2016 Speaker Bios

TOM COUGHLIN 

Tom Coughlin

Tom Coughlin, President, Coughlin Associates is a widely respected storage analyst and consultant.  He has over 35 years in the data storage industry with multiple engineering and management positions at high profile companies.

Dr. Coughlin has many publications and six patents to his credit.  Tom is also the author of Digital Storage in Consumer Electronics: The Essential Guide, which was published by Newnes Press. Coughlin Associates provides market and technology analysis as well as Data Storage Technical Consulting services.  Tom publishes the Digital Storage Technology Newsletter, the Media and Entertainment Storage Report, and other industry reports.  Tom is also a regular contributor on digital storage for Forbes.com.

Tom is active with SMPTE, SNIA, the IEEE (he is Director for IEEE Region 6 and active in the Consumer Electronics Society) and other professional organizations.  Tom is the founder and organizer of the Annual Storage Visions Conference (www.storagevisions.com), a partner to the International Consumer Electronics Show, as well as the Creative Storage Conference (www.creativestorage.org). He is the general chairman of the annual Flash Memory Summit.  He is a Senior member of the IEEE, Leader in the Gerson Lehrman Group Councils of Advisors and a member of the Consultants Network of Silicon Valley (CNSV).  For more information on Tom Coughlin and his publications. go to www.tomcoughlin.com.

MICHAEL ANDREWS 

Mike Andrews

Mr. Andrews is Managing Partner of Andrews & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in new product R&D, business and management development, Emergency Planning, Business Mitigation, Response and Resumption Planning and Operational Readiness programs for business, schools and government entities.

Mr. Andrews is a Senior Member of IEEE and is currently serving IEEE members as the Region 6 Past Director.  Mr. Andrews’ commitment to the community includes STEM and CTE programs including the Future City Competition and the Smart Education Foundation, host to the SMART Competition.

He is also very active with the Salvation Army, Arizona LeaderForce and the Williams Institute for Ethics and Management.  He was awarded an IEEE Millennium Medal for outstanding achievements and contributions to IEEE and the IEEE-USA Robert S. Walleigh Award for Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award.

CAROLYN ANDREWS

carolyn andrews

Carolyn is the owner of Inspired Leaders Now, a certified business and executive coach, an international speaker and best-selling author.  Her business experience ranges from Fortune 100 companies to organizations with less than 50 staff members.  Her passion is working with business owners and corporate executives to help them move up to the next level. She is an experienced senior level corporate executive supporting information systems and technology, risk management, marketing and finance with demonstrated ability to guide major global initiatives to successful completion.   She also is a successful business owner with experience in small business management including starting up new businesses and coaching existing businesses.

DR. KATE JENKINS

catherine jenkins mercado

Dr. Kate Jenkins is a software engineer for Ejenta, Inc, a startup in San Francisco that uses artificial intelligence to monitor and reason about behavioral information (human-human and human-computer).  For projects spanning industry verticals from space to government to healthcare, she is responsible for hardware integration and sensor streaming (proximity, gesture, social dynamics).  She co-founded her first company in 2004 and has since published more than 35 peer-reviewed articles on advanced materials for magnetoelectric sensing and high performance computing.  She is a Senior Member of IEEE (magnetics, CES) and in 2015-2016 will be the student activities chair for IEEE Region 6.

 NATALIA BAKLITSKAYA

Baklitskaya

Natalia is a R&D Senior Analyst at Accenture Technology Labs in San Jose, focusing on prototyping new concepts using mixed reality, wearables and 3D printing technologies. Prior to Accenture, Natalia worked as a Hardware Design Verification Engineer on the PHY layer of WiFi (802.11x) chips at Qualcomm Atheros in the Bay Area,  on SystemZ and Power processors at IBM in NY.

Natalia is very passionate about the local maker community, playing with electronics and software, and learning by doing. In her spare time, she works on wearable electronics and cool side projects like a hacking/networking platform called “Qbadge” that she helped develop within Qualcomm. In addition, Natalia teaches Arduino workshops for high school female students in the Bay Area through SWE-sponsored programs. She also teaches wearables and IoT workshops within Qualcomm and at external events, such as IEEE UPP Student Leaders Summit.

