Portland State Magazine Spring 2012

ALUMNI PROFILE OLGA LAFAYETTE '98 Found in translation Olga Lafayette remembers loving language so much as a 6-year-old in Siberia that she concocted a foreign language. Later, she begged her sister, who was learn– ing German, to teach it to her. Today the 39-year-old woman, who speaks Rus- sian, English, French, and Japanese, has channeled that passion into managing her now eight-years-old translation services firm, Language Fusion. The $1.5 million Vancouver, Washington, company is providing translations in 150 languages around the world, mostly through the Internet. Last year, Language Fusion made the Portland Business Journal's 100 Fastest Growing Companies list (ranked 12th), and Lafayette was named to its "Forty Under 40" list. She had just landed a multi-year transla– tion contract with the White House. This year Lafayette signed a five-year federal contract that will allow any federal agency to hire her company's services quickly and easily. Language Fusion is able to take advantage of the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program. Lafayette says her company sets itself apart by smart application of technology. Thanks to a web-based man– agement system built by her husband, David, a 1999 PSU alumnus, clients can regularly check the progress of their project online. The system also allows online scheduling of translation jobs without cost-intensive scheduling by phone. Lafayette credits PSU for setting a strong foundation for her life in the U.S. "It's really easy to become disori– ented in a completely different environment. In my case it was coming from Siberia to the U.S., leaving all my family behind," she says. "PSU was a perfect choice." 24 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2012 and is a bassist with the worship team at Vancouver First Church of God. Casey Burkhardt '00, MEd '03 is the 2012 Teacher of the Year for the Depart– ment of Defense Dependents Schools, Heidelberg District, in Germany. Burkhardt teaches English language arts at Parch High School at Parch Barracks in Scurcgart, Germany. Craig Jurs '00, MS '03 is a performance engineer for tire manufacturer Michelin Amer– ica. He works in the research and developmem departmem in Greenville, South Carolina. Robert Martin MBA '00 is a financial adviso r for Waddell & Reed, an asset managemem firm. Marcin lives and works in Eugene. Heike Mayer MUS '00, PhD '03 recently published the book Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Second Tier Regions. She is a professor of economic geogra– phy ac the University of Bern in Switzerland, and a co-director of its Cemer for Regional Economic Development. Mayer is also an adjunct professor in urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Naomi Ulsted MA '00 is direc– tor of the Springdale Job Corps Center. The Troutdale-based program provides free ski lls crai ning for economically disad– vamaged youth. She previously served as programs manager at the Partners in Vocational Opportunity Training Center in Portland. Sidy Diop '01, MS '09 is a soft– ware engineer for Apple, Inc., in Portland. Previously, Diop was a senior software engineer for Hewlett-Packard. Dan Eller MS '01 is a share– holder with the law firm of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland. He also serves as a mentor at PSU and at Lewis & Clark Law School. Eller is a member of the PSU Graduate Alumni Ambassador Council and is on the board of trustees for the local chapter of the Leu– kemia & Lymphoma ociety. Anthony Hoangphan '01 is director of health information and technology at Vancouver Radiologists in Washington. Jason Packham '01 is a retire– ment services manager in che Portland office ofAutomatic Dara Processing, Inc., a national human resources company spe– cializing in payroll services. Theodore Stewart Benice '02 is a visiting assistant professor in rhe psychology department at the Univer iry of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Milton Ortega MPH '02 is a project coordinator at the Alberta Association oflmmi– grant Serving Agencies in Ca lgary, Canada. Ortega was previously vice president at the United Nations Association of Canada - Calgary. Jon Pippert '02 owns a fran– chise of The Maids, a national home cleaning service, which he operates in Albany, Beaverton, and Boise, Idaho. Kazuhiro Sonoda PhD '02 is dean of the Col lege ofArcs and Sciences at Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington. Sonoda is married to Cherie Sonoda '06, who owns The House of Ramen in Portland. Andrew Jauri MS '03 is a senior software engineer in the Portland office oflxia, a company that sells testing and monitoring equipment for com– puter networks. David Kohl MIM '03 is a Portland-based interna– tional business consulcam, entrepreneur, and Mandarin– speaking Ease Asia specialise. He co-founded uGraph, Inc.,