Alexea Candreva
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San Jose, CA, May 8, 2018 - WITI (Women in Technology International), the leading worldwide authority on women in the business of technology, today announced its six inductees into the 2018 Women in Technology Hall of Fame. The honorees will be inducted at the 24th annual Women In Technology Summit at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in San Jose, CA on June 10-12, 2018.
The Women in Technology Hall of Fame Award, considered one of the most prestigious honors for women in technology, was established in 1996 to recognize, honor, and promote the outstanding contributions women make to the technological communities that improve society and business. Winners are also acknowledged for demonstrating a commitment to supporting and mentoring women and girls in STEM worldwide. Click here to see a complete list of past honorees and register for the 2018 Women in Technology Summit.
"The Women in Technology Hall of Fame Awards were established to spotlight the groundbreaking contributions and innovations women bring to business and technology," said WITI Founder and Chairwoman, Carolyn Leighton. "We are proud to welcome this year’s talented and outstanding group of inductees."
As of 2017, the Women in Technology Foundation has inducted more than 100 women into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame.
Rhonda Childress is an IBM Fellow Vice President - GTS Data Security and Privacy Officer. Ms. Childress is one of only 25 female IBM Fellows in IBM’s history, and, as an IBM Master Inventor, she has over 180 patent applications, resulting in 120 issued patents. In 2014, she was honored by the State Bar of Texas IP Law as Co-Inventor of the Year.
Ms. Childress is a dedicated global champion for the advancement of women and other underrepresented minorities across the industry. As a STEM (STEAM) advocate, she is passionate about engaging young women in this movement by demonstrating through technology outcomes. In 2016, Ms. Childress was recognized by The Society of Women Engineers with the Spark Award, which honors individuals who have contributed to the advancement of women by mentoring those around them.
Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler managed the Network Information Centers for both the ARPANET and the Defense Data Network. Both networks were forerunners of today’s Internet. She joined SRI International in1960, heading up the Information Research Department before starting her work on the Internet as a member of Dr. Douglas Engelbart’s Augmentation Research Center. Her group managed the network naming system (.com, .edu, etc.) and developed the first WHOIS server, along with an early model for today’s email systems.
After leaving SRI, Ms. Feinler worked as a contractor for NASA Ames Research Center, helping to bring networking to the large NSF and NASA telescope sites. She is a founding member of the Internet Engineering Task Force. Now retired, she remains active as a volunteer history consultant for the Computer History Museum. She is dedicated to preserving for future generations the history of what has become one of the greatest inventions of the modern world: the Internet.
Roz Ho is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer and Metadata teams at TiVo. She has extensive general management experience managing large global cross-functional teams including engineering, product management, marketing, and sales. With more than 25 years of experience in the technology industry, Ms. Ho holds numerous patents in software and hardware innovations.
Ms. Ho served as Vice President and Head of Product Management at Ericsson, where she was responsible for product strategy, roadmap, and business models, and for managing a development team of approximately 300 engineers. Prior to Ericsson, Ms. Ho held several key roles at Microsoft, including engineering roles in Microsoft Office, General Manager of the Macintosh Business Unit, and Corporate Vice President of Premium Mobile Experiences.
Santosh Kurinec is a Professor of Electrical & Microelectronic Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, and an IEEE Electron Device Society Distinguished Lecturer. She is a recipient of the 2012 IEEE Technical Field Award. Dr. Kurinec was honored as the Engineer with Distinction by the Rochester.
Engineering Society in 2013. In 2016, she received the Medal of Honor from the International Association of Advanced Materials. Dr. Kurinec has authored more than 100 publications in research journals and conference proceedings and was the recipient of a major grant from the National Science Foundation to prepare students for the frontiers of nanotechnology.
Currently Senior Vice President and General Manager, Storage and Availability Business Unit at VMware, Yanbing Li is a globally minded high tech executive with extensive leadership experience in general management and engineering, both in the US and in China.
Dr. Li is responsible for the P&L for a rich portfolio of products in software-defined storage, hyper-converged infrastructure, data protection, and storage and availability services for the cloud. She leads product development, engineering, and go-to-market of this high growth business at VMware. Prior to VMware, she worked at Synopsys (a leading electronic design automation software maker) for nine years in various research, development, and engineering leadership roles. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from Princeton University.
Rashmi Rao is an award-winning technologist and leader with 20+ years of experience. She is currently Global Head, Advanced Engineering, CoC User Experience at HARMAN, responsible for technology and go-to- market strategy to drive breakthrough user experiences into new pursuits and product platforms. She is focused on combining cutting-edge technologies with advanced UX design and human-machine interactions.
Ms. Rao is an active advocate of STEM education. While at Qualcomm, she co-founded QWISE: Qualcomm Women in Science and Engineering - a grassroots women’s organization focused on professional and personal development of women in technology. She continues to promote her passion as a female engineer to middle school students through HARMAN’s partnership with Square One Education Network in Michigan. She is the recipient of Diversity Journal’s �"Women Worth Watching in STEM†2017 award. Ms. Rao holds an M.S in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and has over 21 global awarded patents and several published papers in peer-reviewed journals.
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Founded in 1989 by Carolyn Leighton, WITI (Women in Technology International) is a leading worldwide authority on women in business and technology. For nearly 30 years, WITI has consistently been a clear voice advocating women’s contributions to the tech industry, inspiring them to pursue STEM careers and actively working with corporate partners to create a culture of equality. To learn more, please visit witi.com and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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