Tech Topics - Spring 2008 - (Page 33)

Burdell&Friends 4. Identify a sponsor and a mentor. According to Larkin, these are two very different people. Sponsors are “people that are typically in a position to open doors for you, to advocate for you when you don’t know they’re advocating for you. They … give you advice and counsel.” Mentors are “people that share their experiences with you, they coach you over time and help you grow professionally.” It is important to have both. 5. Do not be afraid to ask for what you need professionally and personally. Women need to be comfortable in having those discussions about promotional opportunities, compensation and salary negotiations. Do not be afraid to “ask for what you need professionally to be successful,” Larkin said, adding that the same holds true in one’s personal life. She said that her parents, her husband’s parents and others have helped them in their home from time to time. 6. Be courageous. You may have to leave Kansas to achieve professional and personal goals. “You just have to … recognize that there are going to be things that you have to do in order to achieve your goals,” Larkin said. This may include moving around because you “probably won’t be able to stay in the same place … your whole life and have things happen as quickly necessarily as you’d like.” 7. Recognize your gifts and your leadership capabilities. It is important for women to recognize “those leadership capabilities that you may be demonstrating outside of work and take those into work.” 8. Work hard and smart. “There is no substitute in any organization for hard work. You have to go into an organization and give it your all,” Larkin said. 9. Be yourself. Do not go into an organization and become a mold of what you think that organization wants you to be, Larkin said. Companies are looking for diversity in thought, in perspective, in backgrounds and experiences. 10. Maintain clarity regarding your priorities. Companies should recognize the whole person — a mother, a sister, a daughter — and support that. If an employer doesn’t recognize that, move on. 11. Network with Women — and Men. “Women experience things very differently, and we perceive differently in the work force, and you need to understand the perspectives of women and men to be successful,” Larkin said. 12. Make values-based decisions. “The things that we were taught when we were children — how to treat people with respect, how to always maintain integrity — those are the things that get you through life,” Larkin said. restoration in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment. At a retirement luncheon, he received the Army’s Exceptional Civil Service Award and the bronze De Fleury medal from the Army Corps of Engineers for exceptional contributions to Army engineering. In December, Newsome joined Plexus Scientific Corp. in Alexandria, Va., as vice president. Michael W. Porter, IM 76, has been designated a project management professional after successfully completing the certification and testing process of the Project Management Institute. Porter has been appointed the project management lead in the IT department at Georgia System Operations Corp., an affiliate of Oglethorpe Power Corp. in Tucker, Ga. Greg Walton, Arch 78, M Arch 81, has been promoted to vice president of RTKL Associates Inc. He heads the cruise ship design department in the firm’s Miami office. Bill Wong, EE 78, technology editor of Penton Media’s Electronic Design magazine, has a new column, “Lab Bench,” in which he covers arbitrary and capricious topics on embedded application design. Women of Distinction Saluted By Melissa Gerrior L eslie R. Sibert was named outstanding Georgia Tech alumna of the year at the Women’s Leadership Conference on campus in November, and a special award was presented to 100-year-old Anne Marie Eaton, who attended the Institute’s evening school in the 1940s. In all, six women in the Tech community received Dean Gail DiSabatino Women of Distinction awards. The committee said each recipient “leads with a passion that inspires and uplifts the people around her.” Sibert, EE 85, with Georgia Power, is a YWCA board member who helped develop a pilot program in three Atlanta-area middle schools called Teen Girls and Technology, which “seeks to increase girls’ confidence and competence in technology by helping young women overcome barriers and stereotypes in technology, math and science.” The outstanding faculty member was Barbara Boyan, the Price Gilbert Jr. chair in tissue engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, the deputy director of the Georgia Tech/Emory Center and a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar in tissue engineering. Susan Bowman, academic program manager in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, was recognized as the outstanding staff member. A two-time survivor of breast cancer, Bowman is involved in several cancer support groups both on campus and in the community. Jacqueline O’Connor, who is studying aerospace engineering, was the outstanding graduate student. Associate professor Tim Lieuwen said when he first met O’Connor and they spoke about her long-term plans, those goals were “nothing less than she wanted to save the planet.” O'Connor, who earned her undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gives violin concerts, leads a string quartet and mentors other musicians. She is the recipient of a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Inn-Inn Chen, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, was selected the outstanding undergraduate student. Assistant Dean of Students Danielle McDonald said she has “utilized her passion, commitment and dedication to become an entrepreneur, researcher and student leader.” Chen was the charter president of Engineering World Health and traveled with a shipment to a San Salvador hospital. Chen, a member of the USA Today 2007 All-USA college academic team and a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient, currently is working on collaborative projects in regenerative medicine as well as creating novel tissue engineering and stem cell therapies for clinical use. In honor of the theme, the conference committee decided to present an award to a woman who embodied all the characteristics of one who truly has led a vibrant life. The award was presented to Eaton, who came to Atlanta from Germany during World War II and attended Tech’s Evening School of Applied Science in 1941-42. Eaton, Tech’s oldest living alumna, turned 100 in November. She earned a master’s degree in sociology at Georgia State University when she was 70 years old. She also was a member of the Society of Women Engineers at Georgia Tech while her husband, Paul T. Eaton, was a professor emeritus. Eaton has worked as a commercial artist and designer and a methods analyst and is currently a social gerontologist. She is the cofounder of Life Enrichment Services Inc. for people over the age of 50. 1980s Gena Ashe, MS EE 84, has been named vice president and deputy general counsel of PBS. She joins PBS from Darden Restaurants, where she had served as senior associate general counsel since 2004. Steve Bass, MS AE 88, has joined the board of directors of the nonprofit organization Rebuilding Together-St. Louis. Bass is the chief engineer of global strike systems and the St. Louis/St. Charles site for The Boeing Co. He has been volunteering with Rebuilding Together for three years, during which time he served as a house captain and led a team of Boeing employees to make major repairs on selected houses. Doug Betts, ME 86, was named vice president and chief customer officer for Chrysler LLC in November. and his daughters and granddaughters live in Atlanta, where he will retire. Tawana Derricotte Miller, IM 76, made a success- ful oral defense for a doctorate in educational leadership management and policy at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., in November. Miller is director of Title I/No Child Left Behind Compliance for Fulton County Schools. Rick Newsome, CE 71, MS SanE 72, retired in November following 35 years of civil service with the U.S. government. Newsome served for the last 19 years as the assistant for environmental TECHTOPICS | SPRING 2008

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Tech Topics - Spring 2008 Contents Mail Call Gold & White Honors Alumni House Sweet Spring Centennial Buzz Supreme Court Victory The Hill ‘Treasure Trove’ of Stories Living History Forget-me-not Fashion Student Life Investing in Graduates Giving Back Training the Next Generation Burdell & Friends Ingredients for Success Yellow Jackets Hockey Club Ices Georgia Tech Job Hunters Fare Well Real World

Tech Topics - Spring 2008

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