Juan De Peña serves as U.S. Ranger and Ranger Raptor chief program engineer, responsible for developing and executing current and future programs. He collaborates with teams across the company including product planning, marketing, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing to ensure that vehicles align with customer needs and expectations, and meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

De Peña has held many positions within his 28 years at Ford, from product development to global leadership roles, including time as segment chief engineer for Ford Asia Pacific and launch manager for Ford of Mexico.

A native Spanish speaker and first-generation Dominican born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, De Peña studied mechanical engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Prior to his time with Ford, he worked for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. As a NASA graduate research fellow for three years, he worked on control systems engineering with a focus on satellites.

While De Peña says the pace of work is faster at Ford, there are some similarities to his previous role at NASA. “Ford is every bit as cutting-edge in engineering modeling technology as NASA — precise system controls for optimal accuracy and efficiency drive both organizations,” he said.

De Peña lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with his wife and 14-year-old son, who is fluent in Mandarin from their time in Asia, and their 5-year-old dog. De Peña builds computers in his spare time and enjoys traveling with his family.