John Waraniak

John Waraniak has been in the aerospace, automotive, racing and performance industries for over 25 years with wide-ranging systems engineering experience, innovative technology insights and frontline lessons for competing and winning in today’s Automotive 5.0 transformation. John was elected an SAE Fellow in October 2019 for his significant technical achievements, safety performance and mobility industry contributions in both automotive and aerospace.

John is CEO and co-founder of Have Blue, a proof of concept and technology demonstrator company and Executive Producer at the digital industrial firm Hackrod Studio MFG and serves on the Advisor Board for the Indy Autonomous Challenge, King of the Hammers Electric Vehicle Challenge and the Carroll A. Campbell Jr., Graduate Engineering Center External Advisory Board at Clemson University. He most recently served as Vice President of Vehicle Technology for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) for 15 years from May 2006 to January 2021.

He is an acknowledged progressive advocate for automaker-aftermarket-technology innovation and collaboration for advancing safety performance, electrification, connected, assisted, and automated driving. He is the lead author of two the industry’s latest ADAS Research Reports: Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Aftermarket-Modified Vehicle Compliance, and the SAE EDGE Report Sensor Calibration for Automotive Aftermarket Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems.

Born and raised in the Motor City of Detroit, John is an avid auto industry and motocross enthusiast. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BSME degree and the University of Illinois with a MSME degree as well as Caltech’s Executive Engineering Management Program.