What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

When I was a junior in college I got a summer internship at the Martinez Veteran's Medical Center which was affiliated with the U.C. Davis Medical School. The title of the position sounded promising, Medical Technician. During the first month all I did was copy medical journal articles for the Chief of Internal Medicine. I spent most of my time reading the articles; that was fine for the first couple of weeks. After the fourth week I decided to quit. I was really disappointed with the job; I wanted to learn more than how to operate a Xerox machine. When I gave my resignation to the Chief of Internal Medicine he refused it. He told me that I was too impatient and I was throwing an opportunity away. He arranged for me to go on rounds with the medical students and insisted that I come up with a plan for the summer. I decided that I wanted to help with a research project.

I was introduced to a pulmonary fellow doing tissue research and the Chief of Pulmonary Medicine who was involved with lung volumes research. My first choice was to do tissue research but it didn't work out. I ended up helping on the lung volume project. The immediate need on that project was to analyze existing data. Nobody wanted that job. Everybody wanted to collect the data in the lab. It was more fun filling our lungs up with helium to speak like Donald Duck. Since I was new, I got stuck with the data analysis. This turned out well since I enjoyed writing and learning new statistical programs. This summer internship turned into a two year position and the research paper was eventually published with me as one of the authors.

Besides getting the insider's view of what medical school and medicine was all about, I learned two important things about myself. First, I realized that I enjoyed working with computers and, secondly, I learned that it's important to set your goals and work hard to achieve them even when things don't look promising at first.

What inspired you to choose your current field or the position you currently hold?

During my childhood and adolescence I enjoyed mysteries and puzzles. Through my work experience I also realized that I was competent at using computers to help me with my work. It was natural for me to combine these three interests. In the high tech field things are always changing, so there are puzzles and mysteries to solve on a daily basis.

Why would you encourage other women or young women and girls to choose careers in your field? What advice would you give someone who wanted to choose your career?

This field is great for someone who is interested in using a systematic approach to problem solving. The other added benefit is you get to play with the latest technologies. There is a new toy to play with on almost a monthly basis. Also you get to constantly refine and learn new skills to keep up with the latest projects. One other benefit is this field tends to attract talented people who have had diverse experiences, so one can broaden and enrich one's perspectives through work contacts.

My advice for someone interested in this career is to keep taking your math, science and computer science courses. In addition, make sure you hone your writing and communication skills. Really concentrate on practicing how to learn because you'll need this skill to keep up in this industry.

What motivates or inspires you on a daily bases in your field or job?

The most motivating factor on a daily bases is interacting with my colleagues. The people I work with are extremely talented. It's rewarding to accomplish our goals together, through sharing ideas and learning from each other.

What do you see as the single most interesting element of your work?

The cutting edge technologies, I call them toys, that I get to play with. The challenge is to keep learning and develop perspectives and understanding of how to apply the technology in a timely and productive fashion.

Why is your field or industry important to society?

Software quality assurance helps to ensure that our design software, AutoCAD has the best value and quality possible for customers. Our number one goal is to make sure our software serves our customer's design needs. In the bigger picture, society depends on new designs to maintain a growing economy. The design tool that we are providing will help society to advance with more efficient ways of doing things.

What is your vision for your industry's or field's future? What are some of the exciting things to watch for in your field or industry?

From a quality assurance perspective, the most exciting thing is using automation to help us with the all important job of delivering quality software in a timely fashion. Right now a lot of the automation methods are just in the pioneering stage. I envision that we will use automation in more exciting ways to benefit the testing effort of software.

In the design field, we should see more easy to use tools that allow users to customize the software for their specific design needs. These tools will make it a lot easier to conceptualize the design before actual implementation. One of the obvious fields we haven't tapped yet is the creative and intelligent use of the Internet for our daily work. One of the exciting and pivotal scenarios is whether we will we be able to wrestle control away from people vested in the current technology so we can move toward a common standard where all computer platforms can communicate equally well with newly developed software.

What values are the most important to you and what do you value in others? How do you prioritize these values in your daily life?

Some of the most important values to me are honesty, integrity and hard work. I value these traits in others as well as myself. On a daily basis these values are all top priority.

What do you think are the most important character traits to develop in order to succeed professionally?

There are at least five character traits that are important to succeed:

• tenacity/passion to be able to drive towards goals
• positive outlook to overcome mistakes or mishaps and maintain a can do attitude
• strong communication skills to be able and willing to share ideas and incorporate others' ideas
• flexibility to be able to adapt quickly to changing demands and requirements
• innovation to come up with new efficient ways of doing things

Who is your hero, mentor or person you most admire and why?

My maternal grandmother is my personal hero. She taught me what compassion, adaptability, positive outlook and spirituality is all about. Before I was born, my grandmother lived in Canton, China. She lost her husband relatively early in her life, so she had to manage the family land on her own. During the Chinese cultural revolution she lost all her land, status and material possessions. She survived through the kindness of the villagers. Before the Communist takeover, my grandmother's policy was to save a portion of yearly profits to guard against lean years. When the crops failed she shared her savings with her share croppers. This compassion for other people ended up saving her during the cultural revolution. Despite her tremendous loss, she was always ready to see the bright side of every situation. She taught me to see through many situations by focusing on opportunities to maintain my positive outlook. My grandmother died a few years ago, but her gift is a part of me now.

What is your favorite book and why?

Richard P. Feynman, "'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!' Adventures of a Curious Character."

This book humanizes a great physicist's life. Each chapter is filled with stories that are funny and easy to relate to. It helps people to see that even a genius shares many common human qualities. It provides a depth to Professor Feynman's character for those of us who were not fortunate enough to have known him.

The sequel is also one of my favorites, it covers how he solved the mystery of the O rings in the Challenger tragedy. Richard P. Feynman, "'What Do You Care What Other People Think?' Further Adventures of a Curious Character."

What book would you recommend to someone who knows nothing about you field or industry but would like to know more about it?

Richard E. Fairley, "Software Engineering Concepts" (McGraw-Hill, Inc).

What technology has changed your life professionally or personally for the better?

On a personal level, the microwave oven has changed my life for the better. I can get out of the kitchen since my family can use it to fend for themselves.

Professionally, it's a toss up between the Internet and email.

What are your future goals?

On a business level, my goal is to continue to passionately pursue projects that are interesting and challenging to me so that I can continue to grow and learn.

On a personal level, I would like to develop my science stories for young children.

What do you do to relax?

• I like to hurl myself off steep mountain cliffs to escape. (downhill skiing)
• I listen to calming Peruvian or other music. (to recover from skiing)
• On week-ends, I sometimes take long walks on the beach or hike the trails of Mt. Tamalpais or Point Reyes.
• Backpacking with my daughter is another way to relax.
• During spring, summer and fall, I bike ride in the hills of Mill Valley.