March 30, 2023: Drew Baglino, Tesla’s senior vice president for powertrain and energy engineering, was presented with the Shep Wolsky Battery Innovator award for 2023 during the International Battery Seminar in Florida on March 21.
Baglino joined Tesla in 2006 as a firmware and technical engineer. His career at Tesla has including working in power electronics and vehicle systems, including modelling for Tesla’s all-electric Roadster.
Baglino was also responsible for technical leadership of firmware and electronics for Tesla’s second generation battery pack for Daimler’s Smart EV.
He was the powertrain architect for Tesla’s Model S across the high voltage system.
The battery innovator award is presented annually in memory of Wolsky, who died in 2017.
Wolsky founded the seminar on his retirement and ran the event for 32 years, before selling to Cambridge Enertech.
Last year’s award winner was the co-founder and CEO of Nevada-based Redwood Materials, Jeffrey Brian Straubel, the former CTO and co-founder of Tesla.