and Army programs in Washington, DC.
- Quick Six with Carlo Porro, an intellectual property cybersecurity manager in Italy.
- Quick Six with Ashley Ringer, a mechanical design engineer in Dayton, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Eric Ridder, a cyber security operations director in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Michael Eilers, a Digital Thread leader in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Lauren Duncan, an engineer in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Katie Culic, a Military advanced programs project manager in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Raj Das, the general manager of GE Aviation’s Military manufacturing programs in Lynn, Massachusetts.
- Quick Six with Nina Tohill, a customer support manager in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Carol Hartman, a commercial engines technical publications production manager in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Quick Six with Kelly Cole, a senior sales director for GE Aviation in London, UK.
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