Two of the finalists for this year’s Women of Innovation® awards will be featured on Thursday, June 25 in a noontime webinar presented by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT).
Featured will be Amy Grace, Director, Advanced Sustainment, Pratt & Whitney, and Jacquelynn Garofano, PhD, Margaret Ingels Engineering Development Program Manager, Raytheon Technologies. Both are finalists in the Large Business Innovation and Leadership category.
The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) and the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) recently announced the 50 women in 10 categories who have been selected as Women of Innovation® Finalists for the 16th Annual Women of Innovation® awards. The program celebrates and adds to a growing network of women leading Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing (STEM) throughout Connecticut.
The webinar is part of CCAT’s Connecticut Manufacturers Webinar Series, co-hosted with the Advanced Manufacturing Employer Partnership (AMEP). The hour-long webinar, 12:00-1:00 PM, is free of charge. Individuals can register here or on the CCAT website, www.ccat.us. This week’s webinar on June 25 will also feature a manufacturing presentation – AI in Advanced Manufacturing – by Dr. Mark Maybury, Chief Technology Officer of Stanley Black & Decker.
The finalists in this category are women who have managed a program, project, or business unit in an exemplary way in a large corporation (more than 500 employees) or professional services firm. Each of the seven finalists has at least three years of managerial or technical experience in technology, science, or engineering.
Women of Innovation® Finalists are nominated by their peers, coworkers, and mentors, and are selected based on their professional experience, history of innovation, ability to think creatively and solve problems, and demonstration of leadership.
Amy Grace’s passion, over her 30 year career at Pratt & Whitney, has been applying advanced analysis techniques to enhance customer experience with P&W engine and Collins Aerospace systems. She recently returned to her P&W Military engines roots as Director, Advanced Sustainment, to develop cutting-edge tools to enable future support of 60000+ engines. She earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University.
Jacquelynn Garofano is program manager of the Margaret Ingels Engineering Development Program at Raytheon Technologies, leading the next generation of engineers who will redefine aerospace and defense. She earned a doctorate from UConn, holds two U.S. patents and has authored 11 publications.
The finalists for Women of Innovation® awards were selected from more than 150 women nominated earlier this year. They include researchers, educators, engineers, managers, students, and entrepreneurs who work in or study biotech, pharmaceuticals, software, computer hardware, advanced materials, medical devices, IT, and associated fields. High school, undergraduate and graduate students who have exhibited extraordinary and unique achievements in their technology disciplines are among the 50 Women of Innovation® finalists.
Last week’s CCAT webinar featured Aundrya Montgomery, Research Assistant at the University of Connecticut; Rachel Petro, Mechanical Design Engineer at Pratt & Whitney; and Maranda Wong, Commercials Engines Deputy CIPT, MPE at Pratt & Whitney. They are the three finalists in the Community Innovation and Leadership category.
Previous webinars featured Niasia Williams, Mechanical Systems Engineer at Pratt & Whitney and Carrie McCusker, Technical Lead at Sonalysts. Williams is a finalist in the Inspiring STEM Equitability Award category and McCusker is a finalist in the Small/Medium Business Innovation and Leadership Category. Video messages from the student finalists at the high school and collegiate level have also been featured.
Videos created by the high school finalists and the recording of previous webinars can be viewed at: www.ccat.us/womenofinnovation
All nominees were required to meet minimum requirements as well as those specific to the awards for which they were nominated. Nominees had to be currently working or studying in the State of Connecticut, demonstrating strong leadership abilities, and serving (or previously served) as a mentor in some capacity – short- or long-term, life mentor, career mentor, or peer mentor. Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced this Fall.
Women of Innovation® premier sponsors are CTNext and Medtronic. Showcase sponsor is Accounting Resources Inc. Media partners include WTNH News 8, Connecticut magazine and Lite 100.5 WRCH. Learn more at www.CCAT.us/womenofinnovation
Media Contact:
Bernard Kavaler
860.729.3021
bernard@express-strategies.com
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