Anne Barela

Anne Barela has worked in a variety of engineering roles since 1984. Anne began their career as an Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1984. In 1985, they moved to Boeing, where they worked as a Senior Engineer and Systems Analyst, providing innovative solutions and programming in global systems simulations. In 1988, they joined the U.S. Department of State as a Senior Foreign Service Officer and Supervisory Security Engineering Officer. In this role, they provided engineering solutions and senior technical management in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, leading a division of 500 with a budget of $261M. In 2013, they began working as a Consulting Engineer for Adafruit Industries, where they were the Editor of the weekly Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter (9,400 subscribers), as well as reviewing and writing STEM themed electronic tutorials for beginning to intermediate audiences. Anne also provided innovation in electronics use for practical and novel projects. In 2018, they established their own company, BarelaTech LLC, where they serve as Principal, providing Engineering Management and Consulting.

Anne Barela obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Caltech between 1983 and 1985. Anne then attended Whitman College, where they obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics/Physics Combined Major between 1980 and 1983. Finally, they attended the US Foreign Service Institute's National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, VA from 1988 to 2018.