Two Sandians receive 2024 Women In Tech Awards

Two Sandia National Laboratories employees have received the 2024 New Mexico Women in Technology Award from the New Mexico Technology Council. The award recognizes outstanding women who drive innovation and excellence in the technology field and inspire and empower others to pursue careers in the technology industry.

mary monson

If an invention or project created at Sandia has the potential to be introduced into the real world, you can be sure that Mary Monson knows all about it. You can also be confident that Monson and her team will do everything in their power to make that happen.

“I've never met anyone with as much passion and drive as she does,” said Joel Sikora, a technology partnership manager who has worked for Monzon for 19 years. “She constantly challenges herself and others to make a greater impact.”

As Senior Manager of Technology Partnerships and Business Development, Monson leads the technology transfer department and is constantly striving to lead Sandia to the best possible partnerships.

Her start at Sandia wasn't traditional.

“I moved to Albuquerque and sent my resume to Sandia,” Monson said. “There were no specific job postings. Sandia wanted to go beyond the National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Energy programs, so they hired a few marketing people, and I was one of them. did.”

Monzon changed his role after a law was passed allowing technology transfer by national laboratories. More than 25 years later, she is helping lead and scale Sandia's efforts to move technology out of the lab. Her team says her work has made the program what it is today.

“Under her leadership, I saw the company grow from one division of a dozen people doing business development to six divisions of more than 130 people doing business development, economic development, business intelligence, licensing and partnership agreements,” Sikora said. “I'm here,” Sikora said.

Mr. Monson's entire career has been in the technology field. Her first job was at a technology company called Unisys, which was a leader in computing at the time.

“That's where I fell in love with technology,” Monson said.

She went on to work for technology companies such as Texas Instruments and Digital Equipment Corp. before coming to Sandia.

Being a woman in the tech industry isn't always easy. Monson says her career has been fascinating and fun.

“I get to work with smart people and I'm always learning,” she said. “It's always been present in my career.”

She is especially proud of how far Sandia has come since beginning its technology transfer efforts.

“We started with only joint research and development agreements and licenses, but along the way we have creatively established new programs, from entrepreneurial separations to technology transfer programs,” Monzon said. “We have established new capabilities such as business development and business and competitive intelligence, where we did not have such capabilities before.”

Monson is one of eight recipients of this year's New Mexico Technology Council Women in Technology Award. The organization focuses on her 25 years of management experience and her efforts to bring laboratory technology to market.

She said she was honored to receive the award and is grateful to the New Mexico Technology Council for recognizing the importance of leadership in technology adoption and commercialization. It's an honor to be part of this group.”

Those who work with Monson couldn't say enough positive things about her, including David Kistin, Sandia's technical and economic development manager.

“Mary is a trailblazer who not only navigates the complex field of federal technology transfer, but also forges a path for others to follow,” Kistin said.

Mara Schindelholz

Mara Schindelholz, chief research and development staff member at Sandia, is also one of this year's recipients. Mara has her 15 years of experience in developing and commercializing new technologies.

Schindelholz comes to Sandia with experience developing corrosion sensors and material aging models for the Department of Defense. Since joining Sandia, she has worked, among other things, on nuclear weapons monitoring, leading the development of new technologies such as sensors and digital technologies that can be beneficial throughout the life cycle of nuclear weapons, and moving some of these technologies commercially. I've been working hard to make it happen. She is the DOE's Energy I-Corps program and the National Lab Accelerator Pitch Competition.

Mr. Schindelholz is currently assigned to the National Science Foundation under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act as Program Director for the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Program. This program is part of the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Department established by CHIPS and Science Law in 2022.

Schindelholz's love of technology began at an early age.

“My mother was a math teacher and my father was a biology professor at a women's college,” Schindelholz said. “They instilled in me a love of math and science and taught me that women are just as capable as men in these fields.”

Schindelholz has worked hard to prove that point throughout his career. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in materials science and engineering. Early in her career, she worked at two small businesses, which made her aware of the disparity for women in technology, she says.

“When I first started, I was one of only two female principal investigators in a group of 15 at Sandia,” she said. “While we have had some great female mentors over the years, there is always room for improvement, especially in the areas of entrepreneurship and technology transfer.”

Schindelholz said she is encouraged by programs at Sandia that are starting to change the game, including those led by fellow recipient Mary Monson.

As part of her role at the National Science Foundation, Schindelholz is working to hire more female startup founders, recognizing that less than 3% of venture capital funding in the United States goes to women.

Schindelholz said she is honored to have her efforts recognized by the New Mexico Technology Council and be included on this distinguished list. When asked what the most rewarding part of her job is, Schindelholz replied: “I love seeing new technologies created to improve society, whether it’s strengthening national security, increasing economic competitiveness, or addressing environmental issues.”

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. With principal facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California, Sandia Laboratories has primary research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technology, and economic competitiveness.