Three outstanding women will be honored at a special luncheon for their contributions to the tech sector on Wednesday, April 3rd. The NH Tech Alliance (Alliance) TechWomen|TechGirls Committee has selected the 2019 TechProfessional, TechTeacher and TechStudent of the Year. They will be recognized at the annual TechWomen|TechGirls Awards Luncheon at the Bedford Village Inn. Registration is now open for this annual sell-out event.
Now in its fourth year, the popular TechWomen Awards Luncheon is the Alliance’s opportunity to highlight women and girls who are making a significant impact in our local technology environment. This event brings together technologists, entrepreneurs and business leaders from throughout the state to celebrate the accomplishments of these three women. In addition to honoring this year’s award winners, the luncheon features a luminary keynote speaker, which will be Dr. Xia Zhou, associate professor of computer science at Dartmouth College.
“I want to share my congratulations to all of this year’s winners. When we started TechWomen|Tech Girls four years ago it was with the goal of offering programs and recognition for all of those who do amazing things in support of women in technology in our community. We know that some women often have a hesitancy to promote themselves and their accomplishments, which make the mission of our Awards Luncheon even more important. We look forward to continuing to celebrate their achievements and show others what opportunities are available to them,” said Candice Benson, chair of the TechWomen|TechGirls Initiative.
The 2019 award winners are:
Cyrena Arnold has been named 2019 TechProfessional of the Year. She is a meteorologist and vice president of customer success at Athenium Analytics. She is a previous director of summit operations for the Mount Washington Observatory and NH1 TV meteorologist. Before living in New Hampshire, Arnold installed weather stations on the Alaskan tundra in helicopter access only locations and completed icing and turbulence test flights with a NASA contractor in Colorado. She has done all of this while volunteering at STEM events and giving presentations and keynote speeches to thousands of kids, letting them know how she went from failing math in grade school, to obtaining a meteorology and math degree, and finding a career she loves.
Joy M. Gobin, MEd has been named the 2019 TechTeacher of the Year. She is committed to educating students, colleagues, families and the community through establishing strong connections. She has 35 years of experience as a certified NH educator and administrator at the K-12 level and has worked as a special educator, administrator, reading specialist, Running Start teacher and an adjunct at River Valley Community College (RVCC) and her role for the past four years has been as the Extended Learning Opportunities Coordinator (ELO) for Lebanon High School. Gobin has dedicated herself to being a life-long learner who is passionate about mentoring and professional development and strives to instill a similar desire in all of her students.
Victoria Bandera is the 2019 TechStudent of the Year. She is a senior in kinesiology: exercise science at the University of New Hampshire. She is passionate about using research to help people both in the general populations and those with chronic conditions live better and healthier lives.
Under the mentorship of Dr. LaRoche, Bandera was awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship by the UNH Hamel Center to perform an independent research project this past summer. With this award she wrote an IRB protocol and created the methodology for a study titled “The Influence of Lower Extremity Strength on Chair Rise Functional Demand in Older Female Cancer Survivors.” In this project Bandera utilized 3D motion capture and force plate technology combined with human kinematics in order to use a novel biomechanical measurement, functional demand. Bandera presented the findings of this study at the New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine this fall and will be presenting at the national American College of Sports Medicine conference in Orlando, Florida this May. This fall Bandara will be attending a graduate program for her Masters in Exercise Science. She hopes to get her PhD to ultimately have a career in clinical exercise physiology research.
This year’s TechWomen Annual Luncheon is sponsored by Connection, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Comcast, Cook Little Rosenblatt and Manson, Northeast Delta Dental, Cross Insurance, Cirtronics, Eastern Bank and the Alexander Technology Group. The event runs from 11:30 am to 2 pm. Tickets to the April 3 Awards Luncheon are $45 for members and $55 for not-yet members. All ticket purchases must be done in advance and are available here or by calling 603.935.8951.