• GPS
• BRANDEIS HOME

Alumni Spotlight

Alicia Ernst, Student Speaker

Alicia Ernst was the GPS Mini-Commencement Student Speaker on May 17, 2009.

Alicia earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado in 1988. Seeking broader horizons, she moved to Stuttgart, Germany, where she began her career at the telecommunications manufacturer Alcatel. She worked first as a software developer and technical trainer for an international customer base before moving into project management.

As a project manager, Alicia has led large-scale technical projects, implementing telephone switching and transmission systems for public and private telecommunications companies such as Deutsche Telekom, BellSouth, and the Slovakian PTT.

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of Eastern Europe, she trained new project managers from eastern Germany and the Slovak Republic in western business practices. In addition to managing the project implementation, Alicia was involved in developing organizational methods for project management standards throughout the corporation, and co-authoring an Alcatel Project Management Handbook.

In the framework for her Project Management Capstone project, Alicia served as a consultant for Washington Mills in North Grafton, Massachusetts, where she produced project plans for inventory control and manufacturing processes.

Since relocating to Massachusetts in 2002, Alicia has served as a local Destination Counselor, coordinating services for executives and their families moving to the area from abroad, as well as translating technical documentation for German companies operating in the United States.

Alicia is a member of the Central Mass Chapter of the Project Management Institute, where she has been appointed to the Board of Directors, serving as Assistant Director of Volunteers. She enjoys travel, cooking, and reading in her spare time.