Mechanical engineer Lisa Drake says the most challenging job in her career was chief engineer for Ford Motor Co.’s battery and hybrid electric vehicles. In that position, which she held from 2007 through 2010, she led development of the Ford Focus and Ford Transit Connect electric vehicles, and Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, and Ford C-Max Energi hybrids. “That team was so excellent that I really had to stretch my technical competency, sharpen my skills, and get to know a lot of electrical engineering,” she recalls. “It was during the recession, with a small team in an off-campus building, so you can imagine (how hard it was) to spend any money at that time.”