About Ben: With more than 35 years of experience in leading the strategy, architecture, design, development, and manufacturing of complex systems, including high-speed digital design and FPGAs, RF design, mechanical design, compliance engineering, and manufacturing engineering, Ben recently has been driving the development teams in the development of autonomous high power wireless DC fast charging of electric vehicles including cars, vans, trucks, and buses.
Before that, Ben held the positions of Director of Hardware and Embedded Software, Hardware Development Manager, Principal FPGA Architect, and Digital Design Manager at TruePosition. He was a key technical and managerial contributor for a start-up in the wireless location industry (including E911 emergency location systems) that grew to more than $280M in revenue annually, $1B in revenue over 4 years. Ben spent his career at TruePosition driving the development of 3 generations of emergency location systems in his various roles.
Ben has worked in telecommunications, Industrial controls, aerospace, and high-power inductive charging. Ben has a strong background in product realization through architecture, design, management, testing, compliance, and manufacturing.
Ben received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University.
Scroll down for our Q&A with Ben!
PW Class of 1982: What do you do now for work? And what has your career path been?
Ben: I am at a transition point in my career. I recently left my last company InductEV where I was the SVP of Engineering in charge of developing High Power Autonomous DC Fast Chargers. I recently created my own company, “B Cohen Solutions LLC.” While I am still working out what I will do with this company, I am going to spend extra time this winter with my parents in Arizona, where they live and where we have a second home.
Most of the companies I have worked for over the years are companies that exist to improve people’s lives. That is something I have looked for when searching for a new job, including:
- Leeds & Northrup – Industrial Control Systems for Power Plants
- InterDigital – Bringing wireless local loop telephone service to development countries (before cell phones took off)
- TruePosition – Locating cell phones for E-911 calls to route the call to the correct operator and tell the operator exactly where you are calling from.
- Momentum Dynamics/InductEV – Enabling the move to Electric vehicles for all fleet vehicles.
PW Class of 1982: Are you married? Since when? Kids? Grandkids?
Ben: I’ve been married to Arlene since April 1989. We have 2 boys, ages 25 and 26. Nate is our oldest, and he has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and an MBA from Purdue University. He is working as a manager of Project Managers for Endress and Houser in the greater Indianapolis area. David is our youngest, and he has a BS in Hotel and Hospitality Management from the University of Delaware and an MBA in Finance from the University of Delaware. He is the General Manager for the Couch Tomato in Manayunk: thecouchtomato.com. No grandkids yet. Both of our kids are in serious relationships, so we will see.
PW Class of 1982: What did you dream of becoming in high school?
Ben: Believe it or not, I knew in high school that I wanted to be an Engineer and quickly picked Electrical Engineering. I went to Drexel University for my BS degree, where I met my wife, Arlene. I went to Penn State Great Valley campus for my MS degree and completed that in 2 ½ years before having kids.
PW Class of 1982: What advice would you give to your high school self?
Ben: Work hard and play hard, which is what I did in college. Take risks with your career, which both Arlene and I did from the beginning of our Marriage all the way through. I definitely would have told my high school self to be less shy in high school!
PW Class of 1982: What advice do you have for others about creating your best life?
- Find something you can enjoy doing for a career.
- Start investing in your retirement early.
- Find that special person to enjoy your life with both during your working years and into retirement.
PW Class of 1982: What would you like to say to all of your classmates today?
Ben: I’m very proud of how well everyone in our class is living their lives. We have a lot of very successful people in our class, and I don’t mean executives, lawyers, and doctors. I mean, everyone I have run across is happy with where they are in their lives and careers.
Contact Ben:
- Email: bcohen@ieee.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ben.cohen.1048/
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ben-h-cohen