Engineering Mentoring in Europe & Middle East

SEED, Sun Engineering’s mentoring program sponsored by CTO Greg Papadopoulos,
is now in the application period for the first of two terms aimed at Engineering
groups in Europe and the Middle East (EMEA). The first term will accept applications
from Prague, Dublin, Grenoble, and Hamburg. Applications are due by 14 November.
The second term will accept applications from Sun Engineering staff based in
St. Petersburg and Tel Aviv. Applications for the 2nd term are due
30 January 2006.

Tanya Jankot and I are travelling in Europe this week to talk
about the program. Tanya is already in Dublin and will be in Grenoble next
week. I am travelling to Prague on Wednesday and will be in Hamburg next
week. Both of us will be offering all-Engineering, all-Engineering-management, and
individual meetings to answer questions.

SEED program participants are expected to rise to the top of Sun Engineering’s
individual contributor or management ranks.These SEED terms in EMEA will use the
same General Selection Criteria as the regular SEED program:

1. All Participants are in Engineering.
2. Only regular Sun employees may participate.
3. Superior annual performance ratings are preferred.
4. Manager support is required.

However, these are considered pilot terms. Pilot SEED terms have somewhat
different criteria and rules from the program as a whole. Differences between
these EMEA pilot terms and regular SEED terms:

1. Limited geographical locations for participants.
2. Participants can be at any job grade level – there is no minimum seniority requirement.
3. Participants can have worked for Sun for any length of time – there is no minimum service requirement.

The SEED program from time to time creates one or more pilot terms for which the
rules and process are somewhat different from the regular program. These pilot
terms serve two functions:

1. Test a new rule or process to see if it should be rolled into the regular program. (This is how the Established Staff part of SEED was created in 2002.)
2. Focus on a particular group in which we want to build a critical mass (or supportive network) of SEED participants. (For example: in 2004-2006 SEED has been running a series of pilots focussed on Sun’s largest Engineering groups outside of the USA.)

Right after I get back from Hamburg, I am off again. This time I am
travelling to the NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology)
Leadership Team and Alliance Meetings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA. I
will be on the mentoring panel talking about the SEED program.