Salute to Alumni

Linda Capuano, continued

Recalling why she left Conductus in 1995, after seven years of success and taking the company public, she says, "I wanted to do something on a bigger sc ale. I'd made my contribution there."

Capuano joined AlliedSignal as vice president of aerospace technology and new business development. When the company merged with Honeywell in fall 1999, she became vice president of Honeywell's Engines & Systems division, a $5 billion business that provides components and systems to the aerospace industry. The division is leading Honeywell's growth strategy with its efforts to develop new business. Keeping a dizzying pace, Capuano is in charge of mergers and acquisitions as well as the integration of e-business opportunities.

"There are no single disciplines anymore," she says, explaining the variety of fields in which she has worked. "If you're going to make products cheaper, the only way to do that is by integrating different systems. So while your training is traditional in the beginning, you have to begin looking around the peripheral interfaces."

Capuano brings a strong technical background to her work, having earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Stanford. In 1983 she received the Society of Women Engineers Award for Technical Innovation for her contributions to magnetic recording.