Katherine Trauth Awarded Society of Women Engineers' 2006 Emerging Leaders Award in Product Research, Design and Engineering.

Katherine Trauth recognized for her outstanding technical excellence resulting in product research, design and engineering

CHICAGO -- The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) today announced Katherine A. Trauth the recipient of SWE's 2006 Emerging Leaders Award for her demonstrated leadership in product research, design and engineering.

Katherine Trauth is technical director for the U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program at Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ship Systems (NGSS) sector. In this role, Trauth is responsible for the engineering design and technical program management of the 140 foot new class of ships; overall engineering and development of product designs; controlling technical budgets; requirements management, design for producibility (DFP), subcontractor technical execution; and development and approval of technical deliverables to the U.S. Coast Guard. Trauth is the first woman to hold the position of engineering director at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

"As the first woman in her company to attain the position of engineering director, Katherine Trauth is a role model for her colleagues and all women engineers," says Jude Garzolini, president of the Society of Women Engineers. "The depth of her technical accomplishments and the breadth of her responsibilities are a demonstration of her outstanding leadership and technical acumen."

Trauth joined Northrop Grumman Corp. in 2003 as the engineering manager of the newly-created Ship Research and Concept Development Group at the company's Avondale Operations in New Orleans. There she developed this organization by integrating engineers from existing departments, creating a team which executed research and product development contracts worth more than$20 million.

"I have worked closely with Ms. Trauth since 2000 as both a subcontractor and later as an employee of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems," says W. David Whiddon, vice president advanced systems and technology development, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

"She has been an inspiration to her peers and supervisors and a role model to her direct reports and other employees. Ms Trauth has raised the goal for engineers and engineering managers in Ship Systems through her technical acumen, managerial skills, and leadership abilities."

Outside of her professional responsibilities for NGSS, Trauth is very active with the NGSS Women Engineers Network. She is the NGC SWE diversity group contact for the New Orleans NGSS facility and is a liaison between engineers at the shipyard and the Greater New Orleans SWE Section.

She is currently a mentor in the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Management Mentoring Program, co-chair of the Functional Management Council for Engineering, and is a member of the company's Engineering Co-op Committee. She also serves on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Club of Louisiana's and Mississippi's Board of Directors and Executive Council.

Trauth received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in ocean engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Emerging Leaders Awards honor women engineers who have demonstrated outstanding technical excellence as an individual resulting in significant accomplishments in the following areas: academia; manufacturing and construction; procurement/logistics; product research, design, and engineering; quality; safety, health and environment; and sales and marketing.

The 2006 Emerging Leaders Award will be formally presented Friday night, October 13 at the Society of Women Engineers' National Conference Achievement Award Banquet in Kansas City, Mo. The National Conference, "Women Blazing Technology Trails," is being held at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo. October 12-14. The more than 4,000 attendees include professionals from every discipline of the engineering profession and a large number of engineering students and educators. The 2007 Conference is scheduled for October 25-27 in Nashville, Tenn.

About SWE

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders. For more information about the Society please visit www.swe.org or call [phone].