Roger Fingas
Apple has picked up two more workers from the auto industry, both of whom are now believed to be at the company's "Product Realization Lab," where prototype hardware is developed.
One of these is David Masiukiewicz, formerly a senior CNC programmer for R&D hardware prototyping at Tesla. The other is Kevin Harvey, who was a CNC machine shop supervisor at Andretti Autosport, known for its role in professional racing leagues like IndyCar and Global Rallycross. The hires were spotted by 9to5Mac.
Masiukiewicz exited Tesla in March and began at Apple earlier this month. His LinkedIn profile describes him as a "senior model maker" at the Product Realization Lab, without going into detail about what he might be creating.
Harvey actually joined Apple as a model maker in August, but his position wasn't noticed until Friday.
The pair are presumably among a number of people working on components for Apple's electric car, rumored to launch in 2019 or 2020. Masiukiewicz has experience in machining chassis, suspension, and powertrain parts, which might imply that Apple is working towards full-scale prototype vehicles, or at least taking major parts beyond the concept phase.
Apple regularly poaches employees from Tesla, and vice versa. Earlier this week it was reported that Apple picked up Chris Porritt, Tesla's former VP of Vehicle Engineering.
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48 Comments
It finally dawned on me why liquid metal is so important to Apple. I always asked what use it would have in making computers. It probably does some, but that is not the real reason why Apple invested in this technology. Car parts.
I think this car has been a long time coming.
And people still think Apple is just working on an OS for other automakers. I'm sorry but you don't hire model makers and CNC experts if all you're working on is software.
And now Baidu has joined in the game too, opening an R&D facility for autonomous vehicles right here in California USA. Like Apple they're also poaching Tesla staff. I guess this must be the next big thing.