SWE - Fall 2008 - (Page 14)

The FY09 officers and board met near SWE headquarters in downtown Chicago. From left: Fran Stuart, secretary; Nora Lin, president-elect; Virginia Connolly, P.E., president; and Joan Graf, treasurer. Introducing the FY09 Board of Directors Virginia Connolly, P.E., President Virginia Connolly is a Lean Sigma Master Black Belt for Medtronic Inc., the global leader in medical technology. In her role, she works in the Office of Workplace Inclusion studying healthcare disparities and employee retention issues. A certified Black Belt and Master Black Belt, she has worked on numerous Lean Sigma projects while supporting product engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain areas at Medtronic’s Microelectronics Center to develop continuous improvement strategy and execution. She also developed a site-specific Lean Sigma team while serving as the MMC Lean Sigma deployment leader. Before joining Medtronic, Connolly worked for an aerospace company where she gained a broad base of experience in a variety of positions in development engineering, manufacturing, and information technology. Connolly has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in industrial engineering from Arizona State University. She is an alumnus and former board member of Arizona Leadership 2000, a women’s leadership group, and is a member of the American Society for Quality. Involved with SWE for more than 20 years, Connolly has held various positions in the Arizona State University and Phoenix sections and the Sonora Region. Her service on the SWE board includes region director, three terms as speaker of the council, and director of education. In 1997, she received the Phoenix Section’s Outstanding Member Service Award. In her spare time, Connolly enjoys traveling, especially to warm climates to scuba dive with her husband, Rick. She also bicycles to work at least once a week and practices yoga. Connolly and her husband have two dogs: a miniature schnauzer named Derby and Derby’s daughter, Sophia. Society of Women Engineers Nora Lin, President-Elect Nora Lin has worked in engineering for more than 25 years and has been an employee of Northrop Grumman since 1993. She has held a variety of leadership positions in software engineering, advanced technology, systems engineering, and supportability engineering. As manager of supportability engineering, she is responsible for managing and developing the organization and providing staff to perform specialty engineering tasks for all programs in all business areas at the company’s Rolling Meadows site. In addition, she supports a CMMI® initiative and prepares the site to pursue a high-maturity level accreditation. A senior life member of SWE, Lin has served at the local, regional, and national levels as director of regions; Region H governor and deputy director; section vitality task force chair; leadership coach; and Chicago Regional Section president, vice president and treasurer. She is the founder of 14 SWE FALL 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Fall 2008

SWE - Fall 2008 Heritage Club Contents Farewell Message from FY08 President Michelle Tortolani Congratulations SWE Magazine A Conversation with FY09 President Virginia Connolly, P.E. Introducing the FY09 Board of Directors View from the Executive Suite Editor's Page Public Policy Update SWE Retention Study, Part 6 Membership Information & Calendar A&B SWE Member Kristina Johnson First Woman to Receive John Fritz Medal University Labs Fuel a New Era in Energy Women Engineering Leaders in Academe 2008 Opening the Gateways to Engineering Your Collegiate Section History is Waiting to Be Discovered Honoring the Legacy of Ada Pressman, P.E. Report from WEPAN Engineering World Proposed Bylaws Amendments Point of View Correction Career Toolbox Corporate Partnership Council Book Review SWE Smiles In Memory Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook

SWE - Fall 2008

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