Meet some of the top women driving the southeast tech firms.



Sue Ellen Reager
CEO/Founder

@International Services
Location: Atlanta, GA
Company: Technology provider of language translation services and language software.

Sue Ellen Reager is CEO and founder of @International Services, preferred vendor to Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Cisco Systems, NCR, Home Depot, CNN and others. Ms. Reager oversees a virtual company of 300 people around the world, experts in localization of software, web and marketing pieces. She is inventor and patent holder of GC System Localizer, licensed by Cisco Systems, Intel, Tekelec, Mitel and others, that enables computer applications for 200 languages and dialects, plus infinite customizations of each, without changing the product code.

Sue speaks 10 languages and has lived and worked in 34 cities and 17 countries as a consultant on localization and performance for advertising, technology and the arts. She is a programmer and software developer, recipient of several awards, including Keeping American Strong award, inventorâ?(TM)s televised series hosted by William Shatner, Top 10 Innovative Companies in Georgia and GlobalEXECâ?(TM)s International Woman of Influence.

Sue is a speaker on international issues for organizations and corporations, covering subjects in technology, web, multimedia and marketing. Her breakthrough vision on localization has caused many developers and managers to change their current path, and helped increase sales for American products abroad.


Janice A. Kimpel, PhD
Vice President for Business Development

AlphaVax, Inc.
Location: Durham, NC
Company: Develops vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Kimpel has used her biology degrees to pursue a range of professional challenges. After a postdoctoral appointment and an assistant professorship, she joined an agricultural biotechnology company as External Contracts Manager.

The challenge of managing research efforts in universities and bringing the fruits of those efforts into the company's commercial pipeline led her back to the university world, managing the intellectual property (IP) portfolio at the University of Georgia. During her tenure as Director of Licensing, revenues from licensing of inventions increased from less than $1 million to over $3 million a year.

The exposure to IP issues led her to join an IP law firm, as a registered patent agent, where she advised the firm's clients on licensing issues (particularly small start-up companies), while collaborating with an investment banker to put together new biotech companies based on client technologies. One of the clients, AlphaVax, Inc., persuaded Dr. Kimpel to leave the firm and join them as Vice President for Business Development in the summer of 2000.

AlphaVax is developing vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer, using its proprietary alphaviral vector-based delivery technology. As a member of the management team, Dr. Kimpel is responsible for managing a complex IP portfolio, as well as seeking out and negotiating deals with corporate partners. The company has raised $20+ million to date, as well as over $15 million in grants from the NIH and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and expects its first prototype vaccine for AIDS to enter clinical trials this year.

Education:
B.S. in Botany, University of Illinois; Ph.D. in Plant Physiology, University of California at Davis

Nadine Carozzi
Co-Founder/Vice President of
Product Development

Athenix Corp
Location: Durham, NC
Company: Develop genetically engineered corn, soybean and cotton seeds resistant to insects and herbicides.

Nadine has over 19 years experience in the biotech industry and was an integral part of the team that developed the world's first commercial transgenic corn for Novartis.

Following Novartis, Nadine was instrumental in the founding of Athenix and has helped the firm to raise over $20 million in funding since its inception in 2001, helping position the biotech firm against some of its large competitors. She has helped raise funding from investors including Intersouth Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Boston Millennia Partners and Eastman Ventures (division of Eastman Chemical).

Nadine has also served as a worldwide group leader for introgression of transgene traits across multiple crops for global commercialization and was responsible for both research and product development.

Education: B.S. in microbiology, University of Illinois; M.S. in molecular biology, University of Florida.


Janet Wylie
President and CEO

Engineous Software
Location: Cary, NC
Company: Develops software solutions and services for software designers.
Janet Wylie is an accomplished professional in technology management and international business. Janet began her career as a production engineer at Exxon. After leaving Exxon she held a number of management and executive positions in the IT arm of large aerospace organizations, most notably Boeing Computer Services.

She later joined Xerox Corporation, where she ran an image management software company, and led an international division with more than 4000 people worldwide. After Xerox, Janet went to CSC where she started a line of business in the health care arena that she grew to more than $150M per year. Following her 20 years in Fortune 500 companies, Janet was hired by the board of directors of HCL James Martin to get their IT services company off the ground, growing it to a pre-IPO level when it was bought.

Janet has been involved in significant merger and acquisition activities, amassed considerable international experience, and managed three turnarounds and two startups. She sits on the board of the Georgia Tech President's Advisory Board, is a published author and a national speaker.

Janet was recently elected Chair of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA), a 400 member organization that is the primary voice of the information technologies industry in North Carolina.

Education: Civil/Structural Engineering degree from Georgia Tech.


Deborah Vazquez
CEO

ProTech
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Company: IT placement and staffing firm.

