WOMEN OF COLOR AWARD WINNERS K
arla Roncal was the first in her family to go to college. At the Applied Physics Laboratory, she helps to manage a U.S. Navy-funded program focused on submarine development, with an annual budget of $5 million. In ad- dition to her technical roles, Ms. Roncal supports the APL’s efforts to recruit diverse candidates by attending college recruiting fairs and SWE national conferences.
She also volunteers with the Maryland Mathematics, Engi- neering, Science Achievement (MESA) program. In 2009, she co-developed and co-led the Maryland MESA Summer Acad- emy: College Prep 101 program, which was designed to help diverse high school students prepare for a college education. Some notable accomplishments from the pilot college prepa- ration program are that 46 percent of the students will be the first in their family to go to college, 86 percent of those who started the 11-week program completed, and of those who completed the program, and were seniors, 82 percent applied to a four-year college and 18 percent applied to a two-year college. 100 percent of the students who applied to a college were accepted. After a successful pilot program in 2009, applications were accepted for a subsequent session of College Prep 101 in July 2010.
Ms. Roncal’s desire to create an opportunity to promote STEM education is indicative of her passion in this area. While in high school, she assisted students with their math and Spanish homework and served as a teaching assistant for an educational and scientific organization created by Latino scientists and engineers— the Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering Education based in Washington D.C. While an electrical engineering major at Vanderbilt University, she created exciting and interactive sci- ence experiments for elementary and middle school students.
2010
] Tessa Lau, Ph.D. [
Manager, Smarter Web IBM Corporation
o Code Required: Giving End Users Tools to Transform the Web, is a 2010 publication co-edited by Tessa Lau, Ph.D. The book provides the reader with the tools to change from a regular Web consumer into a de- veloper, organizer or editor. Dr. Lau leads a research group working to invent technology that will change the way we build and interact with the Web. Working closely with IBM product teams, Dr. Lau is overseeing the process to trans- fer the technology into the hands of IBM users. She is also driving incorporation of the new programming languages into IBM products. Dr. Lau has defined easy-to-understand natural language statements that lead to easy sharing and refinement of programs — bringing hope for true, end-user programming. Six top universities have adopted Dr. Lau’s platform as the basis for their own future research.
N
CoScripter, a system and platform for collaboratively scripting complex and repetitive web-based tasks, is in use on the In- ternet for thousands of users. The work was recognized with a 2008 IBM Research Division Accomplishment Award and a Best Paper nomination at the CHI 2008 conference. Comput- er Human Interaction 2008 focused on the balance between art and science, design and research, practical motivation and the process that leads the way to innovative excellence.
] Karla Roncal [ Assistant Program Manager
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
www.womenofcolor.net
Dr. Lau is also passionate about encouraging women to pur- sue computer science careers. She serves on the board of the Computer Research Association’s committee on the status of women in computing research. CRA-W is an action-oriented organization dedicated to increasing the number of women participating in computer science and engineering research and education at all levels. She also serves in leadership roles at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Dr. Lau is a role model for many young researchers in com- puting who would like to use their knowledge and skills to create IT assets that can benefit millions of people.
WOMENOFCOLOR | FALL 2010 41
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
NEW MEDIA/IT LEADERSHIP
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96