Apple Hires Engineer Who Designed Satellite Navigation System for Various Luxury Carmakers

The software engineer who led development of satellite navigation systems for a variety of luxury carmakers including Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, has been working for Apple since October.

A report by Bloomberg today noted that Durekovic, formerly the “principal architect and then chief engineer for navigation” at Harman International Industries, was hired by Apple last fall to fill an unspecified role.

Durekovic, a German citizen, had been living near Munich, the headquarters of BMW. He relocated last fall to Apple’s location in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley in conjunction with the hiring.

He has more than 20 years of experience in working with GPS navigation, beginning at Navigon, which is now owned by Garmin, in the mid 90s and two years at Harman. The report also noted that Durekovic holds a patent related to using map data to prevent car collisions.

Neither Apple nor Durekovic nor his former employer Harman offered to comment on the hiring.