SPECIAL RECOGNITION HONOREES

from 2014 Women of Color | FALL - VOL. 13, NO. 2

Women of Color Volume 13 Number 2

She often speaks about the importance of engineering, and participates in several panels. Some of her past engagements include participating in a panel for APL Technology Leadership Scholars Program, speaking at the APL College Prep Summer Program, and representing the Society of Women Engineers at Swansfield Elementary. Dr. Farrar has also taken time to mentor young students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Farrar earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from John Hopkins University is 2010, in 2009, she earned a M.S. in materials science and engineering, and in 2003 earned an M.S. in electrical and computer engineering, all from Johns Hopkins University. She also has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Maryland College Park and a degree in physics from Lincoln University.

With an M.B.A., M.P.H., and M.S. securely in her back pocket, Saroja Raj is at the forefront of Lockheed Martin’s energy team as they strive for lower carbon emissions by reducing energy use and associated energy costs.

The environmental health and safety engineer principle has guided the facilities and energy leadership teams of senior managers and directors as they have identified and implemented strategic and tactical plans related to achieving energy, water, and Go Green goals. This included development of new Go Green 2020 goals, after helping Lockheed Martin achieve its original five-year Go Green goals a year early.

Ms. Raj’s concept of Energy Structured Improvement Activities (SIAs) has successfully identified implementable improvements at sites that consistently show strong return on investment analysis and results. She has led these over four years at the Top 30 energy-using sites using a “tiger team” of internal and external facilities and energy experts dedicated to reducing energy usage. The teams identified more than $30 million in achievable, annual energy cost savings at these sites. Their target is to continue driving down the $180 million annual cost of energy and water, with $19 million in Go Green savings shown in 2013.

Lockheed Martin’s 2013 carbon dioxide reductions are equivalent to more than 40,000 cars using 20 million gallons of gas or 28,000 homes worth of energy.

Ms. Raj’s leadership in this area earned significant external environmental and sustainability recognition for Lockheed Martin including: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leadership awards, EPA Green Power Purchase award and high ratings from Newsweek and the Carbon Disclosure Project leadership index for both performance and disclosure. Her technical skills, leadership and ability to work with all levels – from maintenance technicians and facility engineers to executive management – has led to her success with both the SIAs and the Energy Leadership team, says Hal Ehrhardt, environmental engineering senior manager.

Her awards and honors include: Corporate Energy Environmental Safety and Health Special Recognition Excellence Award, 2013; Enterprise Business Services Shining Stars of Excellence Award for Team Excellence, 2012; Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Controls Facilities Excellence Award; 2012; LM21 Operating Excellence Shining Star Award, 2011; and Lockheed Martin Technical Operations Special Recognition Excellence Awards, 2007 and 2004.

Cheryl Moo-Young has built a successful career out of her love of information technology. She is a leader in technology, who has the skill and knowledge to help companies make successful technology transformations.

Ms. Moo-Young put her talents to use as the delivery lead for a multi-million dollar service center build-out associated with the Affordable Care Act. She managed more than 70 people responsible for building a healthcare exchange call center, customer relationship management tool and print processing for enrollment and eligibility documents. The project was so successful, until the client expanded the contract to include sales and marketing.

TECHNICAL INNOVATION – INDUSTRY

Saroja Raj

Environmental Health & Safety Engineer Principle, Corporate Energy and Water Efficiency Program Lead, Lockheed Martin Corporation

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Cheryl Moo-Young

Senior Infrastructure Manager Accenture LLP

PROVIDING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND A DIVERSE CULTURE TO ACCELERATE TOMORROW.

She is now in charge of implementing strategy to increase the number of residents enrolling for healthcare. This goal is possible by using existing technological infrastructure Ms. Moo-Young helped to deploy and integrate with the state’s new healthcare application.

Without Ms. Moo-Young’s management efforts, Accenture would have been at a disadvantage on this project. The client has praised her and her team for surpassing their high expectations. Her contribution played a huge part in making the Affordable Care Act a success.

Ms. Moo-Young has had success in several industries, including healthcare, telecommunications and financial services. She began her career as a consultant who designed infrastructure and gathered requirements for massive software implementations. She is now an Infrastructure Senior Manager with talent that extends beyond technology. Thanks to her talents, businesses can transform their technology ideas into tangible realities.

