About Mike Boike

Born and raised in the Detroit area, Mike was raised in a blue-collar family of seven.  His work ethic was evident in starting a paper route at the age of nine.  He also played multitude sports throughout high school and was honored as Salutatorian of his graduating class.  He then attended Wayne Statue University on a full-ride academic scholarship where he obtatined his BS in Chemical Engineering with honors.  After spending some time in industry, he continued his studies and obtained his MS Global Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering from the Univeristy of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).

Upon receiving his BS in Chemical Engineering, Mike began his career at BASF in the automotive coatings industry where he received a foundation in process engineering and quality control (acquiring site ISO-9000 certification).

Due to his work at BASF, Chrysler hired MIke to assist with their operations at the Detroit Jefferson North Assembly Plant (home of the legendary Jeep Grand Cherokee).  He worked in a series of role of increasing responsibility, including acting as paint launch manager for the WK and XK models, as well as Operations Manager with responsibilty for leading a shift to meet KPI objectives. Mike spent his final years assisting the Supply Chain with launch of new products and new facilities, paricularly new plants in Toledo, OH and Saltillo, MX.  

During the Financial crisis of 2009, Mike opted to accept a new challenge and joined KIA Motors to launch their first automotive facility in North America.  The assembled team successfully came together from numerous automotive OEMs to launch the new site in West Point, GA.  

When the economry turned around, GM reached out to MIke with an opportunity to join their Global Manufacturing Engineering Organization.  Mike's responsibilties included managing a team that set the technology roadmap for paint materials, process, and equipment.  He also managed the execution of equipment R&R projects with an investment that exceeded $200M.  Mike also pursued and acquired his MS in Global Automotive Manufacturing Engineering during this time.

in 2016, Mike joined ATIEVA (later rebranded as Lucid Motors) to lead the paint design, engineering, launch, and operations for their future factory.  That role later expanded to leading manufacturing engineering and facility planning activities.  Mike was then appointed as Head of Arizona Operations where he completed the construction of the first bespoke EV factory in the United States.  Mike also simultaneously led the build out of a brownfield EV powertrain factory.  The combined cost of the two factories was approximately $700M.  Mike led the scaling of the dynamic team from 0 to 2000+ employees while delivering a world-class and award-winning vehicle. While launching phase 1, the team also begain consturction of a $1.5B 2.85M s.f. phase 2.   

Upon exiting Lucid Motors, Mike joined Natron Energy as VP of Operations strategy where he led the manufacturing engineeirng, site selection, incentives negotiation, and facility planning for a first of a kind (FOAK) sodium ion battery gigafactory.  

Mike has also done work as a professional consultant, assisting comanies with start up and operation needs.

Awarded Manufacturing & Industry Leader of the Year by Arizona Capitol Times for improving the quality of life for Arizona residents..  

Received award on behalf of Lucid as Head of Arizona Operations for Top Arizona Company for Sustainability, illustrating a commitment to a sustainable future.

Received Six Sigma Blackbelt certification from the University of Michigan, demonstrating commitment to quality through use of statistical analysis.

In his free time, Mike enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and all things sports.