Natalia is a strong proponent of promoting women in technology, and she served as a Vice President for Qualcomm Women in Science and Engineering. She has also been very involved in the local IEEE community and currently serves as a Vice Chair of Santa Clara Valley Women in Engineering (SCV WIE) board. Both of the above organizations facilitate personal and professional growth of women in technology at Qualcomm and in the Bay Area, respectively, through tech talks, workshops, networking and professional development events, to name a few initiatives.

Apart from the tech side of the Bay Area, Natalia has been enjoying the region’s beautiful nature and going out hiking and exploring. She is a nature and wildlife enthusiast and occasionally volunteers at Elkhorn Slough National Estuary.

Presentation description: Plug into Industry: Get THE job and hit the ground running

Finding a “good fit” position isn’t easy. So much relies on understanding the difference between skills you bring from college or previous experiences, versus what you pick up on the job —  and how your attitude and learning mindset, coupled with good team dynamics make all the difference in transition. This session will address career and social questions and concerns faced by students and young professionals as they seeks new opportunities or consider stepping into new roles. You will learn about strategies to find and land your dream job, build and leverage your network to create opportunities, and to hit the ground running at your new workplace.

PATRICK GRIFFIS

griffis

As Executive Director, Technology Strategy at Dolby Laboratories, Patrick Griffis is charged with helping define future technology strategy for the company which includes identifying and tracking key technical trends, performing technical due diligence, and supporting advanced technology initiatives for the company.

Before joining Dolby, Pat spent 10 years at Microsoft leading global digital media standards strategy, including adoption of the Digital Living Network Alliance as a baseline media sharing standard in Windows 7 and standardization of Windows Media Video technology as an international SMPTE standard.

Prior to Microsoft, Pat spent 15 years at Panasonic in senior management positions, including Vice President of Strategic Product Development at Panasonic Broadcast, where he helped launch DVCPRO and drive US strategy for HDTV. Pat started his career at RCA, earning eight patents in TV product design.

Pat has been an ATSC board member and Vice Chairman of the Board of the Digital Living Network Alliance. He served two terms as President of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society. Pat is currently a member of the IBC Council, an industry executive advisory group, and of the Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. A SMPTE Fellow, he serves on the SMPTE Executive Committee as Vice President, Education. Pat holds a BSEE degree from Tufts University and an MSEE from Purdue University.

TENAYA HURST

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Tenaya is a Maker. From finding out about the new microcontroller technology in March 2013, she’s taken off with the electronic fever of Making. Yes, she is the new #LadyMaker on the scene, joining the project and coding community of Arduino – Linino. Tenaya is the Education Accounts Manager for dog hunter, and enjoys teaching makers how to code and make circuits. She teaches teachers and writes STEM curriculum for wireless microcontrollers. In her free time, Tenaya enjoys teaching beginners in wearable technology – sewing and soldering. Check out Intel’s new report about the #MakeHer movement, or the fun article from San Jose State’s Spartan Daily. Tenaya’s grandpa was Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu, and inspires her to bring electrical engineering opportunities to students everywhere.

LANCE McBRIDE

IEEE

Lance McBride is a licensed senior-level electrical engineer with nearly 20 years of design experience in multiple industries.  Lance recently became the Systems Engineering Manager at Great Basin Scientific and will be leading the effort to create their next generation instrumentation.

 Prior to joining Great Basin Scientific, he worked at GE Healthcare’s Surgery OEC facility in Salt Lake City, UT, designing and developing various components for mobile fluoroscopic X-ray systems (C-Arm).  Prior to joining GE, Lance opened and spent four years developing a Molly Maid franchise in Salt Lake City.  Before that, Lance worked for six years in the R&D department at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) where he designed and built oceanographic research instrumentation and vehicles, presenting at several IEEE Oceans conferences and publishing multiple papers.  In addition, he has worked as an electrical engineer in several industries including defense (Comanche helicopter program for Kaiser Electronics), particle physics (for Optivus Technology at the LLUMC), network administration and software development (for Advanced Management Solutions).