She graduated from Morgan State University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering. She was the top student in industrial engineering with a cum laude grade point average. After graduation, she joined Andersen Consulting/Accenture and began building a successful career.

She has more than 13 years of IT experience, and has managed multi-million dollar, large-scale network transformations for several industries, including the government, financial services and telecommunications.

Ms. Jo Ann Minor is currently the chief financial officer of PEO Aircraft Carriers. Her position is one of importance, as she is responsible for all aspects of managing execution of more than $22 billion in aircraft carrier acquisition funding and budgeting. She is also responsible for management and guidance in balance program priorities, milestones, and strategic goals.

As the chief financial officer, she is also responsible for advising and leading project managers as they develop, organize, and execute projects. Ms. Minor’s numerous professional achievements have resulted in a successful career.

Ms. Minor began her career with the Department of the Navy Headquarters in 1986 in Arlington Virginia. She started with the Naval Sea systems command in the weapons and combat system directorate, gun ammunition division. Two years later, she moved to the planning and analysis branch as an appropriation analyst. In 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Graduate School Women’s Executive Leadership Program chose Ms. Minor as a participant. She completed the program with a graduate certificate in executive leadership.

While participating in the USDA program, she completed an assignment with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Acquisition and Technology, acquisition resource division. She also completed an assignment with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Acquisition Reform Office. During that time, she was the acquisition reform team leader for the Department of Defense Change-Through-Exchange initiative. In 2003, Mr. Minor served as the in-service carriers assistant program manager for financial management.

An addition to her professional achievements, Ms. Minor has several educational achievements.

Ms. Minor is a graduate of NCU Chapel Hill Navy executive business course. She earned her degree in business administration from Strayer University, and her master’s degree in public administration from American University. In 2010, she earned a doctoral certificate of advance graduate studies in financial management from Northcentral University.

Ms. Angela Zielinski is a well-respected leader at Chrysler who understands the importance of community service. She is dedicated to her Chrysler career, but is just as serious about shaping young minds and connecting with the community.

Ms. Zielinski previously served as adjunct professor of development and general math at Baker College. Sharing her love of math with students allowed her to help them grow, and encouraged them to pursue careers in math.

The Kettering University “Lives Improve Through Engineering” (LITE) mentoring program is another way in which Ms. Zielinski connects to the community. LITE introduces 11th-grade girls to engineering, and explains how engineers improve lives through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The aim of the two week residential program is to highlight the importance of engineering, and to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers.

In addition to LITE, Ms. Zielinski spends time as a high school mentor in the Flint and Beecher schools.

Jo Ann Minor

Chief Financial Officer PEO Aircraft Carriers Department of the Navy

Angela Zielinski

Uconnect Service Management Lead Chrysler Group LLC

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communities. Students discuss their personal and educational concerns with Ms. Zielinski, who is a trusted confident and advisor.

Many engineers within Chrysler see Ms. Zielinski as a mentor as well, due to her effective leadership skills.

Ms. Zielinski has spent the last four years as part of the Chrysler family. Ms. Zielinski had successful positions at GM and Ford prior to joining Chrysler, and she has 19 years of industry experience. Her exceptional work ethic, desire to learn and ability to set an example for coworkers on the Uconnect team make her valuable to Chrysler.

She has a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from GMI Engineering & Management Institute. She also has a Master of Science degree in operations management from Kettering University.

Anna Yang (Kunping Shu) has worked hard to hone her management skills, and become a respected leader within Chrysler.

In 2013, Ms. Yang became the early product management manager for the advanced manufacturing engineering product group. It is a demanding position with many responsibilities. Ms. Yang accepts the challenge, and performs the job with determination and skill.

She is responsible for leading a cross functional team to initiate and develop proposals for product improvement. The position also demands that she is responsible for implementing and researching product standards to minimize plant losses and eliminate last-minute changes.

Since joining Chrysler in 1996, Ms. Yang has put her talent to good use.

As the central stamping operations industrial engineering (IE) lead, she lead a team that was able to improve die change time by 36 percent across the stamping organization. At the end of 2010, stamping time was 40.4 minutes. At the end of 2013, stamping time was 25.9 minutes. Her team also improved throughput by 20 percent by going from 368 hits per hour to 442 hits per hour.

Ms. Yang believes in the power of teamwork, and works diligently to guide her team to success. She also has a strong worth ethic, and is committed to excellence. She is a mentor in the IE mentoring program, and a member of the Chrysler Asian Network (CAN). She is also recognized as one of the most influential and helpful Chinese persons in the Detroit area.

