MITRE Employees Receive 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

McLean, Virginia, December 28, 2006 — Three MITRE employees have been honored with 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Awards. This national award program honors black innovators who demonstrate excellence in engineering or science, exemplary leadership in their workplaces and communities, and outstanding work as role models and mentors. The awardees will be honored at the 21st annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference in Baltimore, Md., in February 2007.

"We're always thrilled when our employees are honored with these prestigious awards," says MITRE's Chief Human Resources Officer Lisa Bender. "They help set a standard for all of us to follow."

Bridget Blake will receive the Black Engineer of the Year award in the Modern-Day Technology Leaders category. This award honors bright young men and women who are shaping the future of engineering, science, and technology. Blake, a lead information engineer in MITRE's Program Strategy and Planning department in McLean, Va., received this distinction for her work as a key contributor on projects for the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Blake received her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and her master’s in business administration from Johns Hopkins University. She currently resides in Vienna, Va.

According to her manager, Practice Leader Margaret Goss, "Ms. Blake is a strong and collaborative team player sought out within MITRE as a technical resource for risk and program management."

Dr. Charles Brooks will be honored in the Outstanding Technical Contributions category. This award recognizes those who have designed, managed, developed, or assisted in the development of a product, service, or intellectual property in the technology field. Brooks, a principal communications engineer with MITRE's Integrated Communications, Networks, and Sensors department in Eatontown, N.J., won this award for his work for the U.S. Army. Among his many accomplishments, he led the design and supported the implementation of methodologies for modeling communications that have created revolutionary changes at the Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Analysis Center. A resident of East Brunswick, N.J., Brooks received his B.S. in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mike Bauman, director of the TRADOC Analysis Center, calls Brooks a "pioneer," saying that "without Charles' extraordinary contributions the Army simply would have no credible means or evidence upon which to base technical requirements and specifications for future communication systems or to make sound decisions about how to invest billions of dollars."

Dr. Jimmie Lee Davis, Jr. will be honored in the category of Community Service. This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated leadership in the minority technology or science community through volunteer work or other related contributions. Davis, a senior software systems engineer for MITRE's Signal Processing Center, has an impressive record of service to others. He has led efforts to create educational opportunities for minority students, to stop drug abuse, and to provide leadership and mentoring to students. He has worked with numerous organizations that reach out to young Americans, including the Harriet G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Program Review Committee and the J.C. & Frankie Watts Foundation Inaugural Full Impact Leadership Academy.

As an undergraduate at Morehouse College, Davis founded a successful outreach program with the National Society of Black Engineers. As the president of the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association, he also has led fundraising efforts. Davis lives in Tallahassee, Fla., where he was selected by Governor Bush to serve on the Space Florida Board of Directors. In addition to a B.S. in mathematics and physics from Morehouse College, Davis also holds a bachelor of electrical engineering degree and an M.S. in applied mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned a master's and doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

"Dr. Davis' efforts provide invaluable service to America," says Dr. Ronald Williams, Davis' manager and a section leader in MITRE's Signal Processing Center in Bedford, Mass.

MITRE (www.mitre.org) is a not-for-profit company that provides systems engineering, research and development, and information technology support to the government. It operates federally funded research and development centers for the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service, with principal locations in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va.

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