Lance graduated from Walla Walla University in Walla Walla, WA and is licensed as a Professional Electrical Engineer (P.E.) in Utah and California.  Lance has been a FIRST® Robotics mentor and is currently coaching two FIRST® LEGO League teams and is the event coordinator of a FIRST® LEGO League qualifying event in the Salt Lake valley.

In addition, he’s an active member and regional officer of the IEEE, and acted as Secretary, Treasurer and finally President of the IEEE student branch at WWU. He is a member of several IEEE societies including the Oceanic Engineering Society, Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and Electron Devices Society.

Lance enjoys aviation (member of the EAA, and is near completion of his own airplane) and auto-racing (active member of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association – USFRA).

JEANNETTE (JAMIE) GARCIA

JamieGarcia

Jeannette (Jamie) Garcia’s achievements in polymer chemistry at IBM Research include: drug delivery mechanisms – “ninja polymers” that travel to the infected area and implode bacteria while keeping surrounding healthy cells safe; the first new class of polymers in decades – stronger than bone but lightweight and degradable to their original state; the discovery of varying forms of this new polymer class that could be use for water filtration in 3rd world countries, sulfur sequestration, citrus greening and even building lighter weight, faster airplanes that can be recycled back down to their starting material; battery technology leading to more sustainable charge for electric vehicles and electronics.

JEOEY YANG

Joey Yang

Joey is a both a nerd and a lover. This led him to Google, where he’s currently making great user experiences building products for software developers. He’s a graduate of Rice University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and his favorite memories of college were learning about how airplanes work and running the radio station KTRU. Joey likes playing with new software, hardware, musical instruments, and his food.

MICHELLE YUNG

Michelle Yung

Michelle Yung is a Value Stream Team Lead at Orbital ATK. As a team lead, Michelle is responsible for managing the execution of one of Orbital ATK Propulsion System’s major product lines: All three stages of the Trident-II D5 loaded rocket motor.

Michelle graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S in Mechanical Engineering in 2005. Since that time, she has worked at Orbital ATK’s Utah facilities in a variety of functions. With experience in quality, design, project and now operations, she continues to explore the various opportunities that an engineering degree has afforded her.

In her free time, Michelle enjoys mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, traveling and eating!

KAREN BARTLESON

Karen Bartleson

Karen Bartleson has over 35 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, specifically in electronic design automation. She is currently senior director of corporate programs and initiatives at Synopsys, an electronic design automation company, in Mountain View CA USA. Her responsibilities include creating programs for technical standards development, software tool interoperability, strong relationships with universities and research institutions worldwide, compute platform product support, and customer engagement through social media. She joined Synopsys in 1995 as manager of its standards group, and later was director of quality from 2000-2002. Since 2003, her duties at Synopsys have increased widely, contributing to the company’s innovation and success. She currently represents Synopsys on the Silicon Integration Initiative’s Board of Directors and from 2000-2009 was an officer of the Board of Directors of Accellera, which creates, supports, promotes, and advances system-level design, modeling, and verification standards for use by the worldwide electronics industry.

Prior to Synopsys, Ms. Bartleson was CAD manager at UTMC (United Technologies Microelectronics Center), responsible for the design system used to create high-reliability application-specific integrated circuits. Before that, she worked at Texas Instruments as logic analysis manager, responsible for development and support of TI’s internal logic simulation products.

Ms. Bartleson was President of the IEEE Standards Association in 2013 and 2014. As President, she led the development of a new strategic plan, furthered the principles of the OpenStand market-driven standardization paradigm, and finalized IEEE’s membership in the Global Standards Collaboration.  As a member of the IEEE Board of Directors in 2013 and 2014, she chaired and led the development of the strategic plan for the IEEE Internet Initiative committee, whose charter is to raise IEEE’s influence and profile in the areas of Internet governance, cyber-security, and cyber-privacy policy development. She was also a member of the IEEE strategy committee, overseeing the development of the role of IEEE in global public policy.

