Finding an ally, becoming someone's ally-- To live more like yourself #1

Adrienne Cooley, Director of Product Management at SIOS Technology Corp.

Adrienne Cooley, Director of Product Management at SIOS Technology Corp. We asked her about her
journey as a software engineer and what she can do to create a diverse organization and society whereeveryone can work with vigor and enthusiasm.

- What are you working on at SIOS Technology Corp ?
Adrienne: STC works on the LifeKeeper product business and the SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Editionbusiness for Windows Server Failover Clustering. Our R&D office is located in a building on the Universityof South Carolina (Columbia, SC) campus. The building is shared with other technology companies andseveral technology departments at the University of South Carolina and there is personnel exchange.

STC's R&D center (M. Bert Storey Engineering and Innovation Center, University of South Carolina)

- Please tell us about Adrienne's journey as an engineer.
Adrienne: I was born in West Virginia and moved to North Carolina when I was 10 years old. I was a child
who loved to read and play outside, and I have fond memories of reading books in the treehouse.
I discovered my interest in mathematics in middle and high school, especially calculus. In high school, I
chose mathematics classes whenever possible and also took advantage of the Advanced Placement
program*1 to deepen my knowledge by studying university-level courses.
I also liked chemistry in high school, so I initially majored in chemical engineering at the University ofSouth Carolina, but I did not really fit in. When I talked to a professor at the university, he advised me tomajor in electrical or computer engineering, and when I talked to my father, he was concerned that Ishould not force myself into a field that only men who had exposure to computers could do. I had a strong
interest in computer engineering as I happened to have had some experience with an Apple Lisa andApple Macintosh that my father brought home from work, but I decided to major in electrical engineering
instead of computer engineering because of my father's advice. Fortunately, the electrical and computerengineering were very closely related at the University of South Carolina, and I was able to take many
computer-related courses, such as C programming, which I enjoyed very much. At the time, I was also
inspired by participating in communities such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers andthe Society of Women Engineers.
When I graduated in 1991, the USA was in a recession, and it was hard to find a job. Somehow, I managed
to get a job as a programmer for an insurance company. After that, I moved to another company where I
could further utilize my skills as a software engineer, but after the birth of my second child it became
difficult to balance work and childcare, and I became a stay-at-home mother in 1998. When my children
started school in 2006, I found a part-time job where I could use my programming experience and waspromoted to product owner at that company, where I also worked as product manager and productmarketing manager. Then I joined STC as a senior product owner in 2019.
(Continued in #2)*1

Advanced Placement Program :This program allows students to study university-level courses ahead of time while still in high school,

and if they achieve a certain level of performance, they can receive credit for their work after entering university. Sponsored by the CollegeBoard (https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/), a non-profit organization in the United States.