I have been with Proctor & Gamble for 27 years and I have been a Research Fellow for the last 9 years. I went into the field of research, food engineering and chemical engineering because I thought it was the best way to move the world forward and to help people.

As far as formal education, I earned my Ph.D in Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Science, and Extrusion from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This industry is heavily male dominated, and my biggest challenge professionally has been getting the respect I deserve from men in this non-diverse world.

I excel in technology and I am very innovative. I love, and am respected for, my coaching and mentoring.

My greatest accomplishment is the example I set for my daughters, aged 23, 21 and 14. I am also proud of my career successes and the reputation I built for myself.

This year I made the decision to leave P&G after 27 years, and I am looking to move to another company. I would like to obtain a position at the Executive Level, rather than the technological area, and work to help other technology engineers bring their innovations to market.

My motivation and my inspiration is in making sure I make an impact on my children and society. I want to ensure that I am contributing and doing my part to make the world a better place for future generations.

I want to be remembered as a Latino/Hispanic woman who succeeded in the areas of technology and science and set an example for other Latino women to follow.

• American Association for Clinical Chemistry
• AACC Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
• The American Chemical Society 

I have had over 50 patents granted by the US, among them is one that was issued in May, 2009: a method for reducing acrylamide in corn-based foods, corn-based foods having reduced levels of acrylamide, and article of commerce and on that was issued in August 2004: Potato Flakes.