National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15th - October 15th, 2020
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th to October 15th. In honor of this month, SWE would like to recognize Xioranny Linares, a Hispanic engineer who has a remarkable background in what led her to where she is today.
Be sure to check out the SWE Latino Affinity Group (AG) facebook for more inspirational Hispanic Heritage stories.
Feel free to reach out to Xioranny on LinkedIn.
If you or someone you know have a story to tell and would like to be featured on the SWE Member Spotlight page, please send an email to kristinalynnmai [at] gmail.com! We look forward to hearing from you.
Be sure to check out the SWE Latino Affinity Group (AG) facebook for more inspirational Hispanic Heritage stories.
Feel free to reach out to Xioranny on LinkedIn.
If you or someone you know have a story to tell and would like to be featured on the SWE Member Spotlight page, please send an email to kristinalynnmai [at] gmail.com! We look forward to hearing from you.
Xioranny Linares
Xioranny Linares is the R&D Program Manager for the Quantum Engineering Solutions team at Keysight Technologies. She leads a diverse team of engineers and scientists to deliver world-leading solutions in quantum technologies, including quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing. Her focus is to accelerate customers’ technological innovations to connect and secure the world.
Prior to joining Keysight in 2015, Xio worked on various micro-electronic projects for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Applied Materials, Intel and Cisco.
Xio holds a Ph.D. from University of California - Berkeley’s Materials Science and Engineering Department and a double B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Xio is from Venezuela and a California, Bay area resident. She is married to a primary care doctor from Peru and has two children. Xio is passionate about mentoring underrepresented groups, specifically English as a Second Language (ESL) learners via Keysight’s Mike Hauser Academy Program and undergraduate students in STEM fields via UC Berkeley’s New Experiences for Research and Diversity in Science (NERDS) program.
1. What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you and your family?
Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to educate and share my culture with others, as well as to learn about other histories and cultures. It brings awareness to the contributions and influences we have made to American society, and value of immigration into the US. Also, this celebration highlights the diversity within the Hispanic and Latinx communities since we have family and friends from Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean who have very different histories, traditions and perspectives.
Prior to joining Keysight in 2015, Xio worked on various micro-electronic projects for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Applied Materials, Intel and Cisco.
Xio holds a Ph.D. from University of California - Berkeley’s Materials Science and Engineering Department and a double B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Xio is from Venezuela and a California, Bay area resident. She is married to a primary care doctor from Peru and has two children. Xio is passionate about mentoring underrepresented groups, specifically English as a Second Language (ESL) learners via Keysight’s Mike Hauser Academy Program and undergraduate students in STEM fields via UC Berkeley’s New Experiences for Research and Diversity in Science (NERDS) program.
1. What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you and your family?
Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to educate and share my culture with others, as well as to learn about other histories and cultures. It brings awareness to the contributions and influences we have made to American society, and value of immigration into the US. Also, this celebration highlights the diversity within the Hispanic and Latinx communities since we have family and friends from Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean who have very different histories, traditions and perspectives.
Xioranny and her family
2. What does Diversity & Inclusion mean to you?
I consider Diversity and Inclusion to be an initiative to achieve equity for the different groups within our society. Through it, we are recognizing the importance of inclusion and representation in different aspects of life. We all face different challenges related to our backgrounds and upbringings, and develop different strengths based on our experiences; Thus, it is uplifting to know that we are putting policies in place to create opportunities to level the playing field and harness the diverse strengths and values we each bring. We want to live in a world that is just where we acknowledge our differences, respect them and celebrate them, and these initiatives lead us towards that.
3. What challenges have you faced in the workforce?
As a young immigrant Latina woman with children, I am often stereotyped and underestimated. In science and tech industries, there are few women and even fewer Latinas like me that can provide perspective, correct stereotypes, and help others recognize people as unique individuals instead of their group identity. This also creates another challenge for me since there aren’t enough role models to follow and get mentorship from. I personally find it challenging to develop myself into the person I want to be without real examples I can refer to.
