Cummins has announced that Jim Fier, the company’s Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, will retire at the end of March 2023 after a 36-year stint with the company. The company also announced that Jonathan Wood, Vice President of New Power Engineering, will succeed Fier as Chief Technical Officer, effective April 1.
“I am grateful for Jim’s leadership and friendship and his commitment to delivering on our brand promise to our customers, advocacy in building our global technical capability and advancing our diversity, equity and inclusion work,” said Jennifer Rumsey, President and CEO, Cummins Inc. “His legacy at Cummins will be felt for many years to come,” she added.
Fier spent his entire career of 36 years at Cummins, leaving his mark on the company’s products and people. He began his Cummins career as a service engineer, then worked in current product support, new product introduction and R&T, gaining broad technical knowledge and leadership experience, while accelerating the development and launch of the company’s market-leading engine platforms and innovations.
Serving as Chief Technical Officer since 2019, Fier played a key role in ensuring Cummins innovates and delivers the right solutions to our customers at the right time. His leadership of simulation-based product development has bolstered Cummins’ ability to develop products that address the critical needs of our customers, meet the more stringent requirements of emissions, and position the company to lead during the energy transition. In addition, he and his global teams have led Cummins’ key initiatives to address the global climate crisis, including PLANET 2050 and Destination Zero, the company’s zero emissions strategy.
Jonathan Wood, Vice President-New Power Engineering, will succeed Jim as Vice President – Chief Technical Officer said “Given the significance of this role,” Rumsey stated, “we have been working for quite some time on a thoughtful and planned transition and I am thrilled that Jonathan Wood will assume the CTO role. Jon’s career has been defined by his commitment to technical excellence and his caring leadership approach. His technical leadership experiences in our Components and New Power businesses make him uniquely qualified for this role as we continue to advance our strategy and develop innovative technologies at the right time for our customers and enhance our technical workforce and capabilities.”
Wood, who is based in the United Kingdom, joined Cummins in 1994 as part of the Cummins Turbo Technologies (CTT) Aftermarket and Service team. His more recent roles include, Executive Director, Engineering -Turbo Technologies at CTT, Executive Director, Engineering – Emission Solutions, and Vice President – Components Engineering. Wood is a skilled and collaborative leader and strategic thinker and these attributes led to Cummins’ successful Components business effort to meet Global VI emissions regulations.
During his time with CTT, Wood was based in Wuxi, China, while leading the Asia Engineering Organization, and also served as the Europe ABO Technical Leader from 2017- 2022. His global perspective, collaborative approach, keen technical skills, and customer experience are a tremendous asset to Cummins. Throughout his career, Wood has developed global engineering teams and championed diversity and inclusion across the technical organization.
