Navigating Embedded Tech: A Female Leader's Perspective

Female Leadership in the embedded systems industry

The Path to Tech Leadership

Monika, could you take us through your journey from being an engineer to becoming the Director of the Embedded Competency Center? How has your background influenced your approach to leadership within the tech industry?

Monika Jaworowska: Even though I graduated with top marks in computer science from a technical university, my career took a somewhat unexpected turn. I spent only three years altogether working as a pure software developer quickly realizing that my primary strengths lie not just in engineering, but more in organizing, planning, and orchestrating the efforts of technical teams on projects while maximizing their potential and competencies. This discovery led me through a progression of roles, from Team Leader to Project Manager, SW Program Leader, Delivery Manager, and ultimately, Competency Center Director.

My journey has been driven by a deep fascination with the transformative potential of technology, particularly in the realm of embedded systems. I've always been captivated by the intricate ways in which they power and refine various sectors and market offerings. As the Director of the Embedded Competency Center, I find myself at the perfect intersection of my deep interest in technology and my eagerness to engage with a wide array of software-driven hardware solutions, varying in applications, size, and complexity. Also, because passion has guided my business journey, I never viewed the challenges I encountered through the lens of my gender but rather saw them as opportunities to bridge gaps in expertise and move ahead.

Managing Team Growth and Evolution

Growing a team from one to over 600 experts marks a considerable achievement. How has this expansion affected the dynamics and culture within your unit?

Monika Jaworowska: Expanding and diversifying the expertise portfolio within a technological unit like Competency Centers at Sii Poland is a natural progression that occurs as the team matures in a particular area. As a manager, your role is to carefully select and collaborate with individuals who share our vision and are eager to tackle new challenges. It's crucial for us to deeply understand and engage with the specific standards, technologies, tools, and methods relevant to each industry sector we enter. This involves acquiring the necessary competencies to actively contribute to projects and later advise our clients on optimal project approaches.

Various accompanying activities have proven vital or even critical throughout our journey. These include establishing well-equipped labs to facilitate our work, fostering a community for knowledge exchange, implementing a regular training program, seeking inspiration from industry conferences and trade shows, developing a process for gathering insights from completed projects, and much more.

Expansion through Diversification

How does the Embedded Competency Center leverage diversification in its development strategy, especially regarding the sectors served, technologies employed, and performance optimization in embedded systems?

Monika Jaworowska: At the core of the embedded systems domain lies diversification. This fundamental principle driving the development strategy of the Embedded Competency Center is based on a careful analysis of the sectors it serves and the identification of expansion opportunities. We undertake diverse projects spanning semiconductor manufacturing, automotive, railroad, biotechnology, medical, and a broad spectrum of industrial applications.

Diversity is also evident in the multitude of technologies and layers of embedded systems that our experts work with on a daily basis. The primary factors for embedded systems revolve around performance, minimizing response time, and optimizing resource consumption.