She has published numerous articles about standards and universities. She is the author of the book, The Ten Commandments for Effective Standards: Practical Insights for Creating Technical Standards, [Synopsys Press, 2010] and the blog, “The Standards Game”.  In 2003, she received the Marie R. Pistilli Women in Electronic Design Automation Achievement Award at the 40th Design Automation Conference. Ms. Bartleson earned a B.S. in Engineering Science with a concentration in Electronic Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo CA USA, in 1980.

EMILY CHEUNG

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Emily Cheung received her Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering at UCLA in 2013. She began her career as an intern at Symantec and is currently working full-time at Symantec as a Program Manager. In her role, she works with software developers on technologies to improve efficacy for malware detection. She is responsible for prioritizing feature development, analyzing and driving opportunities for improvement, and delivering projects on-time and with high quality. She has been heavily involved with IEEE during her time at UCLA and continues to volunteer as the IEEE Region 6 SPAx Coordinator and Rising Stars Conference Chair.

DONALD HOUDE

Donald Houde

Donald Houde is a veteran C-Level leader, providing leadership to help organizations visualize beyond their current state to realize a more efficient and fulfilling business model; often described as a diplomatic change agent and an innovative solutions provider who guides the constructive transformation of organizations, whatever the size, private or public. Mr. Houde is also a national public speaker and thought leader in IT, leadership development and education, as well as the co-author of the recently published Cloud Computing Black Book currently in distribution.

As president of Houde Consulting and Data to Inform since 1996, Donald Houde provides precise, actionable guidance to client partners in Enterprise-wide business process and operations management, governance, regulatory compliance, policy generation, technology alignment, Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), and client engagement and relationship management. Mr. Houde uses respectful methods to achieve powerful results.

IRIS FUJIURA BOMBELYN

Iris Bombelyn

Iris Fujiura Bombelyn is vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin. In this role she authors strategy and manages operations of next-generation, secure satellite communications programs, including the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). As the MUOS program manager, she leads the team delivering secure comms on the move for the military user. The system comprises 5 satellites, 4 ground stations, 2 satellite control facilities and software for the IP-based system management and control.

Previously, she led the Space Systems Manufacturing team. Iris worked across all programs providing complex manufacturing of unique items for space and sub-orbital applications. She promoted lean and defect-free manufacturing and introduced advanced manufacturing for new products, all while balancing improvements in affordability and quality.

As the Test Systems director, she brought together diverse program teams supporting the design and build of electrical and mechanical ground support hardware. She established a unified approach to the common needs of the enterprise by driving a central vision and mission and sharing expertise and lessons learned.

Prior to rejoining Lockheed Martin in August, 2009, Iris spent a year attaining her MBA from MIT’s Sloan Fellows Program in Leadership and Global Innovation, an intensive full-time international program for mid-career execs. Before that, as a program director at Orbital Sciences Corporation, she led a team designing and delivering commercial communications satellites in a P&L role.

Iris also has an extensive background in launch vehicles, having begun her career with Lockheed Martin in 1983 as a member of the Titan launch team at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. There she had multiple roles, including Launch Conduct and Atlas operations support. Later, Iris dedicated much of her time at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, during a nine-year stint as Launch Operations manager and program director for International Launch Services, providing launch services for commercial satellite customers.

Iris holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Washington State University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Iris received a Silicon Valley YWCA Tribute to Women in Industry award in 2010, and she was the 2012 Asian American Executive of the year. Also in 2012, she was recognized by her Alma Mater, Washington State University with an Alumni Achievement Award. In 2013, she was awarded the Women of Color STEM Career Achievement Award. Iris speaks Russian and Japanese, and she holds a black belt in ju-jitsu. She is a strong supporter of diversity and is active in the Corporate Council for Asian American Leaders..

