PERSONALITY
PROFILEPERSONALITY
PROFILE
Penny Caran, born in May of 1948, graduated from the College of
William and Mary in 1969, and began her working career working for then Governor of New
York State, Nelson A. Rockefeller. Upon Governor Rockefeller’s retirement as
Governor, she went on to become Deputy Director, Washington D. C. Office for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the ensuing years, she continued in the political,
government service arena, married and had two children.
After returning to Warrenton, Virginia where she was raised, Penny first heard the term “EMC” in February of 1982, when she joined the consulting firm, known as Don White Consultants Inc., in Gainesville, Virginia. Employed as Assistant Marketing Director, Penny worked for the organization until 1987. During the six years with Don White Consultants, the company expanded its consulting and training services to include offices in Western Europe, Japan, and Australia.
She advanced to Sales Director and was responsible for managing the Sales Department and supporting the International Representative Offices. While advancing her knowledge and experience with Don White Consultants in the 80’s, she actively participated in the EMC business expansion.
The huge growth in the EMC business market spurred the company to change its name to Interference Control Technologies, Inc. (ICT), start a quarterly technical trade journal, called EMC Technology, launch a new annual EMC Symposium, and continue publishing an expanded library of its technical books. In 1983 when the FCC implemented its new Part 15J rules, the demand for EMC consultants, training courses, and regulatory information was huge. Little did she know that this huge EMC growth phenomenon would be repeated fifteen years later. In 1987, Penny left ICT and went on to other pursuits.
In 1990, she was contacted by a former ICT business associate and adjunct instructor, Martin Green, who in 1987 had established his own company located in the United Kingdom. Because of the coming European Union single internal market changes on the horizon, particularly the pending impact of the EU Directive on EMC, Mr. Green was very interested in developing a North American business subsidiary. As Mr. Green’s company was on the advance list of “to be appointed” regulatory bodies known as “competent bodies” for the EMC Directive, he wished to develop early market access to North American companies who might wish to have technical support and assistance to meet the CE Marking requirements of the EMC Directive.
Calling on long time business associates, Penny began to develop a marketing and sales plan to start a North American business subsidiary. Today Technology International Inc., headquartered in Richmond, Virginia has offices in Dallas, Texas and Sunnyvale, California and serves the broad industrial and commercial market of manufacturers. Today Technology International (Europe) Ltd., the parent company, provides the legal certification support for not only the EMC Directive but also for the Low Voltage Directive and Machinery Safety Directives.
Although Penny says she is not officially an EMC Engineer, and she is not, she does participate actively in IEEE activities, and is a member of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the EMC Society. “Haven’t missed an annual IEEE EMC Symposium in many years”, she says, and attributes her success in developing Technology International to the excellent business relationships and personal friendships she has developed over the years of working in the EMC community. “The International EMC Society is a small group of hard working people who all know each other. I certainly don’t know all of the members, but to those I do, I owe some measure of thanks for their support and assistance over the years. ”
She was the 1997 Program Co-Chairman of the First Annual EMC Harmonization Conference sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the IEEE EMC Society. As the 1998 Conference Chairman of the Second Annual EMC Harmonization Conference sponsored by the IEEE sections (including the National Capital Area Council, the Washington Section, the Northern Virginia Section, and the Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Society), she actively worked with the other committee members to put together an excellent technical program with the theme of “Getting the Job Done”.
Penny lives in Richmond, Virginia. Her two sons are both full time college students. Chris (22) is completing his Masters Degree in Public Administration at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. David (20) is a rising Junior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and is pursuing a degree in technical theater production.
Penny is president of a local investment club, a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, a member of the EMC Society, AAMI and several other business associations. She is also active in local community groups. She enjoys reading, sailing, music and scuba diving.