WITI Women | Becky Cavanaugh
Becky Cavanaugh
Co-founder and director of Software Development
at Obsidian Software
Becky Cavanaugh is co-founder and director of Software Development
at Obsidian Software, which develops leading edge microprocessor
verification software. She manages product development and
customer accounts, as well as many other aspects of running
the business. Obsidian was co-founded in 1997 by Cavanaugh and
two colleagues, Eric Hennenhoefer and Rob Gowin.
Prior to joining Obsidian, Cavanaugh was elected as a
Member of Technical Staff at Advanced Micro Devices.
There she developed software tools to verify AMD's 29k,
K6, and K7 microprocessors. Before moving to AMD,
Cavanaugh was a software developer for Datagraf, a data
communications company. She has a bachelor's degree
in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin.
In her spare time, Cavanaugh likes to sing 20's, 30's and 40's
music with her band, the Studebakers.
Becky Cavanaugh answers these questions:
1. What was your first job in technology?
2. Who has been your most significant mentor? Why?
3. What has been your greatest challenge and what strategies
did you use to overcome obstacles?
4. Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Why?
5. What lessons have you learned that would be valuable to
women beginning their careers in technology?
6. What new technology do you believe will have the most positive
impact on the world in the next 20 years? The most negative impact?
On the lighter side:
1. If you could have dinner with any 2 people (living or not),
who would they be?
2. What was the last book you read? What books do you love to recommend?
3. If you couldn't do what you are doing now, what profession would you choose?
4. What is your definition of success?