I use this blog to pass on updates, information, photos (and opinions, of course) on
a variety of projects, trips, topics and reading that I hope are of mutual interest. Substantive
comments are welcome! Sun may or may not share my opinions. My other blog is
http://katysblog.wordpress.com.
Katy Dickinson is the Director, Business Process Architecture, for Sun
Microsystems' Chief Technologist's Office (CTO). She creates then communicates measurably
effective long-lasting corporate infrastructure and processes. Her specialty is acting
as a change agent to resolve persistent and complex organizational problems.
Katy has worked for
Sun since 1984 in Engineering, Marketing, Quality, Operations, Legal, Standards, Strategy,
and Sun Labs. She has worked as a Sigma Master Black Belt for CTO and Sun Labs since 2002.
Her current projects include:
Education, Certifications, Patents, Publications:
Katy has a patent in electronic commerce (2000) and a defensive patent
publication on the SEED process (2004) as well as two other patent
applications. She has published articles on mentoring, Shakespeare, e-commerce,
and process development. 1992-2004 she was a lecturer and reviewer for
the University of California at Berkeley's Engineering-110 ("Venture
Design: The Start-up Company") class. She is Deming-trained, and is a
certified auditor for both ISO9000 and TickIT quality management
systems. She was certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt in September 2002.
She was graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a BA in English with high
honors and distinction. Her thesis was on King Lear. She is a
PADI-certified Advanced Open Water Diver.
Processes:
Sun-wide processes which Katy has designed or managed include:
- SEED - the Sun Engineering Enrichment & Development world-wide mentoring program, 2000-now
See:
Sun Mentoring: 1996-2009 by Katy Dickinson, Tanya Jankot and Helen Gracon, Sun Laboratories Technical
Report TR-2009-185, August 2009
- TAB - CTO's external Technology Advisory Board, 2002-now
- The External Awards project, 2007-now
- The Global Product Engineering Cost Tool (patent pending), 2004-2008
- The Productivity Project, 2005-2007
- TAC - CTO's Technology Advisory Board, 1999-2002
- The Archivist - Sun Labs' document archiving and clearance system (patent applied for), 2000-2002
- Sun Standards - "Submitting Contributions to an SSO" Process
- Electronic Commerce - Software Downloads (U.S. Patent 6167568, 26 December 2000), 1996-1999
See:
"Keeping an Electronic Commerce Shop" by Katy Dickinson, published in ACM StandardView, Volume 6, Issue 3 (September 1998)
- SunSoft Corporate Strategy (for SunSoft President), 1994-1996
- SAC/ARC - System Architecture Council and Architecture Review Committees, 1988-1996
- The SDF - Software Development Framework (life cycle process which was used to release over 15,000 Sun software products and components), 1985-1996
See:
"Software Process Framework at Sun" by Katy Dickinson, published in ACM StandardView, Volume 4, Issue 3 (September 1996)
Press, Awards, Presentations
For more, see http://research.sun.com/SEED/
- 2009
-
Sun Mentoring: 1996-2009 listed in "The Latest Research and Resources on
Mentoring" (p.4) of The Mentor News
ISSN 1708-9034, September 28, 2009, Peer Resources, Victoria BC, Canada
- "Sun Mentoring" September 2009 Anita Borg Institute Newsletter
- "Sun Benefits from Mentoring" 4 September 2009 SunWeb home page "Sun News" lead story
-
Sun Microsystems: "1000% ROI for mentoring" 3 September 2009, MentorNet Newsletter,
MentorNet News – September 2009 Volume 1
-
Sun Mentoring: 1996-2009 by Katy Dickinson, Tanya Jankot and Helen Gracon, Sun Laboratories Technical
Report TR-2009-185, August 2009
- "The Particular Value of Mentoring" by Katy Dickinson July 2009 Anita Borg Institute Newsletter
- National Association of Engineering Student Council (NAESC) 2009 conference industry workshops:
"Mentoring in Engineering & Computer Science & Technology Jobs", 3 April 2009, San Luis Obispo, CA
- Orion Academy 3rd Annual Seminar on Post-Secondary Transition Planning for Young
Adults with Aspergers, NLD and other Neurocognitive Deficits:
"What Happens After College? - Kids with Neurocognitive Disability Working in
Engineering and Computing", 4 April 2009, Layfayette, CA
-
"ARCO Trees Will Be Cut; Station Will Be Cited?" Willow Glen Extra response to katysblog, 14 March 2009
-
"Neighbors Oppose ARCO’s Tree Removal Request" Willow Glen Extra response to katysblog, 10 March 2009
- Maria Klawe (President, Harvey Mudd College), Telle Whitney (President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute or ABI), and Caroline Simard (Director for Research at ABI):
