Women make up just 24% of the automotive industry, but Georgia Tech graduates Jenn Voelker and Julia Vorpahl haven’t let statistics stop them from paving their own way in a male-dominated field.
Both Voelker and Vorpahl work for Karma Automotive, a luxury electric vehicle manufacturer based in California. Beginning with their time at Tech, they’ve never let gender bias stop them from pursuing their passion.
“It’s math,” Vorpahl, a visualization and digital design modeler at Karma, said. “You either get the question right, or you get the question wrong. I think that attitude really helps when you get into a professional environment. It teaches you to have tougher skin where if you are the best for that job, you will get the job. That’s what Georgia Tech instilled.”
Vorpahl grew up in the industry watching her family operate what is now the oldest independently owned Mercedes-Benz dealer in metro Atlanta after her grandfather, an engine designer for the German automaker, came to America and opened the shop in 1967. She arrived at Georgia Tech unsure if she’d follow in her family’s footsteps, but ultimately, she landed an internship at Daimler, the nation’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer.
While other interns came in with a background in automotive design, Vorpahl’s willingness to learn and tireless work ethic landed her a full-time job as the only woman in the company’s design studio.
During her three years at Daimler before accepting her position at Karma in 2022, she’d occasionally make the drive from Portland, Oregon, back to Georgia. Along the way, she crossed paths with truckers, who often expressed surprise that Vorpahl was among those behind the scenes designing their rigs. She often heard questions like “Why do you work there?” or “How did you end up there?”
And her response was simple. “Women like cars, too.”
That rang true through Voelker’s childhood as well. When the senior director of program management for Karma arrived in…
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