Category Archives: Mentoring & Other Business

An ongoing challenge of running the
SEED worldwide Sun Engineering mentoring program is keeping all of
its web pages current. The web pages present information, resources, and reports
to SEED mentees, mentors, and managers, help to reduce email traffic, and
also support participants so they are less dependent on program staff.
However, even with all of the web information, SEED generates over 1,000 email
exchanges in an average month. The SEED program staff (Tanya Jankot, Sheri Kaneshiro,
and me) maintain many dozens of internal SunWeb pages, plus a few which are external.
SEED’s web presence has been growing since the program started in 2001.

Today, I have been updating SEED’s primary external web page:
http://research.sun.com/SEED/,
checking links and adding resources. I added some new program reviews and
took out older reports which have disappeared since the last update.
Here is what we have now:

List of Publications About SEED:

Overview

• 
  “5 Years of Mentoring by the Numbers” by Katy Dickinson, presented
  at the October 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and Computing
  (30 pages, PDF format)
• 
  Sun Engineering Enrichment and Development (SEED) Program (Case Study 1): Mentoring Technical Women at Work
  National Center for Women & Information Technology
  (NCWIT)
  Social Scientists picked SEED among Promising Practices
  as the Case Study in this report, 2006 (2 pages, PDF format)

2009

• Maria Klawe (President, Harvey Mudd College), Telle Whitney (President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute or ABI), and Caroline Simard (Director for Research at ABI):
  “Women in Computing – Take 2” February 2009 issue,
  Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery):
  “Some of the successful approaches that companies may use for recruiting, retaining, and advancing more women in computing, as well as in other technical professions, include:…
  Implement a mentoring program. Indeed, make mentoring which positively impacts career advancement and satisfaction, a basic part of the organizational culture. Sun Microsystems’ SEED program, for example, is regarded as a major step in this
  direction.”
• Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI) “Mentoring
  Lessons Shared” panel member, 16 January 2009, Mountain View, CA. See
  “News – CAHSI: Developing Leaders Through Mentoring” By BJ Wishinsky,
  Communities Program Manager, Anita Borg Institute for Women and
  Technology, January 2009

2007

• Ida Abbott Consulting
  Management Solutions Issue 17, Winter 2007
  
  “Best Practices – Proving the Value of Mentoring”
  profiles SEED

2006

• 
  Sun Engineering Enrichment and Development (SEED) Program (Case Study 1): Mentoring Technical Women at Work
  National Center for Women & Information Technology
  (NCWIT)
  Social Scientists picked SEED among Promising Practices
  as the Case Study in this report, 2006 (2 pages, PDF format)
• 
  “Mentors can help women shatter glass ceiling – Senior colleagues can toot
  your horn, bringing you money and power”
  by Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC contributor, Nov 19, 2006
  (mentoring quote on the 2nd page)
• 
  “20 ways to get promoted in the tech industry – If you agree that there’s no such thing as an IT project, you may already be on your way up the ladder”
  by Dan Tynan, October 16, 2006, InfoWorld
  (SEED is part of “10. Find Your Yoda”)
• 
  “Five Years of Mentoring by the Numbers”
  4-7 October 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women and
  Computing, San Diego
  
  Program Schedule for GHC Session 1 – Thursday, October 5, 2006
  “5 Years of Executive Mentoring”, TechLeaders – Building and
  Sustaining Change in Technology Cultures: Showcasing What Works
  (October 4, 2006, San Diego, CA)
• Information Week in Israel, 28 Feb 2006 (in Hebrew,
  with a photo)

2005

• “Outsourcing is essential for survival of companies” (SEED is
  mentioned), interview with Crawford W Beveridge, Executive
  Vice President (People & Places) and Chief Human Resource Officer interview,
  Deccan Herald > Economy & Business > Detailed Story,
  April 11, 2005

