Advisory Board

Semifinalist in the 2017 Atlanta Metro Export Challenge,  Winton Machine was founded in 1997 by company owners, George and Lisa Winton, in the basement of their home in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The company started by designing and building dedicated hand benders. Over the next 12 months, it acquired some chip cutting machines, and soon Winton’s basement machine shop was filled with equipment and supplies. A few short months later, Winton Machine received its initial machinery order and the company moved into its first manufacturing facility. In the past 15 years, the company has expanded using Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and has moved to a larger facility four times. Today Winton Machine employs over 20 people and has a 13,000-square foot facility in Suwanee.

“We feel strongly about being a local manufacturer and bringing jobs to Georgia. Our company is built on integrity—doing what is best for the customer—and providing complete solutions. One of our key competitive advantages is that we are capable of modifying our existing machine designs as well as engineering new solutions,” said George Winton, Co-founder, and President of Winton Machine.

Winton Machine designs and manufactures all of its machinery onsite in Suwanee. The company, which started with building one machine, now manufactures over 100 different machines and has also developed its own proprietary software that is used exclusively on Winton Machine products. The company continues to expand its core line of tube fabrication equipment by adding customer-requested features and creating engineered solutions for the specific manufacturing needs of customers. Winton Machine has delivered high-quality, U.S. made machines to over 500 customers in the United States and around the world, from China, South Korea, Russia, and Israel to Mexico, Ecuador, and Sweden.

Winton Machine provides internships and valuable hands-on experience to students in the cSTEM academy. Ms. Winton also works directly with the teachers by sharing current research in the STEM community and gives her time to work with students and provide quality feedback on their projects

Virginia is an Innovation Coach at the AT&T Foundry in Atlanta. After earning her degree at Boston University, she spent 25 years in the software industry with several Fortune 500 telecom and financial institutions. By way of New York and Boston, she has settled in Atlanta with her husband, Andy and two kids. 

Her work in developing proof of concepts in the Mobility, Connected Home, Connected Car and IPTV space brings a unique view to the cSTEM program. Her job is to investigate, research and implement emerging technologies within this industry, much like we ask our students to do. Development in the iOS, Android, Java, HTML, SQL, are a few of the skills that she shares with our students as well as Net space within an Agile environment. Her experience includes exposing internal software as external REST API's, integrating external assets into AT&T and building applications for Mobile Devices and IPTV. 

Mrs. Ng has a passion for promoting STEM to the female population. She works directly with the teachers to find internships, summer programs, helps with recruitment, and encourages activities that will engage girls in STEM. She helps students with app development during their projects and has been a valuable judge in providing feedback during many of the projects.

Jennifer Whitlow serves as the Director of Computing Enrollment at the Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Computing. Her passion for working with prospective college students and their families began during her own time as a student at Georgia Tech, where she had the opportunity to assist with recruitment and enrollment events. During her tenure at Georgia Tech, Jennifer has worked to continuously create new programs that provide structure and support during the admission and enrollment process at all levels of degree programs, as well as increase the number of underrepresented students within the field of computing. Based on her past success, the College of Computing has chosen Jennifer to create alumni programs that will reengage graduates and establish mentorship opportunities with current and prospective students. 

Jennifer’s passions for increasing diversity within the field of computing span beyond her role at Georgia Tech to a state and national level. She is involved with the National Center for Women and Information Technology through her role as a Pacesetter, a member of the Academic Alliance, and as Coordinator for the Georgia and Puerto Rico NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. She also serves as the Co-Chair for the Southeast Women in Computing Conference, a bi-annual conference that brings together women at all levels of the computing field.

Jennifer has been with the College of Computing since June 2009. She earned her B.S. in Computational Media from Georgia Tech in 2009 and her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Georgia Southern in 2012. 

With a background in IT and an employee of a highly competitive university, Ms. Whitlow helps coach our students and parents on the ins and outs of getting into a top school. She provides seminars for the students on resume writing, college applications, and online portfolios. She also supports the students by providing feedback on current projects and improvements they can make for the consumers.

Mr. Varamo oversees recruitment, craft apprenticeship program, continuing education and organizational development efforts at MetroPower, Inc. Works closely with VPs and 12 Branch Managers to identify workforce shortages, education deficiencies, and craft skill needs and drafts plan to optimize the talent pipeline. Reviews 1 and 3 years strategic plans to analyze goals alignment and skill sets needed to meet objectives then creates an action plan to facilitate training and fill gaps. Identifies and recruits employees with the skill sets necessary to grow the business and fulfill business goals. Works closely with tech school administrators, instructors, contractors, and vendors to introduce students to the construction field and promote the electrical trade. Coordinates apprenticeship programs and improves training methods and curriculum to facilitate a smooth transition from apprentice to journeyman. Sits on industry workforce development boards to address shortfalls and methods to attract new talent. Assesses learning and development needs and identifies providers to train employees on knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

Mr. Varamo provides our students with internships, and funding for student projects, and speaks to students at our annual school career night. 

Robert received his B.S. from Mississippi State University in Secondary Mathematics Education.  Over the course of his career, he has been a teacher, a hardware technician, an IT director, a trainer, a programmer, and a business owner.  His unique blend of skills in education, technology, and business allow him to communicate effectively with people in different roles within an organization.  He is able to relate to each of them as individuals and to capitalize on each person's specific goals and desired outcomes.

As a programmer, Robert has worked in numerous languages and technologies including C/C++, Objective C, Java, Ruby, Perl, HTML, and XML.  He thinks of these as tools, and he prefers to match the language and technology to the problem rather than allowing them to dictate a particular solution.

As a trainer, Robert has presented sessions on software development and testing at many conferences since 2004.  He has written and co-authored articles in journals including Windows Developer and Software Test and Performance.

Robert believes strongly in delivering quality solutions that solve real customer problems and provide tangible business value.  Since 2002, he has been a proponent of Agile software development processes and techniques.  He helped bring Agile processes to EnvisionWare, a company that he helped create in October 1998. 

Mr. Walsh has worked with our students in productive brainstorming sessions as well as provided financial support of student projects.