4. Share an “aha!” moment when you discovered a strength.
When I was younger, I didn't consider persistence to be a trait I possessed. I didn't recognize I had this strength until I had to reflect on my life trajectory during a volunteering event in college. I was part of an outreach program for high school students and I was asked how I made it into Berkeley Engineering. I attributed it to luck and my willingness to work hard. I later realized that in order to immigrate to a new country, learn and adapt to new language and culture, succeed academically within that culture, and achieve high marks at a prestigious university, all within a decade, I must have had more than just pure luck and good work ethics. That’s when it hit me, I am persistent, and it has helped me reach my career goals over the past three decades of my life.
5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
In one of my conversations with my closest mentor, I voiced my concern and disapproval for a direction I was given for one of my projects. I told him, “Somebody needs to say something and change this.” He smiled graciously and said, “In my experience, ‘somebody’ doesn’t exist. So, if you really care about this, that somebody needs to be you! Yes, you! Because no one will have the vision and passion on this topic like you do, and that makes you the best candidate for the job.” He encouraged me to take an active role within my life narrative, speak up, seek the change I wanted to see and not shy away from opportunities no matter how farfetched they seemed.
6. How has SWE helped you in your career?
Early on, SWE helped me fund my undergraduate degree, which I wouldn’t have been able to do without all the programs that sponsored me to go to college. After college and graduate school, SWE has been instrumental in helping me develop professionally and thrive in the tech industry. Through the different SWE sponsored events, I have been able to network to find allies and mentors, attend trainings to develop my professional skill sets, and listen to other women’s achievements, careers and personal paths that have inspired me through mine.
7. Are there any other thoughts you would like to share?
Make sure your voice is heard to shape our tomorrow. Go vote!
I consider Diversity and Inclusion to be an initiative to achieve equity for the different groups within our society. Through it, we are recognizing the importance of inclusion and representation in different aspects of life. We all face different challenges related to our backgrounds and upbringings, and develop different strengths based on our experiences; Thus, it is uplifting to know that we are putting policies in place to create opportunities to level the playing field and harness the diverse strengths and values we each bring. We want to live in a world that is just where we acknowledge our differences, respect them and celebrate them, and these initiatives lead us towards that.
3. What challenges have you faced in the workforce?
As a young immigrant Latina woman with children, I am often stereotyped and underestimated. In science and tech industries, there are few women and even fewer Latinas like me that can provide perspective, correct stereotypes, and help others recognize people as unique individuals instead of their group identity. This also creates another challenge for me since there aren’t enough role models to follow and get mentorship from. I personally find it challenging to develop myself into the person I want to be without real examples I can refer to.
4. Share an “aha!” moment when you discovered a strength.
When I was younger, I didn't consider persistence to be a trait I possessed. I didn't recognize I had this strength until I had to reflect on my life trajectory during a volunteering event in college. I was part of an outreach program for high school students and I was asked how I made it into Berkeley Engineering. I attributed it to luck and my willingness to work hard. I later realized that in order to immigrate to a new country, learn and adapt to new language and culture, succeed academically within that culture, and achieve high marks at a prestigious university, all within a decade, I must have had more than just pure luck and good work ethics. That’s when it hit me, I am persistent, and it has helped me reach my career goals over the past three decades of my life.
5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
In one of my conversations with my closest mentor, I voiced my concern and disapproval for a direction I was given for one of my projects. I told him, “Somebody needs to say something and change this.” He smiled graciously and said, “In my experience, ‘somebody’ doesn’t exist. So, if you really care about this, that somebody needs to be you! Yes, you! Because no one will have the vision and passion on this topic like you do, and that makes you the best candidate for the job.” He encouraged me to take an active role within my life narrative, speak up, seek the change I wanted to see and not shy away from opportunities no matter how farfetched they seemed.
6. How has SWE helped you in your career?
Early on, SWE helped me fund my undergraduate degree, which I wouldn’t have been able to do without all the programs that sponsored me to go to college. After college and graduate school, SWE has been instrumental in helping me develop professionally and thrive in the tech industry. Through the different SWE sponsored events, I have been able to network to find allies and mentors, attend trainings to develop my professional skill sets, and listen to other women’s achievements, careers and personal paths that have inspired me through mine.
7. Are there any other thoughts you would like to share?
Make sure your voice is heard to shape our tomorrow. Go vote!
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