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Changing the Way
the World Works |
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Conference
2010 Boston University Saturday, April 10 Boston, MA |
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Developing and Implementing a Strategy:
SWE International Initiative SWE welcomes members throughout the world and currently
has members from over 30 countries. SWE has initiated four pilot
programs – in Germany, Japan, Nigeria and India – as part of SWE’s
international expansion initiative. Michelle Tortolani was SWE President during
fiscal year 2008 when SWE’s international strategy was developed and the
pilot programs initiated. She also participated in early discussions
with Japanese Women Engineers Forum (JWEF) and Japan Women’s Innovative
Network (J-WIN) regarding partnership opportunities with SWE; and was a speaker
at a professional development conference held in Tokyo, Japan and jointly
sponsored by SWE, JWEF, and J-WIN to promote gender diversity in the
engineering profession. Hear about developing and implementing a
strategy, the decision to expand internationally, status of the pilot
programs, and the future of SWE’s international expansion and the
opportunities that exist to make a difference worldwide for women in
engineering. About the
Speaker: Michelle Tortolani is currently
Engineering Program Manager for advanced RF systems at Northrop Grumman
Electronic Systems. In this role, she
manages a multi-disciplined engineering team and is responsible for technical
program leadership, system design and development, strategy development, cost
and schedule management, proposal preparation, and program staffing. Previously, she was Vice
President of Repeater Engineering and Operations at XM Satellite Radio
Inc. She managed the operation,
maintenance and expansion of a nationwide terrestrial repeater network, which
supplements satellite coverage in urban areas where tall buildings and other
obstructions interfere with satellite radio reception. She also managed the repeater engineering
group which was responsible for design and development of repeater hardware
for the network, technology updates to equipment, equipment life-extension,
and equipment replacement. Prior to joining XM Satellite
Radio, Michelle led the development and manufacturing of accessories for
digital satellite receivers at WorldSpace Corporation and led the design and
development of equipment enabling the reception and transmission of the
WorldSpace signal via an existing CATV/MATV network. Previously, she managed the development and
implementation of satellite-based mobile voice and data communications
terminals for land mobile, fixed site, and maritime applications at American
Mobile Satellite Corporation. Michelle
has more than 20 years experience in program and engineering management and
systems engineering in the telecommunications and defense industries. She earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in
Electrical Engineering from Boston University. Michelle has been a tireless
champion for and a driving force to establish engineering as a highly
desirable career aspiration for women.
Her dedication to increasing the awareness of engineering as a
profession for women and encouraging women to advance and achieve in
technical careers is demonstrated through her significant contributions of
both time and management expertise to SWE, her varied student and community
outreach efforts, and as a role model.
Michelle is a Fellow life
member of SWE and has been a member of SWE for 25 years, holding a variety of
positions at the section, region and national levels. At the section level, she held the offices
of President and Treasurer for the Baltimore-Washington Section. At the region level, she served as Region E
Director. Nationally, she co-chaired
the 2000 National Conference, served as a key member of the Membership Growth
and Retention Task Force, and led the Joint Membership Task Force. She served on the Society’s Board of
Directors for 7 years, 2001-2008, as Vice President of Membership
Initiatives, Director of Professional Development, Director of External
Affairs, President-Elect, and President in FY08. In these capacities, she led initiatives to
strengthen the Society’s strategic vision; and membership, professional
development, and public policy programs. |
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