Did you know that women make up for only 20 percent of the software development force? Did you know fewer women are getting degrees in computer science than any time since the 1970s? That’s just one of the many reasons Melody Meckfessel stands out.
Melody Meckfessel has gone beyond just another woman engineer. She oversees the engineering team that puts programs together at Google. Meckfessel says of her team: “If these systems don’t work, Google doesn’t work.” Think about that. Though Google still majority male run, a woman?named Susan Wojcicki runs Google’s ad department, and she’s one of the most powerful women in the world. But back to Meckfessel. The team she oversees?does tasks from compiling software codes to testing tools. Like Mayer of Yahoo, colleagues say?she had a way of bringing the office together?during a time of office turbulence. They?praise Meckfessel for her people skills and getting this critical team on one?accord.
I have another reason to like Meckfessel. She’s not the stereotypical engineer or geek. I doubt you’ll see this mother of a 4-year-old locking herself in the basement playing dungeons and dragons. She’s also a wine maker in?Northern California’s Napa Valley region.?While?wine and software sound totally different, she?sees great similarities between her Google position and her Chardonnay Meskfessel creation. She says?wine and?software?take lots of experimentation. She says she won’t serve what she won’t drink herself, so she won’t allow any software that she won’t use herself.?So with motherhood, winery and software technology is there anything she can’t do?