Dr. Sven Beiker believes in utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to learning and decision making. He is motivated to bring academia and industry together in a class environment and for research initiatives toward the future of individual mobility. Dr. Beiker is a Lecturer teaching S574, "Strategic Thinking in Action - In Business and Beyond", with Professor Robert A. Burgelman, Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Business.

Sven Beiker is the Executive Director of CARS, the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. CARS is an interdisciplinary partnership between academia and industry to address the challenges of individual mobility in the 21st century. Since 2008, Beiker has been taking care of the program’s strategic planning, resources management, and project incubation. Besides managing the industry relationships, he holds teaching positions at Stanford's School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Business to educate students in interdisciplinary automotive topics and strategic thinking.


Before coming to Stanford, Beiker worked at the BMW Group for more than 13 years. Between 1995 and 2008 he pursued responsibilities in technology scouting, innovation management, systems design, and series development. He primarily applied his expertise to chassis and powertrain projects, which also provided him with profound insights into the industry’s processes and best practices. In addition, he worked in three major automotive and technology locations: Germany, Silicon Valley, and Detroit.


Dr. Beiker received his MS (1995) and PhD (1999) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University in Braunschweig, Germany. He published various technical papers and holds several patents in the fields of vehicle dynamics and powertrain technology.