In 1984, Ms. Yang earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Shanghai University of Technology. She came to America in 1990 with her husband to pursue educational and career opportunities. In 1993, she earned a Master of Science in manufacturing management from University of Toledo.

Ms. Melonie Parker is currently the director of human resources for Lockheed Martin mission systems and training (MST). She has more than 16 years of professional experience, and several achievements that support Lockheed Martin’s business objectives. When she received a master’s in human resources from Villanova University, she knew exactly what she wanted to accomplish.

Ms. Parker has worked in several positions dealing with human resources disciplines, including equal employment opportunity, diversity and inclusion, corporate staffing, human resources lead and workforce analytics and acquisition. One thing all of these roles have in common is that they allow Ms. Parker to help develop, train and mentor employees.

Currently, Ms. Parker manages a team of nine human resource business partners supporting the undersea systems line of business. Her responsibilities also include the business development and legal functional areas.

During her career, she has managed major workforce restructuring during difficult economic times. She has also facilitated change management across her client areas. Ms. Parker leads the human capital strategy for MST. This includes leading a cross-functional HR strategy team that focuses on attracting the best talent to meet business goals and objectives.

Ms. Parker would like to inform more African-Americans about the career opportunities at Lockheed Martin. To accomplish this, she spends time connecting with students at historically Black educational institutions. She is instrumental in recruiting key talent from historically Black colleges and universities. Her personal efforts at Hampton University yielded a 55 percent offer rate for students interviewed for intern and full-time entry-level employment.

Anna Yang

EPM Manager Chrysler Group LLC

Melonie Parker

Human Resources Director Lockheed Martin

She headed an information session, conducted career discussions and helped students find appropriate openings. Ms. Parker took it upon herself to personally follow-up with each student through each step of the recruitment process.

Her mentoring extends to younger students as well, as she successfully developed K-12 STEM outreach initiatives on behalf of Lockheed Martin. These initiatives include National Engineering Week and Take Your Child to Work Day activities.

Ms. Parker believes that professional achievement is not only about a career. It also includes helping others succeed with their life goals.

Ms. Lamia Spedden has spent 14 years creating a career that encompasses innovative and creative approaches to system development and communications marketing. She is a respected leader and mentor to customers and employees at Lockheed Martin. Although she is dedicated to her job, Ms. Spedden is also serious about her commitment to community service.

Education plays an important role in Ms. Spedden’s community service activities. Her commitment to education is for self-improvement, and the betterment of everyone around her. She is an advocate and champion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Her list of volunteer activities shows she takes every opportunity to support STEM activities in the community.

Ms. Spedden tapped into her creativity and created a program to introduce kids to STEM. The program, Coloring Books to iPads, combines STEM with early childhood education. The program is for first grade students at Ashland Elementary School in Manassas, Virginia.

Another creative idea allowed her to raise the level of excitement around the I Love STEM Day at Featherbed Lane Elementary School. With the use of an interactive video, she convinced the students and faculty to dance around the gym. The multimedia presentation also showed students how science is part of their morning routine, such as when brushing their teeth, and how riding a bike to school is engineering at work.

Ms. Spedden taught students how to create a website during a technology and social media session at Springbrook High School. She taught the students about blogging, and demonstrated how it can help them communicate with other students, teachers, friends, and family. During the assembly, one hundred students participated in building a webpage. They learned how easy it is to add real time updates to the site. Ms. Spedden even showed the broadcast of the NASA Mars Rover with simple clicks the students could replicate at home.

Ms. Spedden has a Bachelor of Science in information systems management. She also has several certifications, including a PMP — Certified Project Management Professional.

Ms. Bowles’ letters of recommendation read like she’s a rock star. It is apparent that those voicing their endorsements for a Managerial Leadership Award spent precious time nailing just the right adjectives to convey her performance.

Among her staunch supporters are Daniel Conley, NAVAIR, Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, 6.3.1 competency manager; Captain Tim Pfannenstein, NAVAIR, Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, executive officer; and D.B. Simmons III, commanding officer, Fleet Readiness Center, Southwest.

