Giavara was appointed to the position of Interim Director and CEO effective July 1, 2021. Patricia Giavara served as VMEC’s Assistant Director for 12 years with leadership roles in VMEC’s strategic planning, new business development opportunities, stakeholder and partnership relationships, and services portfolio development and delivery including growth services and technology acceleration. Most recently this has included coordinating VMEC’s Cybersecurity service offerings and introducing Industry 4.0 technologies through partnerships with the New England Regional Defense Initiative Collaborative (NERDIC) including the New England MEP centers; and the MEP National Network.
Patricia is highly respected and recognized for her pioneering work as a certified Innovation Engineering Black Belt (2012). She was part of the Innovation Engineering development team working with the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and Eureka! Ranch to develop and improve Innovation Engineering tools and systems to help small manufacturers accelerate innovation and growth.
Patricia has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has worked at several major manufacturing sites in industries including paper, glass & ceramics, and telecommunications. During her 21 years of manufacturing experience prior to joining VMEC, she held manufacturing and leadership positions as a Process Engineer, Quality Manager, Engineering Manager, and as Plant Manager at one of Corning Incorporated’s optical communications plants.
Patricia lives in East Montpelier and enjoys outdoor activities and contra dancing.