LOS ANGELES, May 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WITI (Women in Technology International), the leading advocate for innovation, inclusivity and STEAM, today announced five exceptional women inductees for their contributions in science and technology. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at WITI’s annual Women in Technology Summit, June 9-11 in San Jose, CA. WITI established this prestigious award 25 years ago to recognize outstanding contributions women have been making in technology and innovation and impacting society and businesses. To date, more than 135 trailblazers have been inducted into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame.
The 2019 distinguished inductees are:
- Heather Hinton, Ph.D., vice president & distinguished engineer, IBM.
- Julia Liuson, corporate vice president, Developer Tools, Microsoft.
- Sara Rushinek, Ph.D., professor, Business Technology & Health Informatics, University of Miami.
- Natalia Trayanova, Ph.D., professor, Biomedical Engineering & Medicine, Johns Hopkins University.
- Blanca Treviño, president & chief executive officer, Softtek.
"We launched the Women in Technology Hall of Fame in 1996 - at a time when there were no platforms showcasing the contributions of women in technology," said Carolyn Leighton, CEO and founder, WITI. "Since then, more than 100 exceptional women have been selected for this award. These Women in Technology Hall of Fame inductees inspire future generations to reach higher, push boundaries, and create breakthroughs that will positively impact our future."
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Inductees’ Background and Achievements
Dr. Heather Hinton is an IBM distinguished engineer, and an IBM master inventor. She was recently awarded an IBM Corporate Patent Portfolio for her patent work in the area of single sign-on and identity federation, an area she helped create as one of the original authors of the cross-domain single sign-on functionality. As IBM Hybrid Cloud CISO (chief information security officer), Dr. Hinton is responsible for the overall adoption of secure engineering and software development practices, as well as the secure operation and compliance with security and privacy requirements for internal environments and Cloud offerings, while acting as a security enablement evangelist for the organization.
She has led the redesign of IBM’s Secure Development Lifecycle discipline to address data handling, global privacy regulations and an increasingly hostile cyber security landscape. Dr. Hinton has over 25 years of computer security experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer & Electrical Engineering in Computer Security from the University of Toronto.
Julia Liuson is the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Developer Division and leads the technical and business strategy, product development and engineering teams for Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, .NET and .NET core framework and developer platform for Microsoft Azure – including all programming languages, runtime, tools for building Azure, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile and Windows-oriented applications.
Previously, Ms. Liuson served in a variety of leadership roles in product and engineering in the Microsoft Visual Studio product line. She also worked as general manager for Microsoft Server and Tools Business in Shanghai, while running engineering teams on both sides of the Pacific. Ms. Liuson began her career as a Microsoft software design engineer, working on Office clients and various developer-oriented products. She was the first woman promoted to corporate vice president of Engineering at Microsoft. She received the Asian American Executive of the Year award in 2013. Ms. Liuson earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.
Dr. Sara Rushinek is a professor of Business Technology and Health Informatics at the University of Miami Business School. She is also a professor in the Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Investigation (MSCTI) Research Program at the Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Rushinek specializes in expert and artificial intelligence systems, big data analytics, cutting-edge hybrid collaborative tools and techniques, SEO app development, computer litigation support, health informatics, cyber security, blockchain applications and automated algorithmic trading systems. She serves on the leadership team of WITI, the Government Blockchain Association, and as an Academic Advocate for ISACA. In addition, she serves as an advisor, consultant and mentor to the business, tech, and startup communities.
Dr. Rushinek has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California (USC), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Tel Aviv University, and the Technion. She earned her undergraduate degree from Tel Aviv University and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Natalia Trayanova is the Murray B. Sachs professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and a professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She directs the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation as well as the Computational Cardiology Laboratory. Dr. Trayanova is the primary innovator and trailblazer in the use of modern computation and modeling approaches in cardiac arrhythmia research and in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart rhythm disorders. Through her first-of-their-kind personalized virtual hearts, she is pioneering advances in personalized medicine for patients with cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Trayanova has published more than 350 scientific papers and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for her groundbreaking work in computational cardiology. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of HRS, a Fellow of AHA, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering.
Blanca Treviño co-founded Softtek in 1982, with a small group of entrepreneurial-minded students. Under her leadership, the company has since grown to more than 12,000 employees with 30 offices in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the US. Throughout her career at Softtek, Ms. Treviño has gained international recognition as a promoter of the IT (information technology) services industry, collaborating with various government administrations promoting the nearshore model. She has been an advisor to several government leaders at state and federal levels on crafting policies that promote the use of technology, and the development of talent in the IT space.
In 2009, CNN Expansión Magazine named Ms. Treviño as one of the most powerful women in Mexico. She was the first woman to be inducted into the International Association of Outsourcing Hall of Fame and her appointment to the Mexico Business Council necessitated the organization change its name from the Mexican Council of Businessmen. Ms. Treviño is an active board member of Walmart Mexico and The Mexican Stock Exchange, along with several associations and universities. She also served as a member of the World Economic Forum B20 Task Force on ICT and Innovation.
About WITI
WITI (Women in Technology International) is committed to empowering innovators, inspiring future generations and building inclusive cultures, globally. WITI is redefining the way women and men collaborate to drive innovation and business growth, and is helping corporate partners create and foster gender inclusive cultures. A leading authority of women in technology and business, WITI has been advocating and recognizing women's contributions in the industry for more than 30 years. The organization delivers leading edge programs and platforms for individuals and companies -- designed to empower professionals, boost competitiveness and cultivate partnerships, worldwide.
WITI’s ecosystem includes more than three million professionals, 60 networks and 300 partners, worldwide. To learn more, please visit witi.com.
Contact:
Parna Sarkar-Basu
V.P. Marketing, WITI
parna@corp.witi.com