Ms. Bowles is Conley’s branch manager of his Industrial Engineering Technicians (IET) group. Conley says Ms. Bowles’ group “has developed a close-knit culture of mutual respect and they all look to Ms. Bowles for the solution and her systematic approach to working on issues as they arise. This has led to inspiring her personnel to achieve goals and work outside of their basic expectations. Her people see her as a role model and look up to her as their voice in the organization. The Navy will benefit from her mentorship of her employees long into the future.”

Conley also called Ms. Bowles a “go to” point of contact for the entire senior leadership, the commanding officer and executive officer. “It is rare to find a talent that will take on as much technical and soft skills issues and be able to resolve them equally well. I am certain she has a storied career ahead of her.”

Simmons explains that Ms. Bowles 24-person IET performs the work of 50 employees. He attributes this exemplary performance to her leadership, innovation, organizational skills and systematic approach to both strategic and tactical tasks [that] motivates her associates to work hard, overcome obstacles, and work at a high level.”

Captain Pfannenstein adds: “From day one, it was obvious to me this phenomenal employee would be an ‘All-Star’ regardless of assignment or task. She proves this each day through her exceptional leadership, team-building, and

Lamia Spedden

Website Designer Staff Lockheed Martin Corporation

LaTonya Bowles

Industrial Engineering Technician Supervisor Naval Air Systems Command

analytical skills. In doing so, she has become a vital member of our team and as a subject matter expert, she is laying the groundwork for Navy operations for decades to come.”

Ms. Cora Ingrum is a champion of education. She has spent more than 45 years mentoring and fostering the careers of students at the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere. She is currently the director of multicultural and academic support programs at Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. She also serves as assistant to the dean.

One of her main areas of focus is the recruitment, retention and support of underrepresented graduate and undergraduate students. The students know that Ms. Ingrum will provide guidance, friendship and solace when they need it.

Ms. Ingrum’s activities are a testament to her dedication to education.

She is a co-founder and former secretary of PRIME, Inc. (Philadelphia Regional Introduction for Minorities in Engineering). From 1973 to 1999, she sat on the PRIME board of directors.

Since the early ‘70s to now, she serves as the staff affirmative action compliance officer for Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. She has also been a member of the Penn Women’s Center since 1980.

Ms. Ingrum is also active with the Graduate Consortium for Minority Degrees in Engineering and the Council on Career Development for Minorities Inc. Many other organizations and committees, including the Penn Committee on National Women of Color, benefit from Ms. Ingrum’s participation.

Under her guidance and leadership, there has been an increase in local, state and national levels of women and minority students earning Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering, the Master of Science in engineering, and joint degrees in engineering and business, and doctorates.

Because of Ms. Ingrum’s leadership and guidance, Penn is currently a leader in producing under-represented students in the Ph.D. program. As of 2013, the Penn Alliance for Minority Participation has provided more than 913 minority STEM students with academic counseling, advising and mentoring.

Ms. Ingrum has received several honors, including the 1997 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Ms. Kelly Fling has built a successful career with the U.S. Army. She has dedicated more than 10 years of her life to being an important member of the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC). She has earned the respect of her peers as a leader and a scientist.

She began her career with the Aberdeen Test Center as an intern, but quickly earned her way into the supervisor position. Ms. Fling is now a respected team leader who plays an indispensable role in the mission of ATC.

Ms. Fling’s input has resulted in improved data assets on the test ranges. She is also responsible for making sure effective data products are available in real time to test participants. Her team has also successfully developed innovative ways to support test events in the field with portable atmospheric devices. This is important because weather data is critical to ATC test missions.

Since joining ATC, Ms. Fling has had several major achievements.

Ms. Fling played an important role in the revised air quality risk management strategy for open burn/open detonation operations at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Her contribution ensured open burn/open detonation activities, which are crucial to ATC’s mission, could continue without mishap.

The revised strategy put Ms. Fling’s team in an important role as part of daily operations. The team has the responsibility of providing weather data and modeling expertise for go/no go decisions.

Ms. Fling and her team also support the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). Her team is essential to the accurate forecasting of severe weather that affects the Garrison, allowing emergency response teams and the APG Emergency Operations Center to make decisions regarding the safety of the 21,000 personnel. In 2012, during Super Storm Sandy, Ms. Fling was instrumental in early preparations for the storm that minimized damage to the Aberdeen Test Center and to the Garrison.

Ms. Fling is a well-respected leader, individual and mentor. She has received several awards and commendations, including a letter of commendation from commander, Aberdeen Test Center for bringing into operational status the first moveable sonar system.