2012 Top Tech Exec Honorees
http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/digitaleditions/ss_toptech2012/ San Diego Magazine and Cox Business congratulate the finalists, honorees and special-award winners from the 2012 Top Tech Exec event. This year’s program spotlighted 232 fi nalists, all leaders in technology who were nominated by their peers. Ten of the nominated Top Tech Execs were recognized as honorees, and three special awards acknowledged technology innovation, lifetime achievement and excellence in business. All of these forward-thinking individuals were honored on May 17, 2012, at the Paddock at the Del Mar Fairgrounds during the annual event hosted by San Diego Magazine. Since 2008, Cox Business has lauded the talented IT innovators in our local community who have the vision to take risks and serve as technological pioneers to enhance the growth of their organizations. Charitable Organization | RICH COPPA VP of Infrastructure and Facilities & CIO The Arc of San Diego With 25 years of IT expertise, Coppa has greatly contributed to the growth and profi tability of The Arc of San Diego. He’s redesigned the data infrastructure, brought all 22 locations online and converted the case-management paper system into a cutting-edge electronic system. When Coppa first arrived, The Arc of San Diego had one PC and a $10 million budget. Today, the $34 million organization operates smoothly largely because of his innovation and technological implementations. Education | EMILY DEERE Executive Director, IT Applications, Administrative Computing and Telecommunications University of California, San Diego Deere has played a key role in transforming the IT services and client support at UCSD. She has managd all major application development for fi nancial, academic, telecom, research and external affairs applications for the central IT office. She has launched multiple collaborative projects between UC campuses, saving millions of dollars, and helped launch a system-wide shared technology services unit. Her department has received multiple Larry Sautter Awards for IT excellence. Private Large | RAM PATRACHARI VP of Information Technology Viejas Enterprises Patrachari excels at implementing and managing highly scalable information systems across a diverse portfolio. Viejas has won myriad awards over the years, much to the credit of Patrachari and his team. Under his leadership, the operations at the Tribal Education Center were automated on an iPad
infrastructure, affording opportunities for the Viejas band of Kumeyaay youth to achieve higher levels of education and learn their native language. Public Small | CHUCK PHILLIPS Chief Technology Officer - Digitaria Phillips and his team played a key role in Digitaria’s significant 60 percent growth in 2011. A creative thinker and technology pioneer, Phillips has helped define a new breed of digital agencies. In addition to securing bluechip clients like PETCO, Rolex and Discover America, Digitaria created the life-saving and award-winning LRA Crisis Tracker website and mobile app for its human rights partner, Invisible Children, to help protect villagers in central Africa from Joseph Kony and his guerrilla army. Private Small | GREGORY MAGARIL CIO and VP of Technology, Ceatus Media Group Magaril manages all software development and IT infrastructure for Ceatus Media Group and has provided outstanding results in all areas of responsibility. Upon joining Ceatus, he established a complete software development process virtually from the ground up, delivering tools that allow the company to operate more efficiently and acquire new business opportunities. His technology solutions have played a vital strategic role in the growth of the company. Nonprofit | HEATHER MOSHIER EVP, Information Technology - San Diego County Credit Union Moshier’s 16-year tenure of IT leadership has given SDCCU an outstanding market presence in innovation. More than 2,340 projects were completed in 2011 under Moshier’s supervision, and she was awarded the title of Information Technology Executive of the Year by Credit Union Times. SDCCU also received the Cybersecurity Award thanks to her team’s diligent work. Moshier is currently serving as chair for the CUNA Technology Council. Education | CHARLOTTE KLOCK Senior IT Executive Director, Chief Information Security & Privacy Officer - University of California, San Diego Klock and her team provide IT infrastructure support for the entire UCSD campus including areas such as network, security, data management and enterprise technical support. The network infrastructure built under her outstanding leadership has helped scientists, engineers and clinicians manage the everincreasing data, and through her robust networking environments, research data can be built and shared across the globe. She also managed to reduce costs and promote efficient use of technology throughout the campus. Private Medium | CHRISTOPHER STASZAK Chief Technology Officer - Semantic Research, Inc. A company founder and member of the Senior Executive Team, Staszak has actively participated in all growth aspects of Semantic Research, a key player in providing software and cutting-edge data analysis. Staszak’s implementations and processes have positioned the company to become the dominant player in the big-data, intelligence and law enforcement fields. Public Large | MARK ZECCA, PH.D. Chief Information Officer - Nuvasive
Zecca has enriched the IT division at Nuvasive on myriad levels, employing technologies and cuttingedge innovation to enhance the growth and reputation of the company. As the first CIO in Nuvasive’s 12-year history, he has brought leadership, tools and a vision for technology to reach the company’s goal of becoming a billion-dollar start-up and leader in the industry. Lifetime Achievement Award | BRIAN K. BAKER VP of Information Technology - Qualcomm For more than 21 years, Baker has evolved and triumphed with Qualcomm from its start-up days, playing a key role in the company’s success. Baker has a strong reputation for developing exceptional infrastructure support for the company, along with excelling as a leader with a laser-sharp focus on empowering his team. As VP of IT, Global Infrastructure, Engineering Tools & Services, Baker is responsible for the worldwide management and implementation of the company’s information technology infrastructure and operations, along with providing direct external operations and ecommerce solutions to Qualcomm’s various business divisions and their customers. He is an authentic and dedicated IT visionary with a great ability to navigate, infl uence and adapt to the ever-changing technology landscape. Cox Business Exemplary Award | JESSIE DALY Executive Director of Information Technology - Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. With more than 25 years in the IT fi eld, Daly has a wealth of experience including application design and development, program management, infrastructure and data center design, and voice, data and network systems implementation. She stands out in her fi eld for her ability to quickly assimilate information, visualize the interdependencies of complex projects and engineer solutions. She also exhibits great expertise in her capacity to design and deliver a breadth of mission-critical projects, on time and on budget. She is a natural leader with a keen facility to recognize and mentor exceptional talent. As Executive Director of IT, her many innovations have materially contributed to the success of Isis Pharmaceuticals and, ultimately, to the mission of bringing new drugs to market to help treat people in need. Technology Innovation Award | TERADATA CORPORATION Teradata is the leading analytic data solutions company focused on integrated data warehousing, big data analytics and business applications. Their powerful technologies and innovative products empower businesses to use data as a competitive advantage. Teradata Labs enables Teradata to maintain and expand its leadership role in the data analytics space, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the San Diego area and a leading employer for technologists wanting to drive innovation. Teradata is a global leader in the competitive data analytics market against giant rivals such as IBM and Oracle. The thriving company continues to provide customers with transformational database technology to empower businesses to make the best decisions possible. Scott Gnau is the President of Teradata Corporation. This article appears in the June 2012 issue of San Diego Magazine