Sandy Harrison

Director, Product Test and Computer Engineering Conexant

Women Engineers @ the Beach Keynote Speaker, Fall 2005

B.S. Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Mathematics California State University, Long Beach (June 1983)

I started my career while I was in school as an intern at two different technical companies. After I received my B.S. in Electrical Engineering, I joined Western Digital as a VLSI Test Engineer where I spent 7 years developing my technical skills. I then went into management because I was given the opportunity to revamp Test Engineering's process. The process improvement resulted in reducing the time it took to create a test program from 18 months down to one day. This formed the foundation for my passion in strategic process improvement, which consists of reducing cycle time, first-time right, reducing cost, and improving quality. Over the years, I have led process improvement efforts in a number of areas such as VLSI Design Methodology, Physical Design and IT. I started and sold my own IT consulting company, giving me sales experience and a good understanding of how to run a successful business. I am currently at Conexant managing several technical groups: Product Engineering, Test Engineering, Device Validation, Engineering Logistics, Test Applications, Test Hardware, and Engineering Computing.

• Folllow your passion while exercising patience and persistence to reach your full potential.
• Keep mentally and physically strong to give yourself a solid foundation to power through any roadblocks.
• Create a big picture plan before diving into the details to ensure your efforts will be a stepping-stone to your ultimate goal.
• Never say can't instead focus your energy on ways that you can.
• The Technology industry is always evolving and changing. You need to constantly be reinventing yourself to ensure you provide maximum value.
• Seek out a mentor and be a mentor.

During my free time I like to take my 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son on long walks along the beach or nature trails. I also enjoy going to the gym. I can bench press more than my weight and do 20 pull-ups, which give me self-confidence, stress relief, and extra energy. I find that going on a long bike ride or rollerblading fosters many of my strategic ideas. The geek side of me spends countless hours on the computer, disappearing into the lure of technology.