"Women in Computing - Take 2" February 2009 issue, Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery): "Some of the successful approaches that companies may use for recruiting, retaining, and advancing more women in computing, as well as in other technical professions, include:... Implement a mentoring program. Indeed, make mentoring which positively impacts career advancement and satisfaction, a basic part of the organizational culture. Sun Microsystems' SEED program, for example, is regarded as a major step in this direction." {emphasis added}
- Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI) "Mentoring Lessons Shared" panel member,
16 January 2009, Mountain View, CA. See
"News - CAHSI: Developing Leaders Through Mentoring" By BJ Wishinsky, Communities Program Manager,
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, January 2009
- 2008
-
Setting Up An Effective Organization To Support Girls Birds of a Feather Session, 3 October 2008,
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Keystone, CO
- Chair and organizer of
Taking the Long View – Many Careers in One Company Session 3 Panel, 2 October 2008,
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Keystone, CO
-
"Lent, Soup, and the Millennium Development Goals" p.4, June 2008 issue,
Along the King's Highway (The Official Newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real).
- "Revenge of the Nerdette" article in
Newsweek mentioned the MAGIC mentoring program of which Katy was the founding advisor,
16 June 2008
- 2007
- A photo from the
"Home Depot Willow Glen family purchases 30-ton caboose" Willow Glen Resident story
of May 25, 2007 was one of four pictures on the Willow Glen Resident cover, December 28 (v.21 Issue 52),
headline: "2007 Year in Review".
- Panel Chair "Girl Geeks in High School – Technical Experiences of Future Inventors" Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, 17-20 October 2007
- Official Conference Blogger, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, 17-20 October 2007
-
"Making IT Work for Women -
Four women tell how they've survived and flourished in the IT culture."
by Mary Brandel, August 06, 2007 (Computerworld)
-
"Home Depot Willow Glen family purchases 30-ton caboose" (cover story),
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte, May 25, 2007 Willow Glen Resident
-
"Willow Glen homeowner gets approval to add a caboose",
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte, March 2, 2007 Willow Glen Resident
- 2006
-
"Mentors can help women shatter glass ceiling - Senior colleagues can toot
your horn, bringing you money and power"
by Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC contributor, Nov 19, 2006
(mentoring quote on the 2nd page)
-
"20 ways to get promoted in the tech industry - If you agree that there's no such thing as an IT project,
you may already be on your way up the ladder" by Dan Tynan, October 16, 2006, InfoWorld
(SEED is part of "10. Find Your Yoda")
-
"Sun Microsystems' Executives Among Leading Presenters at 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing"
SANTA CLARA, Calif. October 4, 2006 Sun Microsystems Inc. Press Release
- Panelist: "Mentoring by the Numbers", Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, 4-7 October 2006
- Presenter, TechLeaders Workshop on "5 Years of Mentoring by the Numbers", Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing , 4-7 October 2006
- 'Making a Difference' poster awarded by Sun's peer recognition program - (Aug 9, 2006)
- Information Week in Israel, 28 Feb 2006 (in Hebrew,
with a photo - see below)
- 2005 and Earlier
- "Mentoring for Employee Development: SEED Program" presentation by Katy Dickinson, 17 November 2005, National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), Leadership Team and Alliance Meetings
-
Corporate Blackbelt: Lay Leadership -
"Katy Dickinson Nurtures Missions"
cover page and p.8 profile story in Mission Bell
monthly newspaper of
the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, May-September 2004, (12 pages, PDF format)
-
Accomplishments 2003 - "Year-End Reflections from Diocesan Leaders -
Department of Intercultural Evangelism & Mission" by Katy Dickinson,
Mission Bell monthly newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese
of El Camino Real, January 2004, (8 pages, PDF format)
- "SEED: Sun engineering enrichment & development" Research Disclosure Database Number 482013, defensive publication in Research Disclosure, Published in June 2004, Electronic Publication Date : 17 May 2004
