DEI Chats with Women in Mobility: Rebecca Vollmann, ABB 

Posted: March 23, 2022

Rebecca Vollmann started chasing her dreams in the automotive industry as a teenager, and she hasn’t looked back since.  

“I worked as a mechanic at an auto shop in high school, and the more I worked on cars, the more I wanted to design them better,” Vollmann said.  

Joining the field at a young age also introduced Vollmann to the challenges women face in traditionally male-populated fields early on. She found a role model in the shop owner, a woman who would often face sexism from male customers.  

“She taught me not only how to deal with it, but to use it to motivate yourself to prove others wrong,” Vollmann said. “You further yourself by bettering your craft and letting your work speak for itself.”  

Less than a year out of college, Vollmann is already putting that knowledge to good use. She’s working in a rotational program with ABB, where she’s currently serving as a Sales Engineer with B&R Industrial Automation with a focus on robotics and automation in the e-mobility sector.  

Her involvement with SAE from her time as a student at the University of Central Florida gave her a network of mobility professionals beyond her Formula SAE team. She’s jumped feet first into mentoring, supporting peer review of industry research, and volunteering with SAE in any way she can.  

“Being a part of SAE introduced me to a community of engineers, both male and female, that are interested in making the industry more inclusive,” she said. “SAE can support women engineers by introducing them to such a community and highlighting the accomplishments of women and other marginalized populations.”  

So how does the young professional follow in Vollmann’s footsteps?  

“Be confident. Be audacious,” she said. “If you have the audacity to dream it, you have the audacity to achieve it.”  

Rebecca Vollmann is one of the many women members of SAE International making a difference in mobility. Want to get involved? Check out SAE Membership and Community Engagement for opportunities to get involved with like-minded engineers who are pushing the world of mobility forward.