2004 and earlier

• “Bit by
  Bit: Mentoring & Practical Approaches to Advancing Women in High Tech”
  Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
  (“GHC 2004”) Moderator: Katy Dickinson, 7 October 2004
• 
  Rhonda Holt (VP of Grid Engineering Program Office) interview,
  DiversitySearch – Up Close & Virtual Interviews,
  2004 (mentions SEED)
• 
  “SEED: Sun engineering enrichment & development”
  Research Disclosure Database Number 482013, defensive publication
  in Research Disclosure, Published in June 2004, Electronic
  Publication Date : 17 May 2004
  (5 pages, PDF format)
• 
  “Nurturing a Culture of Innovation” Express Computer
  May 2004 article on SEED program and participants in Sun’s India
  Engineering Center (IEC) in Bangalore
• “Sun Engineering Enrichment and Development Program Fosters
  Growth New Hires, Experienced Staff Work with Senior
  Staff Mentors” Paragon Pinnacles > Volume 73 > Issue 3 >
  Sun Features > (March 15, 2004, Article #12480, Volume 73, Issue 3)
• “Sun Engineering Enrichment and Development Program Fosters
  Growth – New Hires, Experienced Staff Work with Senior Staff
  Mentors” Sun System News, March 15, 2004, Article #12480,
  Volume 73, Issue 3
• 
  “Tapping into the Knowledge Network” http://www.sun.com article on
  SEED, 18 Feb 2004 [was featured on both the http://www.sun.com and
  research.sun.com home pages]
• “Sun (SEED) program pairs college recruits with senior
  engineering mentors, 23 Feb 2004 link to
  
  “Tapping into the Knowledge Network” http://www.sun.com article
  from LSTN
  (Learning & Teaching Support Network for Engineering section on
  “UK & World Media News”- now
  called The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre)
• 
  “Mentoring and Being Mentored on the Technology Track”
  by Carla King, published on “developers.sun.com –
  The Source for Developers”, 2003 [Now called Sun Developer Network
  or SDN]
• 
  Bit by Bit: Catalyst’s Guide to Advancing Women in High
  Tech Companies, SEED is the featured case study in
  the “Use Mentoring and Networks to Win” section (page 106), book
  published by Catalyst
  (Catalyst document #16146), 2003, ISBN 0-89584-243-2

On 6 May, 58 PreSEED Sun Engineering mentoring program participants
were selected for the 15 June – 15 December 2009 term out of an
applicant pool of 76. The GSS SEED
term applicants are being considered now by the executive selection committee,
who will give their ratings at our meeting next week. Here is more
information on the new PreSEED participants:

About the 58 New PreSEED Participants:
Location of Participants
9 China, 16%
2 Czech Republic, 3%
1 Germany, 2%
5 India, 9%
1 Ireland, 2%
5 Italy, 9%
1 Japan, 2%
1 Russia, 2%
2 Spain, 3%
1 United Arab Emirates (Dubai), 2%
2 United Kingdom, 3%
28 USA, 48%
5 Eastern USA
3 Central USA
21 Western USA
Sun Division of Participants
16 Global Sales & Service (GSS), 28%
7 Microelectronics, 12%
7 Software Group, 12%
3 Storage Group, 5%
20 Systems, 34%
5 Worldwide Operations, 9%
Gender of Participants
9 Female, 16%
49 Male, 84%
20 Prior applicants to a SEED or PreSEED mentoring term, 34%

Since 14 April, SEED
and PreSEED have been receiving applications from Sun Engineering
staff to join the worldwide mentoring program. The PreSEED application
period closed yesterday (Human Resources is now verifying application
information). The GSS SEED application period was extended
to 4 May 2009 (Monday). What we have so far:

• PreSEED term
• 76 PreSEED applicants
• 64 complete applications
• Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), China (Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Shanghai), Czech Republic (Prague), Germany (Ratingen), India (Bangalore), Ireland (Dublin), Italy (Milan, Padova, Roma), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (St. Petersburg), Spain (Madrid), United Arab Emirates (Dubai), United Kingdom (Camberley, Sale), USA (California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, & Texas)
• Applicants’ Origins include: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, VietNam
• Global Sales and Service SEED term
• 29 GSS SEED applicants
• 16 complete application
• Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), China (Hong Kong), France (Velizy), Germany (Kirchheim-Heimstette), Italy (Padova), Japan (Tokyo), Netherlands (Amersfoort), Norway (Oslo), Slovakia (Bratislava), Spain (Madrid), Sweden (Gothenberg, Kista, Sundsvall), Switzerland (Zurich), United Kingdom (Camberley, Conventry, London, Sale), USA (California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Virginia)
• Applicants’ Origins include: Belgium, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA

The GSS term participants will be chosen by an executive Selection
Committee. PreSEED has a time-based acceptance process: we will take
the first 50 with complete and verified applications.

Welcome and Congratulations to the 46 New Mentoring Pairs of the
SEED
Established Staff (April – October 2009) World-wide All-Engineering
Mentoring Term: We are honored and delighted to include them!

This term had a 44 day mentor matching cycle (11 March – 24 April 2009).
77% of the pairs were matched in the first 3 weeks. Two of the
participants in this SEED term had also completed a PreSEED term. This
term was reduced by 3 mentees leaving Sun after they were matched.

