Rewriting Mobility: Achieving the Impossible at Continental
Continental’s talented Software Engineers are an integral part of our workforce. Their experience and skillsets are helping us reshape what the future of mobility looks like, and their professional development is continuously in motion with many innovative projects and opportunities.
With that in mind, we’ve invited Maria Militaru to tell you a little more about her experience at Continental. Maria is an Engineering Manager in Software Planning and has been with us for 11 years. If you are interested in engineering positions at Continental, please search our open roles here.
I’ve worked on a number of exciting projects involving advanced technology and I collaborate with some of the biggest motor brands in the world.
We recently created a new camera for BMW that makes it possible for the vehicle to preview the street surface for potholes, then adjust suspensions automatically to improve driver experience.
In general, we always use new technology and new features in our work, which makes it exciting. Some of the features aren’t new for us, but they are new for the general public, like being able to accelerate/ decelerate automatically, avoid objects or being able to recognize traffic signs for speed limits and explain it to the driver.
I’m happy to see the excitement on people when they are backing up their cars and the car warns them of incoming traffic. We’ve also worked on technology that warns you if you’re accidentally drifting across lanes while driving.
Some of the things we’ve achieved were once thought impossible.
I’m proud to bring new technology to drivers and allow them to feel safe and empowered behind the wheel. It’s not a job without its challenges, of course. Building pioneering products from the ground up is a process full of obstacles. Doing everything for the first time is a real process of exploration that needs the smartest minds to collaborate closely with each other and the customer. It never ends up being exactly what we initially imagined, but that’s the part I enjoy most – seeing how all of our testing, input and ideas impact the end result.
What motivates me is looking at the people around me working and pushing ahead together with a team spirit of, “We can make it.”
Continental has a great working culture. It’s very international. And I’ve been here 11 years, so that says something. I feel there’s a lot of good spirit and focus on people here at our company. We back each other up and it’s a good culture for helping each other solve problems. I’ve had six different positions since I joined the company as an intern and now in my current role, the most important work I do is share my knowledge with the newer people that come on board. I also help them get the training they need to be able to best perform their jobs.
Continental’s work is making important contributions.