WILLIAM POMERANTZ

Pomerantz_2015

As Vice President for Special Projects at Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Will helps extend Virgin Galactic’s business beyond suborbital space tourism, helping start efforts such as Virgin Galactic’s suborbital research campaigns and its orbital launch vehicle for small satellites. Will is also Chair of the Board of Advisers for the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), the world’s largest student space organization; an advisor to WayPaver Labs, a nonprofit dedicated to pushing the boundaries of human exploration; and a member of the Professional Development Committee of Women in Aerospace.

Will is a graduate of Harvard University, the NASA Academy, and the International Space University. Prior to joining Virgin Galactic, he worked at the non-profit XPRIZE Foundation, where he served as the primary author and manager of the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE and the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander XCHALLENGE; in addition to serving on the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee and on a National Academies committee studying issues impacting the national aerospace workforce.

ANDREW RUSH

Andrew Rush

Presentation Description: On November 24, 2014, a team of engineers at NASA and Made In Space, Inc. created the first object ever manufactured in space. With it, individuals, schools, companies and even governments no longer have to hurl pre-built goods into space. On-orbit manufacturing and assembly of everything from individual components to entire spacecraft changes the economics of spaceflight, how missions are designed and the speed at which in space activities may be carried out. Made In Space president Andrew Rush will discuss how in-space manufacturing capabilities that exist today enable tech development, tech demonstration, part delivery, equipment fixes, operational life extension and even spacecraft creation by anyone.

RON HADLEY

Ron Hadley

Ron Hadley is Director of Employee Development Partners at IEEE. In this role he leads the Talent Management, Learning and Development and Employee Relations functions on a global basis. Charged with the role of building the talent agenda, Ron has implemented a variety of programs and tools focused on increasing engagement and preparing the next generation of talent for the many challenges facing business in today’s changing world.

Prior to this role he was Head of Talent Management at Novartis Development, with global responsibilities for development planning, employee assessments, succession planning, mentoring and a variety of other talent related initiatives.

Prior to these assignments, Ron worked for many years at Wyeth where he built a broad based HR background as Senior Director of Organization Development, Director of Corporate HR, and held global responsibility for Talent Management at Cyanamid International.

In addition to his work in Human Resources he serves on the Board of Directors at Beyond-the-Walls, a non-profit that focuses on serving the needs of the poor in Guatemala and several other locations in the US. He was also a member of adjunct faculty at Caldwell College for several years, and has provided talent management consulting for a variety of non-profit organizations.

Mr. Hadley holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Connecticut, a Masters in Education from Michigan State University, and a Masters in Human Resource Management from the University of New Haven.

Topic: Leading in a Multi-Generational World
Abstract: Millennials have the challenge of building their career in a world of four distinct generations.  Technical skills are critical, but success will be dependent on understanding generational differences, knowing your personal motivators, and understanding organization needs in today’s changing world.

TIFFANY FINLEY

Tiffany FinleyTiffany Finley is a Principal Engineer in the Space Operations Department, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, CO. After studying at MIT as an undergraduate, she earned her MS degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder, where she was the Instrument Manager of the team that designed, built and tested the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC), currently the only student-built instrument on a major NASA mission.

After a brief stint working with astrodynamics software, Tiffany returned to hardware development as the Systems Engineer for the JADE instrument suite on the Juno Mission to Jupiter, where she handled development of internal science and hardware requirements for the subsystems, external interfaces to NASA, as well as directing the integration and test program for the sensor suite. After the Juno launch, she jumped the launch fence to Operations, and is now Manager of the New Horizons Tombaugh Science Operations Center at SwRI, and is part of the sequencing team for the VBSDC, as well as the LORRI camera that took the images of the Pluto system used for science and navigation purposes. She also handles mission design and trade studies at the newly developed Mission Operations Center at SwRI Boulder.

Topic: Lessons Learned from a Career in Space
Abstract: Designing systems meant for long duration voyages with limited rescue functionality requires a long-term mindset. This talk highlights a few important considerations when designing missions traveling beyond Earth orbit. It explores questions you may not normally encounter on a satellite mission, balancing hardware design and operational requirements, and a story or two about the planning that went into the New Horizons Pluto Flyby.