SASE is proud to announce Catherine Ordun with Booz Allen Hamilton as SASE Pro's Information Technologist of the Year Award winner for 2023. As a Booz Allen data scientist, Catherine uses data to question existing processes and find solutions to complex problems. Catherine’s innate curiosity, paired with degrees in biology and public health, led her to explore how diverse and unstructured data can have broad impacts on national health outcomes and policies. Catherine builds machine learning and natural language processing models and leads teams for defense and health clients, including the U.S. Army, Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Experience Office, the Food & Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) —where she aided in the development of the National Health Security Preparedness Index that measures the nation's state of health security and preparedness. Surprisingly, it was music that first inspired Catherine to pursue a technical field. “I’ve played classical violin since I was eight. When I was 13, I auditioned for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra with a very ambitious piece,” says Catherine. “I was intimidated by the concerto. But, my teacher taught me to go slow, methodically, measure by measure, moving up the metronome very slowly over a long period of time. I auditioned and got the highest chair out of all violinists that year. I learned that, with determination and patience, something seemingly impossible and complex can be broken down into manageable parts.” Join us at SASE’s National Convention (https://lnkd.in/gGNyrbFv) in Atlanta, Oct 11-14, 2023, to help celebrate Catherine Ordun! For a full list of SASE Pro 2023 Leadership Winners, visit: https://lnkd.in/g4XW5Qq3
