Aleksandra Boskovic, research director for Optics, Surface and Integration Technologies at Corning Incorporated, will be named 2016 Technologist of the Year at the 21st Annual Women of Color STEM Conference. The conference will be held Thursday, Oct 13 to Saturday, 15, 2016.
Dr. Boskovic has five patents that enable telecommunications systems to keep up with bandwidth growth at the speed of light. Her most recent invention is an optical communication system. She has invented an optical networking device for optical networks with increased transparency, and an optical communication system with a fiber link capable of transmitting optical signals with high optical launch power over long distances.
Dr. Boskovic leads a research group that builds understanding in optics, surface science, and thin films in order to make important inventions. These innovations are for high bandwidth communications, data center applications around the world for productivity and higher capacity, and novel glass surfaces.
In addition to the top award, more than 40 STEM professionals nominated by their employers will be recognized.
Women of Color Conference is sponsored by Consumers Energy and Career Communications Group’s Women of Color Magazine. Hosted by General Motors, the conference will take place at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center COBO Center from October 13 through 15, 2016.
Below are the finalists for the 2016 Women of Color STEM Conference Awards.
TECHNOLOGIST OF THE YEAR
Aleksandra Boskovic, Ph.D.
Research Director
Corning Incorporated
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
Leah Taylor
Vice President – Investment Specialist
J.P. Morgan Private Bank
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT – GOVERNMENT
Andrea Veil
Executive Director, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT – INDUSTRY
Joi Harris
Vice President – Gas Operations
DTE Energy
COMMUNITY SERVICE – INDUSTRY
Sydney L. Davis
Systems Integration Specialist
Quality & Product Launch
Consumers Energy
COMMUNITY SERVICE – INDUSTRY
Raquel P. Cundiff
Customer Engineering Manager
The Boeing Company
COMMUNITY SERVICE – INDUSTRY
Vannia Willis
Contracted Research and Development (CRAD) Program Manager
Huntington Ingalls Industries
COMMUNITY SERVICE – GOVERNMENT
Tiffany Owens
Systems Safety Engineer
Naval Sea Systems Command
CORPORATE PROMOTION OF EDUCATION
Rosa Bushkuhl, P.E.
Project Engineer, New Business Development
Consumers Energy
CORPORATE PROMOTION OF EDUCATION
Katy Wong
Systems Engineer Senior Staff
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Amber Brown
Project Engineer Staff
Lockheed Martin Corporation
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Anita Lee Wright
Business Development & Proposal Operations Manager
Northrop Grumman Corporation
MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP – GOVERNMENT
Darlene Baxter
Deputy Director, Project Planning and Control
NASA Langley Research Center
MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP – INDUSTRY
Esther Betancourt
Director of Engineering Defense Systems
Harris Corporation
MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP – INDUSTRY
Audra E. Ryan-Jones
Vice President, Federal Civilian Market Segment Leader
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION – GOVERNMENT
Victoria Chung
Head, Simulation Development and Analysis Branch
Research Services Directorate
NASA Langley Research Center
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION – INDUSTRY
Evelyn “Elven” Chern, Ph.D.
Lead Principal-Technical Architect
AT&T
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION – INDUSTRY
Sophia Shiue
Business Process Manager
Information and Communication Technology Product Design, Development, and Product Planning
FCA US LLC
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION – INDUSTRY
Regina Sullivan, Ph.D.
Aeronautical Engineer, Sr.
Lockheed Martin Corporation
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Paula Noble
Vice President, Human Resources Corporate & Shared Services Group
The Boeing Company
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT – GOVERNMENT
Kelly Oberia Elmore, MD, MBA
CDR, MC, USN
Director, Healthcare Business
US Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT – GOVERNMENT
Dr. Juanita Harris
Director, Weapons Development & Integration Directorate
Department of the Army Senior Executive Service (SES)
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT – INDUSTRY
Melissa E. Morrison-Ellis, PMP
Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated
Netter Sensor System (JLENS) Deputy Program Manager
Raytheon Company
K-12 PROMOTION OF EDUCATION
Alicia Morgan
Program Leader and Advisory Board Chairperson
Heart House Dallas and Bryan Adams High School
Academies of Engineering and Biomedical Sciences
STUDENT LEADERSHIP
Courtney Lee Mason
Student
United States Naval Academy
TECHNICAL INNOVATION – GOVERNMENT
Sharon Robinson-Keith
Mission Systems Lead Engineer
F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office
TECHNICAL INNOVATION – INDUSTRY
Evelyn R. Anderson, CISM®, CGEIT®, CRISCTM
Senior Technical Staff Member
Global Technology Services
Global Risk and Compliance Management
IBM Corporation
TECHNICAL INNOVATION – INDUSTRY
Phyllis Spence
Engineering Fellow
Raytheon Company
VISIONARY AWARD
Pat Walker Locke
President
Seeds of Humanity Foundation, Inc.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Monica Brown
Director, Enterprise IT Delivery Management
T-Mobile
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Anudeep Cheema
Supervisor, Information Communication and Technology (ICT)
MOPAR Warranty Systems
FCA US LLC
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Courtney H. Coulter
Lead Electronics Engineer
U.S. Army Communications – Electronics Research,
Development and Engineering Center
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Camille R. Daniel
Project Manager, Lead Analyst, Asst. Group Supervisor
Force Projection Sector
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Ming Hu
Director, Technology
AT&T
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Arundhati Desai
Project Manager
FCA US LLC
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Andrea Jemison-Smith
Manager – Torque and Core Technology
General Assembly Manufacturing Engineering
FCA US LLC
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Valarie W. Mackey
IT Director
The Coca-Cola Company
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Shava Meadows
Systems Engineer
Air Force Research Laboratory
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Amy Nguyen
Computer Scientist/Project Lead Duke V2/V3
United States Army
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Jennifer Stringfellow
Lead Data Manager, Test Engineer
Missile Defense Agency
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Alana Tyler Murphy
Senior Manager – Systems Engineering
Raytheon Company
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Elaine Ward (WOC 2015)
Technical Director, Enterprise Strategy & Transformation Technical Center
The MITRE Corporation
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Tabice Ward
Director – Information Protection & Security
DTE Energy