U.S. ARMY GARRISON - DETROIT ARSENAL, WARREN, Mich. -- As part of an ongoing advertising campaign touting Detroit as a conference and convention destination, the Detroit Metro Visitors and Convention Bureau tapped the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center here for both a location and a personality to feature in its latest print ad highlighting Detroit's burgeoning defense industry.
Sonya Zanardelli, TARDEC's Energy Storage team leader, is featured in the ad, posing next to a quote that reads: "For 70 years, Detroit has been the center of the defense industry. I'm proud to be a part of that heritage as we lead the way by sharing our state-of-the-art testing and research facilities with the robotics, automotive and other advanced technology industries."
According to Bill Bohde, Detroit Metro VCB Sales and Marketing senior vice president, the Bureau's Detroit 3.0 campaign is focused on six regional growth industries: defense, entertainment, green tech, medical research, transportation logistics and urban farming.
"This campaign is opening eyes to other growth regions that are supplementary and complementary to the auto industry," Bohde explained. "Our defense heritage is well-documented, and we continue to play a critical role in the defense industry for the region, state and Nation."
The ad will run in meeting and convention publications across the country this summer. More information on the campaign and downloadable ads are available at www.meetdetroit.com.
Zanardelli, 32, oversees 10 associates at TARDEC's Energy Storage team -- a department responsible for work on advanced batteries. According to TARDEC Interim Director Jennifer Hitchcock, Zanardelli was picked for the ad for counterintuitive reasons.
"The Army often doesn't get credit for some of the high-tech work and high-tech associates we employee," Hitchcock said. "Sonya and her team are doing game-changing work in the battery arena, and she is emblematic of the type of talent -- much of it home-grown -- we have working across this installation and around the region."
Recognized in 2010 as one of Crain's Detroit Business's 40 Under 40, Zanardelli received her bachelor of science degree from Wayne State University in Detroit in 2002, and completed her master of science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan -- Dearborn, Mich., in 2005.
Her research fields of interest include bidirectional converters and control and advanced energy storage research for military ground vehicle applications. She is a member of the Electrochemical Society of Detroit.
The print ad was shot at the Detroit Arsenal's new Ground Systems Power and Energy Laboratory. The GSPEL officially opened in April 2012 and is a 30,000 square-foot, eight-labs-in-one complex.
From all accounts, this was first ad shot on base.
"I am very proud to work here, and I'm glad to help to get the word out about what we at TARDEC and we in this entire region are doing," said Zanardelli from her office inside the GSPEL.
Asked if advertising could be the start of a second career, Zanardelli was firm in her priorities.
"Absolutely not. The photo shoot was fun, but the work we are doing on behalf of our Soldiers and our nation is vitally important."
About TARDEC:
Headquartered at the U.S. Army Garrison - Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Mich., TARDEC is the Nation's laboratory for advanced military automotive technology and serves as the Ground Systems Integrator for all Department of Defense manned and unmanned ground vehicle systems. TARDEC, an element of the U.S. Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command, is a full life-cycle, systems engineering support provider-of-first-choice for all DOD ground combat and combat support weapons, equipment and vehicle systems. TARDEC develops and integrates the right technology solutions to improve Current Force effectiveness and provides superior capabilities for Future Force integration. TARDEC's technical, scientific and engineering staff lead cutting-edge research and development in Ground Systems Survivability; Power and Mobility; Ground Vehicle Robotics; Force Projection; and Vehicle Electronics and Architecture. TARDEC is a major research, development and engineering center and an enterprise partner in the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. www.tardec.army.mil
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