Claudia Galvan

I am a part time independent consultant working with startups in Silicon Valley helping them launch their products internationally. I am also a part-time doctoral student researching strategies to increase the pipeline of women in engineering.

I always thought I would become an economist like my parents, however, after a Career Day event, where an software engineer explained what he did, I became very interested and decided to pursue this career. Growing up I played with Legos but did not have enough Math background to pursue the career. After studying a lot, I was able to graduate with top honors from my university.

I have a Computer Science degree from Anahuac University in Mexico City. A MSc in Program and Project Management from Golden Gate University in Monterey, CA and I am a doctoral candidate at Drexel University.

When I was a junior programmer I used to spend a lot of time coding, as I grew in the organization, coding became less. As a development manager I was more focused on product design, project management and people management. I have used these skills in technical product and project management roles. My specialty has been in software internationalization, what this means is enabling products that can be used in international markets. I am in a more strategic role now working with startups who are looking to launch products internationally, helping them with their overall product strategy from the business and engineering side.

I have worked on products that are used around the world by billions of people. I consider problem solving the most interesting part of my job. The more complex the better. I like the ability to exercise my analytical and technical skills to innovate and solve big problems.

There are many, I was responsible for enabling the first version of Oracle Tools product to use a back then innovative way (Unicode) of enabling the product into many different languages. I also worked on the underlying technologies used by Adobe products to work on different languages and markets, as well as the Adobe Updater and Download manager that are used in every single device around the world. I worked on Windows Live products to reach 48 languages in 165 markets and I have helped startups launch their products internationally.

Being an engineer is not easy, it requires passion and a lot of work. However, I have always loved my job and have not worked a single day of my life!

My family is incredibly supportive of all my efforts.

Continue to develop global products and help increase the pipeline of women in engineering.

My mom was a working woman who taught me to be curious, work hard and aim high.

Find your niche and passion and use it for good!

I always see challenges as opportunities, enjoy the ride!

I volunteer on helping increase the pipeline of women in engineering every opportunity I have. From giving presentations in schools, to leading workshops and mentoring. I also enjoy hiking and read lot, I have about 2000 books!