Partner Engineering Manager, Microsoft
Nadia Payet is a native of a tiny French island in the Indian Ocean. She earned a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from CPE Lyon, in France. She arrived at Oregon State University on an exchange program in computer science. Originally slated to be in Corvallis for just six months, Payet fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and decided to continue her studies at Oregon State, where she obtained her Ph.D. in 2011.
Oregon State shaped Payet’s passion for computer science. She adds that the College of Engineering has a great online curriculum, and it creates opportunities for a diverse group of people that way.
Payet started her career at Amazon.com, working for Kindle Direct Publishing. A year later, she joined the Google Maps Navigation team and over the next 10 years worked her way up to a senior engineering manager position. In 2022, she joined Microsoft as an engineering partner in the Maps and Local department.
Payet feels that people have a fundamental need for mapping solutions every day, when we need to find places and go there. She is pleased that her work has helped consumers and companies around the world do just that. Payet is proudest of her involvement in a Google Maps project that has helped save 1 megaton of carbon emissions.
Payet organizes visits to high schools and universities to give advice about how to apply for internships in the tech industry. She talks to Women in Engineering groups about the issues they are facing as a minority in engineering, to help motivate them to persist, and encourages more women to pursue leadership positions in the field.
She recognizes that improving the pipeline of minority groups interested in science is an important step in changing the demographics in technology. She takes every opportunity to give back and currently supports the Making Connections Program at the University of Washington Women’s Center, as well as the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State.
“Please remember to be kind to yourself first. I see so many engineers in the industry who are burned out because they are just so hard on themselves. The future may be uncertain, but look at where you are.“
Degrees
- B.S. Computer Science, 2011