Yorktown Woman Receives National Award

Yorktown Heights resident and distinguished engineer has received a national award for her lifetime achievements in developing applications of new technologies.

Edith Stern was honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and received the Kate Gleason Award in Houston, TX last month. 

"I'm thrilled," Stern told Patch. "Kate Gleason was a pioneering figure, and her accomplishments were iconic. She paved the way for generations of female engineers to come. It's particularly gratifying to receive an award named for her."

The Kate Gleason Award, established in 2011, recognizes a female engineer who is a highly successful entrepreneur in a field of engineering or who has had a lifetime of achievement in the engineering profession, according to a press release.  

The award is well deserved and the recognition is not new to Stern. The woman was named an IBM master inventor in 1998 and has been a member of the IBM Academy of Technology since 1999.

Stern was 15 years old when she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics at Florida Atlantic University in 1968. Two years later, she received her Master’s Degree in mathematics at Michigan State University.

"I hope my biggest accomplishments are yet to come, but I am very proud of my patents," Stern said. "At this time, I am an inventor on 114 US patents."

Stern, who began her career at IBM in the early 1970s, has spent nearly 40 years contributing insights and technology to industries leveraging information technology. To read more about her achievements, click here.

What is loves the most about her job, and what's also the most difficult part, Stern said, is solving problems. She is currently working on projects to apply analytics to data center management.

"My father is very excited about this award," Stern said. "There's a nice symmetry in the path from prodigy to lifetime achievement award."

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