Now he has one major task to tackle, and it's harder than trimming any cost: to engineer and build great, profitable, desirable vehicles in every segment, for weakened brands such as Buick and Pontiac, and for strong brands such as Chevy, Cadillac and GMC.

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Thuan Phan, who spends about half the year as a sales engineer, points out that the advantage in space and cost goes to small earphones that block noise by sealing off the ear canal.

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As an engineer and explorer, one of his first challenges was to design and build cost-effective submarines that were lighter and easier to maneuver.

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