Mike Pilliod

Mike has an impressive background in launching and scaling up glass technologies for businesses, including Apple and Tesla. He is the founder and president of Central Tension, which specializes in glass and materials engineering, product design, and manufacturing development.

Mike worked at Apple from 2008 to 2013, during which glass on phones went from a new technology introduction to being ubiquitous in the consumer electronics field.

After Apple, Mike continued to ride his glass wave at Tesla from 2013 to 2022 and, as the Director of Tesla Glass, built a technology team and led the introduction of manufacturing technologies across all product lines.

Mike started his career at GE’s Global Research Center and holds a Bachelor of Science in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University.

Mike lives in Marina del Rey in Los Angeles, CA, with his family and is a proud father of 3 beautiful children.