Terrence Southern Biography

Terrence Southern is a Supply Chain Senior Project Engineer for Frito-Lay North America, where he is responsible for researching, developing and piloting innovative equipment and system solutions to increase efficiencies along the company’s packaging supply chain.

Prior to joining Frito-Lay, Terrence was a Senior Manufacturing Engineer for General Motors. In his final role as the Lead Robotics and Dispense Engineer, Terrence was responsible for project management and execution of the robotic systems required to manufacture the revolutionary electrical powered GM Chevy Volt.

Terrence has won numerous awards for service to his industry and community, including the US Black Engineer & Information Technology Magazine; HBCU Distinguished Alumni Recognition (2011), Engineering Society of Detroit’s Excellence in Leadership Award (2009), US FIRST Lego League Michigan Adult/Mentor Award (2008), and the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference “Modern Day Technology Leader” (2007). He successfully coached the Detroit-based Burton International robotics team to second-place in the world at the RoboFest World Championships in 2009. Furthermore, Terrence is an active member of the Robotics Industries Association, Urban League of Greater Dallas Young Professionals and National Society of Black Engineers.

A native of Detroit, MI, Terrence received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tennessee State University. He is passionate about mentoring future engineers in the area of robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (S.T.E.M.) related fields.