Deborah Vazquez is Founder and CEO of PROTECH, a South Florida IT placement and staffing company, providing search and contracting services across the entire IT function, from help desk to Chief Information Officer.

Deborah has over 20 years of technology and executive management experience. Under her leadership, PROTECH has emerged as a leading player in the South Florida IT landscape, representing major local employers and earning some key accolades.

An active participant in the local IT community, Vazquez is a regular writer and speaker on matters of technology and the workforce.

Deborah is currently serving on the South Florida Technology Alliance Executive Board as Vice President.


P. Kay Wagoner, Ph.D.
President, CEO and Director

ICAGEN
Location: Durham, NC
Company: Biopharmaceutical firm focused on discovery and development of drugs targeting a number of areas, including sickle cell disease, epilepsy and Alzheimerâ?(TM)s.

Dr. Wagoner is a co-founder of Igagen and has served as president and a director since the companyâ?(TM)s inception and as chief executive officer since September 1996. Prior to founding Icagen, Dr. Wagoner served in research management positions at Glaxo where she initiated and led Glaxo's U.S. ion channel discovery efforts in central nervous system, cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

In 2001, Dr. Wagoner received the distinguished alumna award for science and business from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Wagoner also serves or has served on a variety of boards of directors, including the University of North Carolina's Graduate School Advisory Board and the Governing Body of the Biotechnology Industry Organization's (BIO) Emerging Companies Section.

In 2004, Dr. Wagoner was awarded the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by the Research Triangle based Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the United States, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Award for Life Sciences and Healthcare.

Education: Ph.D. in physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cindy Troutman
President

CGH Technologies Inc.
Location: Washington, DC
Company: Provides a host of services such as strategic planning and business process re-engineering, application development and GIS design.

In 1989, Cindy co-founded CGH Technologies, Inc. She has been working in technology and information systems since the late 1970's. She served as Operations Manager at Southeastern University in Louisiana until 1986 when she relocated to the Washington DC area. While in the DC Metro area, she served as a Systems Engineer, Project Manager and Manager of Technical/ Business Development before establishing her own company. CGH Technologies revenue topped over 10 million in 2005 and is continuing to grow.

Under her direction, CGH has established itself as a model for integrated Business Solutions. This integrated business solution approach includes a look at the client's investments in people, process, applications, technology and infrastructure so that return on investment can be obtained and leveraged toward future improvements. Cindyâ?(TM)s background includes an extensive focus on strategic operations, process engineering, security, and data integration within both Federal and Commercial environments. While simultaneously fulfilling her responsibilities as President, Cindy provides direct client support in areas such as management consulting, quality assurance/quality control, data integrity/consistency, policy development/implementation, organizational change management and strategic direction.

From overseeing mission critical services delivery to operating as the organization's lead visionary, Cindy successfully encourages CGH's expansion while never sacrificing her attention to customer service.



Linda K. Berdine
Founder, President

G & B Solutions, Inc.
Location: McLean, VA
Company: Provider of IT and management consulting.

Ms. Berdine is the Founder and President of G&B Solutions, Inc., a woman-owned firm specializing in management consulting and information technology services. Her entrepreneurial success is provenâ?"she grew G&B from 2 to 230 staff and from zero revenue to $21 million in only five years.

She has been the key staff liaison to Members of Congress and major clients and has served as Officer in Charge of multi-million dollar projects. Her responsibilities have included providing overall leadership and contract management on a statewide to worldwide basis. Linda has also developed and implemented automated operations for several computer centers; implemented client/server technology; provided Business Processing Reengineering support; telecommunications network development; information system architecture design, and strategic planning and program implementation support for complex computer and telecommunications projects.

Linda is a recognized industry expert in enterprise-wide architecture design and data center optimization. She has been an invited guest speaker for numerous Information Technology Conferences nationwide during her career.

Prior to founding G&B, Ms. Berdine served as the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President for Information Technology for Soza & Company, Ltd. She also spent eight years as the Founder and President of Berdine and Associates, a multi-million-dollar company, specializing in systems integration and telecommunications consulting for national and international clients. While CIO at the U.S. House of Representatives, Linda was the liaison to members of Congress and was directly responsible for managing all House Information Systems activities.

Linda has received numerous awards for contributions to the Information Technology community. She has received the Heroines in Technology Award from Women in Technology; AFCEA Leadership Award from AFCEA International; the Presidentâ?(TM)s Award from AFCEA International; the Presidentâ?(TM)s Special Recognition Award from GITEC; Outstanding Contributor Award for FOSE; Caring for Children Award from the NIH Childrenâ?(TM)s Inn; Government Computer News Award for contributions to the IT Community; and the Presidentâ?(TM)s Champion Award from the Federal Data Center Council.

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