Sarah Chmielewski

Sarah's greatest strength is her ability to communicate effectively. This is one of the reasons why her colleagues nominated her for the MIT Excellence Award "Bringing out the Best," which acknowledges extraordinary efforts towards fulfilling the goals, values, and the mission of MIT. They say that Sarah has a skill for building consensus among all members of the two large software development teams she leads, that she encourages others to express their opinions, and that she helps their projects be the best they can be by soliciting stakeholder feedback.

One way Sarah cultivates these skills is through engaging in professional development activities. She finds these activities are important for sharing ideas and experiences, and is grateful that the Laboratory supports her enthusiasm for participating. She says, "If I make my case to management about the importance of a conference, training, or an outreach activity, they will make it happen. Sometimes I don't have to ask at all. My group leaders will request me to attend a conference." Sarah likes representing Lincoln Laboratory at conferences and making a positive impact in the advancement of cybersecurity and, ultimately, the security of the nation.

Mentoring has also played an important role in Sarah's life at the Laboratory. Once a mentee in the Laboratory's mentoring program years ago, she now serves as a mentor. Her willingness to mentor others also played a prominent role in her MIT Excellence Award. Sarah has always valued the mentoring she has received and is often seen guiding new team members, sharing advice, and fostering teamwork throughout her group.