Dr. Patty Lopez is the epitome of a role model and mentor for women in technology. Her achievements combine technical leadership and social impact, tirelessly working to increase opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in technology.
Patty grew up the 6th child of a family of 7 in Espanola, New Mexico, a state with a 56% high school graduation rate. In 5th grade, she was contemplating a cheerleading career (that’s where the role models were)… but there was a small problem: she couldn’t do a cartwheel. This led to the realization that she needed to find something she would be good at – it turns out, math was that something. Fortunately, Patty had good math and science teachers who encouraged her to pursue her interests.
Patty enrolled at New Mexico State University and tried a computer science class, following the recommendation of a roommate who said CS was fun and interesting. Patty’s passion for computing started. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, she decided to enroll for a Master’s and then a PhD. One of the key success factors in her getting a PhD was the presence of the Computing Research Laboratory at New Mexico State University, where high-level research on computer vision, robotics, and language processing was taking place. Patty’s dissertation focused on modeling human vision through the principle of apparent motion.
From there, Patty moved to Colorado in 1989 to work for Hewlett Packard, where she spent nearly 20 years as an Imaging Scientist, publishing 7 patents, earning a Technical Leadership Award, and earning a Diversity and Inclusion Award. Indeed, on top of her technical work, Patty has worked tirelessly to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minority students in computing fields – not only in increasing the pipeline, but in creating inclusive environments.
Patty was recruited by Intel in 2008, where she is a Component Design Engineer, focused on testing chips on simulations to maximize chip efficiency before they become Silicon.
Patty is active in mentoring students from diverse backgrounds. Her work of changing the world for women in technology continues today – Patty co-founded Latinas in Computing, a group started at the 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing that now boasts over 100 members. Patty is a member of the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration Industry Advisory Board.
On top of it all, Patty is a proud mother of three children – twins aged 5, and a 14 year old. On juggling family and work, Patty says that balancing work and family is all about making priorities, which can entail giving up something you want to do. Sometimes, that means giving up on sleep: “A lot of my working time is after the kids go to bed. I get by on less sleep, but it is really fulfilling to watch them grow and to work as an engineer. There are a lot of different routes to be successful.”
Patty has been an ongoing source of inspiration and passion in our community.
November 13th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
[...] Ada Lovelace Day: Patty Lopez, Component Design Engineer, Intel by Caroline Simard, VP of Research and Executive Programs [...]