Additional metrics:

• Executive Mentors: 74% of the mentoring pairs include an
  executive mentor (Vice Presidents, Fellows, Directors, Principal Engineers, Distinguished Engineers, etc.)
• Local vs. Distant: 16 mentoring partners are working local to
  each other (34%), 31 of the mentors and mentees work at a distance from
  each other – in another state or country (66%)
• Meeting Priority Requests:
• 87% of mentees were matched with one of their
  top four mentor requests (41 count)
• 25 mentees were matched with their
  1st or 2nd priority mentor (53%)
• 16 mentees were matched with their
  3rd or 4th priority mentor (34%)
• 6 mentees were matched with a mentor
  lower than 4th in request priority (13%)

We had 81 people registered for the annual Spring Event by the

SEED worldwide Engineering mentoring program.
Fewer actually participated (I think Monday’s

“Oracle to Buy Sun” announcement caused some sudden schedule rearrangements).
However, the event went well and feedback so far has been positive.

A group of mentors and mentees had dinner on Monday night at
Mike’s Cafe
(150 Middlefield Road at Willow, Menlo Park, CA) just a few miles
from Sun. Yesterday, we heard two speakers and a panel in the morning,
then went on two afternoon tours.

Speakers for SEED’s annual Spring Event:

• The keynote speaker is SEED’s executive sponsor,
  Sun’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Research
  and Development,
  
  Greg Papadopoulos spoke about his new book
  
  Citizen Engineer: A Handbook for Socially Responsible
  Engineering (written with Dave Douglas and John Boutelle).
• Software Engineering Director
  
  Meenakshi Kaul-Basu lead a Sun Open Source Discussion Panel
  including experts on OpenSolaris,
  OpenStorage,
  OpenSPARC, and
  GlassFish
• Principal Investigator
  
  Stephen Uhler talked about his
  
  ePBX Project in Sun Labs

Greg Papadopoulos

Greg Papadopoulos

Open Source Panel

Meenakshi Kaul-Basu

Valerie Fenwick, Sreeram Duvur Open Source Panel

John Beck, Durgam Vahia, & Lynn Rohrer, Open Source

Steve Uhler ePBX Project, Sun Labs

EBC – Executive Briefing Center

EBC Black Box

EBC Tour for SEED

ETC Tour for SEED

Rob Snevely, ETC Tour

ETC – Enterprise Technology Center

Images Copyright 2009 Katy Dickinson

Since 14 April, SEED
and PreSEED have been receiving applications from Sun Engineering
staff to join the worldwide mentoring program. All application materials
are due 30 April 2009 for both terms. What we have so far:

• PreSEED term
• 35 PreSEED applicants
• 15 complete applications
• Applications from: China (Beijing, Chengdu), Czech Republic (Prague), India (Bangalore), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (St. Petersburg), USA (California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, & Texas)
• Applicants’ Origins include: Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Laos, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, USA, VietNam
• Global Sales and Service SEED term
• 6 GSS SEED applicants
• 2 complete application
• Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), France (Velizy), Italy (Padova), USA (California, Maryland, Virginia)
• Applicants’ Origins include: Belgium, France, Italy, USA

The GSS term participants will be chosen by an executive Selection
Committee. PreSEED has a time-based acceptance process: we will take
the first 50 with complete and verified applications. During the most
recent PreSEED term in 2008, the first 50 applications were completed
by the 12th day of the application period.

The annual SEED
mentoring program Spring event starts with a dinner on Monday
night, followed by a day of talks and tours on Tuesday, 21 April.
We have 70 registered to participate so far:

• 51 will be there in person, traveling from Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Russia, Spain, USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas)
• 19 are participating remotely, joining the meeting from France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Singapore, UK, USA (Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas)

Since 14 April, SEED
and PreSEED have been receiving applications from Sun Engineering
staff to join the worldwide mentoring program. All application materials
are due 30 April 2009 for both terms. What we have so far:

• PreSEED term
• 31 PreSEED applicants
• 12 complete applications
• Applications from: China (Beijing, Chengdu), Czech Republic (Prague), India (Bangalore), Japan (Tokyo), Russia (St. Petersburg), USA (California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, & Texas)
• Global Sales and Service SEED term
• 5 GSS SEED applicants
• 1 complete application
• Applications from: Belgium (Zaventem), France (Velizy), USA (California, Maryland, Virginia)

The GSS term participants will be chosen by an executive Selection
Committee. PreSEED has a time-based acceptance process: we will take
the first 50 with complete and verified applications. During the most
recent PreSEED term in 2008, the first 50 applications were completed
by the 12th day of the application period.