OREANDA-NEWS.  Celebrating excellence through diversity, a pair of Lockheed Martin executives and two from Sandia National Laboratories were honored at the annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) for their commitment to enriching their communities.

The awards were presented on October 7 at HENAAC 2016, in Pasadena, California. Lockheed Martin is a founding sponsor of HENAAC and partner of Great Minds in STEM (GMiS), which served as the host of the event.

Over the past five years, Lockheed Martin has contributed almost $70 million to STEM education programs. The company supports Viva Technology™, GMiS’ national STEM-awareness education program that engages underserved K-12 students, teachers and parents through culturally relevant, active learning to stimulate interest in STEM.

“Diversity and inclusion are essential to fostering innovation at Lockheed Martin and we believe in creating an environment in which everyone has a chance to excel,” said Lockheed Martin Chairman, President, and CEO Marillyn Hewson. “STEM education is what builds the company’s diverse pipeline of talented scientists, engineers and professionals. So we congratulate each recipient for their commitment to encouraging STEM learning and serving as role models.”

Veronica Hernandez earned HENAAC’s Most Promising Engineer Award for her expertise in solving value performance and metrics challenges and her community involvement. She supports the Advanced Development Programs division of Lockheed Martin and in her personal time works with Habitat for Humanity, animal and women’s shelters, retirement homes and conducts cancer and heart walks.

John Martinez won the Luminary Award for his leadership at the company’s Rotary and Mission Systems division and his focus on helping foster children. He has served on several corporate and business area councils like the Executive Roundtable on Retaining Talent and the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council. He and his wife have five children and are active foster parents. For over six years they have provided care for twenty-two foster children.

Dr. Bernadette Hernandez-Sanchez and Vincent Urias of Sandia National Laboratories also received HENAAC honors. Dr. Hernandez-Sanchez won Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for her leadership in advanced materials research. She is dedicated to serving her community and works with disadvantaged and minority youth.