Regan Dixon has spent nearly 30 years working on how vehicles are built. Now, she oversees a network of Canadian engineering centres focused on what happens after they leave the factory.
Dixon is Senior Manager of Canadian Technical Centre Operations at General Motors (GM) Canada. Her role spans the labs, test facilities, and engineering teams behind the company’s Canadian footprint.
“I’ve had this experience in my career, where you develop something, and you go out in that vehicle, and you’re like, ‘I built that.’”
“We are an integral part of the global engineering team,” Dixon said. “We design for global implementation, and we are one of the largest software hubs outside of the US for General Motors.”
GM operates three engineering campuses in Ontario: two technical centres in Markham and Oshawa, along with the 55-acre McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track (MATT), also in Oshawa. Together, these locations are a hub for GM’s work on what many see as the next leap in the automotive sector: vehicles that get smarter over time.
A new system under the hood
Today, most vehicles contain dozens of small computers known as electronic control units that run everything from safety features to infotainment. However, these modules are typically built by different suppliers, run separate software, and rarely communicate with one another.
Software-defined vehicles use centralized software to control core systems that can enable over-the-air updates, continuous learning, and features that improve long after the vehicle leaves the showroom. “It’s the next-generation architecture,” Dixon said.
GM is consolidating dozens of electronic control units into a single liquid-cooled central compute unit powered by NVIDIA’s Drive AGX Thor processor. The company is moving from vehicles made up of disparate systems to something closer to a smartphone on wheels.
It’s complex work, according to Dixon, and part of the reason GM’s Canadian technical centres have grown to more than 1,100 engineers in the last decade.
“We’re the largest automotive engineering centre in Canada, and what I’m proud of is that we cover such a wide expanse,” Dixon said.
Canadian code on the road
Bringing these systems into a vehicle follows an iterative process in the field of mechatronics, which integrates software and hardware systems like electronics. Engineers need to build and test software in virtual environments and test benches, sometimes without any hardware at all, before moving into a full vehicle and evaluating systems on the test track. What they learn there feeds into the next version.
One of the most visible examples of the Canadian team’s work is in Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driver assistance system.
“Our Canadian team has developed some key algorithms, has some key patents, and some logic behind features and functions that are key enablers for Super Cruise,” Dixon added.
These contributions include steering control for automatic lane changes, motion estimation for hands-free trailering, and map following for navigation-based routes. Those features rely on software that can interpret vehicle behaviour and surrounding conditions, then respond in real time.
GM’s active safety systems also run on Canadian-designed, self-learning models that can adapt as they receive new inputs from the vehicle and its environment, which improves how systems make decisions while a vehicle is in motion.
GM Canada’s team is also working in conditions that help determine how the systems perform, Dixon said. Thermal systems, for example, are developed with wide swings in temperature, humidity, and precipitation in mind. Battery performance, cabin comfort, and system reliability all depend on how those variables are managed.
“You can point to things in the vehicles that a Canadian engineer made happen,” Dixon added. “I’ve had this experience in my career, where you develop something, and you go out in that vehicle, and you’re like, ‘I built that.’”
GM’s bet on the GTA
The decision to build out GM Canada’s engineering footprint in Markham and Oshawa was very intentional, Dixon said. The company had long maintained a presence in OshawaToronto, but expanded into Markham about a decade ago, which placed its teams deeper into one of North America’s largest tech corridors.
The region has given GM access to a steady stream of engineering talent from institutions like the University of Waterloo, McMaster University, and the University of Toronto.
“They’re generating talent that has the skillsets that we need, but on top of that, they’re also doing research in the areas that are driving forward what we’re trying to achieve,” Dixon said. “So there’s an opportunity to collaborate and partner with them on the tough problems that we want to solve.”
GM Canada is also operating alongside other large tech firms and startups building software products, which influences both hiring and how teams approach development. GM actively partners with tech startups through programs like the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN).
OVIN connects large automakers like GM Canada with fast-growing tech companies and provides funding for joint projects. For startups, the program offers an opportunity to deploy their technologies in the real world, while GM Canada gets visibility into new ideas that can move into its development pipeline.
Beyond the assembly line
For much of its history, Canada’s role in the global automotive industry has largely centred on manufacturing and assembly. Vehicles were built here, but designed elsewhere.
At GM, Canadian engineers are now designing, patenting, building, and winning awards for systems that ship across the company’s global lineup. More than 4.5 million GM vehicles already receive over-the-air updates, a number that’s growing by roughly two million every year.
“I love that we have interesting and challenging problems to solve that can really make an impact,” Dixon added. “There are so many amazing, smart people here, and if you give them a problem, I’m always amazed by what they come up with.”
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At GM, Canadian engineers are driving the future of mobility at GM Canada’s Canadian Technical Centres. Discover how.