IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2008 - 8

Women to Watch

Technology Driving
Innovation and Security

and customers. Her job, in essence, is to
recognize and understand megatrends
and then link them to industry specific
microtrends. "I articulate what the
future is all about and what we're looking to invest in so we have products that
will make a difference to our customers,"
Creating new solutions and guarding existing information
she says.
to ensure the future
Five major trends are currently in
her sights. The first is what she calls
"document communication." In this category, Vandebroek cites Xerox's patents
for "smart documents," which can
come to study at Cornell University,
organize, update, route, and protect
where she earned a doctorate in electrical
themselves. "They know where they are,
engineering while he completed his
where they need to go next, and how to
M.B.A. By the mid-1990s, they had a
Xerox's Vandebroek eyes
summarize themselves," she
home, three children, and two great
the latest trends
explains, and they'll help large,
jobs: Vandebroek had started
document-intensive organizaworking for Xerox, and Bart
This past summer, Sophie Vandebroek,
tions like hospitals and
was the director of engineerXerox's chief technology officer (CTO)
schools manage their enoring at Electronic Navigation
and president of the Xerox Innovation
mous flow of paperwork.
Industries. Then, in 1996, he
Group, set up a part-time home office
The second trend is the
died suddenly at the age of 34.
miles away from the company's headchanging nature of knowl"This event completely
quarters in Webster, New York. She had
edge workers, who need help
changed my perspective on
recently married an IEEE fellow, Jesús
Sophie Vandebroek
combating information
life. Now I always see the
del Alamo, an electrical engineer at the
overload in ways that
'opportunity' no matter the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
improve their productivity. The third is
messy crisis I'm in-whether at work or
and moved to a suburb of Boston. With
mass customization, and for more than
home, it does not matter. Every time
the advent of new computer technoloa decade, Xerox has been working on
you painfully go through a successful
gies, she thought with her old phone
digital technologies that allow individual
change, you become stronger and more
number ringing on her laptop and an
users to affordably print and publish perconfident about being able to live
executive assistant who can send docusonalized books, photo albums, or packthrough the next one," she told the
ments straight to her printer-it shouldaging. Then there's globalization, and
audience at an IEEE dinner in
n't make much of a difference where her
finally, clean technology, which will
Rochester a few years back. "Becoming
office was; she could communicate with
make offices greener and help businessan 'opportunity person' is hard work. It
most colleagues as easily as if their desks
es reduce their environmental footprint.
requires an intentional shift of your
were under the same roof. As a bonus,
mindset, a change of attitude. But once
she could also see firsthand what the
you have it, it's extremely
future of work life might look like, a key
No Pain, No Gain
powerful....'In crisis, there is opportuarea of Xerox's active research.
Xerox currently employs 5,000 engineers
nity' has been my guiding principle. It
In the preceding years, she had lived in
and other scientists worldwide and holds
actually helps me drive change."
Rochester, New York, in a house she
more than 55,000 patents, adding about
As Xerox's CTO and head of innovabought with her first husband, Bart, not
ten more to the total each week. "It's evition since January 2006, Vandebroek's
long after they arrived in the United
dence of the great creativity across our
life is all about change. She splits her
States from Belgium in 1986. They had
research labs and engineering team,"
time between Boston and Webster but
Vandebroek says. "We're always innovatDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2008.930540
often travels to meet with researchers
ing. Our key mission is to come up with

Creating the Future, Today

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

WINTER 2008/2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2008