LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Four Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) employees were honored by The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) for their contributions to the engineering community and professional excellence. Martha Addison received the Outstanding Collegiate Member award, Diane LaFortune and Mary Perkinson both received the Distinguished New Engineer award, and Michelle Tortolani received the Fellow award.
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Addison received SWE's Outstanding Collegiate Member award for her outstanding contribution to the society, the engineering community, and her collegiate efforts at the University of Alabama.
She is a design engineer for the F-35 program at Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector in El Segundo, Calif. Previously she served as SWE's president and Regional Collegiate Representative for Southeast Region D. She currently serves as the Collegiate Board Representative on the Board of Directors. Addison earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama.
Diane LaFortune and Mary Perkinson received SWE's Distinguished New Engineer award for actively engaging in engineering in the first 10 years of their careers.
LaFortune, a mechanical engineer at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector in Rolling Meadows, Ill., was responsible for the mechanical design of a new space-based, radio frequency transmitter for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which launched in June 2009. The transmitter will search for water and conduct high-resolution radar mapping of the moon.
A member of SWE since she was an undergraduate, LaFortune was 2007 president of the SWE Chicago Regional Section, the society's third-largest professional section. She has also participated in two SWE national committees and now serves as a Region H Senator. LaFortune earned a Bachelor of Science and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Perkinson, a technical service engineering manager 2 at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., is responsible for all engineering and repair work on 250 cranes. She supervises a staff of engineers, technicians and planners. Perkinson served as president of SWE Hampton Roads section, initiating several important organizational changes, including the establishment of a more diverse executive council.
At the society level, Perkinson has served as Chair and Chair-Elect of the Program Development Grant Committee, on the Outreach Committee, and as Chair of the Partnership Coordination Task Force. She earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering both from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Tortolani, an engineering program manager for advanced RF systems at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector in Baltimore, received the Fellow award for achieving professional excellence, furthering the society's goals, and increasing the public's awareness of engineering as a profession for women. In her role as engineering program manager, she manages a multi-disciplined engineering team and is responsible for technical program leadership, system design and development, strategy development, cost and schedule management, proposal preparation, and program staffing.
She is a senior life member of SWE and has been a member of SWE for 25 years, holding a variety of positions at the section, region and national levels, strengthening the society's strategic vision; and membership, professional development, and public policy programs. Tortolani served as president of the SWE Baltimore-Washington Section, the Society's largest professional section, for two terms; director on the Society's Board of Directors for seven years, and as National President in FY08. She earned a Bachelor of Science and a master's degree both in electrical engineering from Boston University.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.
