Tara Astigarraga
Personal Information
Born: Unknown
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Native American - Choctow Nation
Education
University of Arizona BA Spanish Linguistics & Communications 2001, MS Computer Information Systems
"“Women bring strong skills and unique perspectives to projects.” (inventions.si.edu); "I don’t know if it’s being Native, being female, [or] coming from a non-traditional path, but it took me a long time to realize that I actually belonged in the fields of STEM, that it wasn’t an accident that I was having success.” (uspto.gov); “I realized that I didn't have to ask for permission, that I could just go innovate and do things. That put me in a different mindset.” (uspto.gov); “When people talk about activities in STEM or how to build pipelines and get people involved,” Tara says, “they typically talk about the Black and Hispanic communities and even women. But Native American communities hardly ever get brought up because when you round that data, we get rounded to zero and we don't even get included in those conversations.” (uspto.gov); “Your entire career you're going to be learning. So, don't be scared to jump in, start learning one thing, and then start looking around and realizing what are the neighboring components. Tackle it a puzzle piece at a time.” (uspto.gov); "If you help others it not only lifts you up but it comes back to help you." (indigenousinnovators.ca); "
— Tara Astigarraga
Professional Life
Field of Study: Engineering
Institution/Corporation: IBM, University of Arizona
Degrees & Memberships: Member: AISES; Sequoyah Fellow; corporate advisory board AISES; AnitaB.org
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2016 Technical Excellence Award, American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES); 2019 Distinguished Inventor of the Year, Rochester IP & Law Association (RIPLA); 2017 named to Rochester Business Journal's 40 Under 40; 2017 Corporate Technical Recognition (CTR) for Significant External Honors, IBM; 2011, 2015 & 2017 IBM Master Inventor; 2008 Educational Leadership Award K-12, WOC STEM Conference; 2007 Most Promising Engineer/Scientist, AISES
Achievements: has invented storage, networking, security & blockchain solutions; holds 84 patents
Member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
is an IBM Master Inventor
has been employed at IBM since 2001
before an internship at IBM her senior year of college, wanted to be a bilingual teacher or social worker
received her 1st patent in 2008
likes solving real-world problem
is very active in recruiting Native Americans to STEM & engineering careers