2008 Women of Color Rising Stars

Recognizing accomplishments of minority women in the digital world

For more than twelve years, the National Women of Color Technology Awards has been the conference of choice to recognize the significant accomplishments of minority women in the digital world, attracting and leveraging talent in innovative, professional, and technical positions. The 13th Annual Women of Color in Technology Awards Conference will take place October 23-25 in Dallas, Texas.

IBM will have three winners in the Tier 1 category, with Irene Hernandez Roberts (Software Group), receiving the highest honor, Technologist of the Year. In the Tier 2 category, IBM will have forty-four Technology All-Stars and sixty Rising Stars representing Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India and the United States.

IBM Research recognizes our three Women of Color Rising Stars awardees:

Cornelia Tsang, Senior Engineer/Scientist
Heng (Harriet) Cao, Manager, Service Oriented Enterprise Software
Ching-Hua Chen-Ritzo, Research Scientist

About the recipients

Cornelia K. Tsang is currently a Senior Engineer at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. She joined the IBM Research Division in 2001 and has worked since then in the System-on-Package/3D Integration group on novel process development and integration of silicon-based packages and 3D chip-stacks. Cornelia has been responsible for a number of successful silicon carrier fabrication projects, including her work with the DARPA Terabus project, for which she received Research Division Award in 2008. She also contributed to the implementation of through-silicon vias (TSV) in IBM’s SiGe technology, used in RF power amplifier applications.

Her research interests include through-silicon via technology, silicon carrier integration, three-dimensional integrated circuits, chip-stacking and various types of chip and wafer-level assembly and bonding. She is an author or co-author of more than 20 professional publications and holder of 23 issued or pending patents. Ms. Tsang received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Cornelia is committed to encouraging future engineers through her participation in National Engineers Week and MentorPlace school outreach programs. She also serves on the Watson Women’s Network Catalyst Committee.

What this award means to me:

"It is an incredible honor to receive the Women of Color 2008 Technology Rising Star award. This recognition is not only an affirmation of what I have already achieved, but also an inspiration to keep innovating and encouraging others who are young in their careers. I am also thankful to all of those who have provided me with support through the years, including my managers, esteemed colleagues, mentors and my family."

Heng (Harriet) Cao is a manager in the Business Analytics and Mathematical Science department at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, where she leads a team focusing on developing innovative business intelligence applications. Since she joined IBM Research in 2001, Harriet has been a lead developer and key contributor for several enterprise decision support systems. Prior to that she studied in the Computer Science School at Carnegie Mellon University with research focus on AI for manufacturing. Harriet received her M.S. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2000; she also holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Automatic Control from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

As a former Beijing College Chinese Martial Arts Competition champion (1992), she enjoys teaching young kids martial arts in the local Chinese community. Her most precious time is spent with her husband, their two young children and her friends.

What this award means to me:

"This award means recognition of years of hard work. It also means support for and more expectation of me by IBM. The award gives a lot of excitement to my family, especially my two young kids, which means the most to me."

Ching-Hua Chen-Ritzo has been a research staff member in the department of mathematical sciences since September 2005. Her research interests are in applied operations research, in the areas of supply chain and services operations management. She has a B.S. in Physics (1997) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a M.S. in Architectural Engineering (1999) from Penn State University and a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Operations Research (2006), also from Penn State University.

What this award means to me:

"I am very pleased to be a recipient of the Women of Color Rising Star award, as it is an acknowledgement of my achievements by those who nominated me as well an indication of the spirit of mutual encouragement that exists among the women of color in our technical community."