- "Nurturing a Culture of Innovation" Express Computer May 2004 article on SEED program and participants in Sun's India Engineering Center (IEC) in Bangalore
-
- "Tapping into the Knowledge Network" www.sun.com article on SEED, 18 Feb 2004 [was featured on both the www.sun.com and research.sun.com home pages]
- Bit by Bit: Catalyst's Guide to Advancing Women in High
Tech Companies
, SEED is the featured case study in
the "Use Mentoring and Networks to Win" section (page 106), 2003 book
published by Catalyst
(Catalyst document #16146), ISBN 0-89584-243-2
- "Mentoring and Being Mentored on the Technology
Track" by Carla King, published on "developers.sun.com - The Source for Developers", 2003
- Interview published in sidebar of "A Different Model" article
on Dr. Greg Papadopoulos - Winter 2000, Issue 3, Institute for
Women and Technology newsletter "The Spiral" p.3
(The Institute for Women and Technology was renamed the Anita Borg Institute)
-
"Keeping an Electronic Commerce Shop" by Katy Dickinson, published in ACM StandardView, Volume 6, Issue 3 (September 1998)
- Interview published as part of Hi-Tech Jobs for Lo-Tech People (hardcover book) by William A. Schaffer, 1997, (ASIN: 0814478670)
-
"Software Process Framework at Sun" by Katy Dickinson, published in ACM StandardView, Volume 4, Issue 3 (September 1996)
- Project World Proceedings 9-13 December 1996 presentation on "Software Process Framework at Sun", Santa Clara CA
- "Ian McKellen's Richard III" article, April 1996 Rampant Boar newsletter
- 1995 Toastmasters Area Speaking Contest Winner, Evaluation Category
- 1992 Able Toastmaster (ATM, certified public speaking rank)
- 1991 Toastmasters District 4, Area C-6 Governor
-
Mentoring Queen
Sun Copyright 2006, Poster reprinted with permission
 |
Information Week in Israel, 28 Feb 2006
 |
WP668 in 2007 papers
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Used with permission of Silicon Valley Community Newspaper
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Volunteer Overview
Professional
Professionally, Katy is on the Advisory Board for the
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, and joins the Workforce Alliance of
the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT).
She is also the Secretary and a charter member of the new
Willow Glen Lions Club.
Katy has managed Sun's participation in the American Heart Association Silicon Valley Heartwalk
since 2007.
Personal
The focus of Katy's personal volunteer efforts is the
Episcopal Church:
- Katy is a Convention Delegate and Vestry Member for
Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Saratoga, CA. Prior to this, she was a Convention Delegate and Vestry Member for
All Saints' Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, CA.
- Katy volunteers weekly for the Studio 17 after school program at Santa Maria Urban
Ministry (SMUM), and is an SMUM Board Member. SMUM is the official charity of the
Diocese of El Camino Real (ECR).
- Katy is a member of the ECR Department of Missions (DOM), working with
Mission Cristo Rey in Watsonville, CA. From 2003-2007, Katy was the Convener for the
DIEM, Department of Intercultural Evangelism and Mission (now called
DOM), providing oversight, finance, and management support to 13 congregations (Latino, Anglo, and Asian).
- In 2008, Katy was on the ECR Budget Committee.
Historically, Katy has worked with the
South Bay Historical Railroad
Society (SBHRS) in Santa Clara, Junior League
(San Francisco and Palo Alto), the Mexican Museum (San Francisco),
Peninsula School
(Menlo Park), the national Women's Caucus for Art,
and other worthy groups.
She is a current member of the Silicon Valley Lines
(SVL) model train club.
Family
Katy Dickinson and her husband John Plocher live in San Jose (in the South of the San Francisco Bay Area).
Their daughter Jessica is an undergraduate at
Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) and their son is in High School.
Katy spends her free time gardening and restoring WP668, a 1916 Western Pacific steel
framed wooden caboose. She and her family have been U.C. Berkeley
Lair of the Golden Bear family campers since 1993 (Camp Blue, of course!).
WP668, December 2008
WP668, in September 1974
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WP668, around 1974
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WP668 in San Francisco
Dec 2005:
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WP668 in San Francisco
Feb 2006:
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WP668 coming home
May 2007:
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Images Copyright 2005-2009 by Katy Dickinson, John Plocher
