CHATSWORTH, CA (BRAIN)—Forbes Bagatelle-Black has joined Currie Technologies as vice president of engineering. In this role he will oversee all aspects of the product development group.
“Forbes brings with him over 12 years of experience in the engineering and development of electric vehicles. From 1999 through 2007, Forbes performed various engineering roles at AeroVironment, a premier engineering and development company,” said Larry Pizzi, Currie’s president.
AeroVironment was founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer Dr. Paul MacCready. This company pioneered a succession of groundbreaking vehicles including the Solar Challenger, the Sunraycer, and the General Motors Impact and 30 other world's first vehicles that cemented their position as a premiere development company for breakthrough vehicle systems.
When Forbes joined AV in 1997 after studying at Cal Poly and CSU and receiving his graduate degree in engineering, the company had expanded its focus from contract-based research and development to include the development of production products. At that time Forbes was the lead engineer on the Charger Electric Bicycle project and liaised with GT Bicycles on the project. Being a “bicycle” person (having started his own bicycle business right out of college) this role was a perfect fit for him and cemented his passion for the category.
He has expertise in management overseeing engineers and technicians, supervising product testing and improvement in manufacturing processes. He has a strong communications background and has often been seen as a contributing writer to EV World.com, where he frequently has written on the subject of e-bikes and other electric vehicles. Forbes is originally from the east coast where he completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University.
Pizzi said “he will be a wonderful addition to our management team and I look forward to working with him."
