Patricia “Tricia” Walker is director, global operations quality in mergers and acquisitions for Medtronic. In this role, she leads an engineering and management organization dedicated to ensuring that acquired entities are flawlessly integrated within Medtronic’s manufacturing quality and supplier controls processes.

Walker began her engineering career at CDT Inc. (now Integer) as a research and development engineer and, later, an engineering supervisor. She aided in the design and development of more than 20 medical devices used in the cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, nervous, reproductive, and skeletal systems. Walker then joined Accellent Inc. (now Integer) and as a design engineer, program, and engineering manager, leveraged her experience to contribute to catheter design and medical device manufacturing. She joined Medtronic in 2011.

She has served the Society of Women Engineers in different leadership roles since college, culminating in her role as legacy Region H governor in fiscal years 2016-2018 and as Society senator in FY20-FY23. During the Region H transition, she worked to archive its documents and established a financial plan for its funds, which resulted in a scholarship endowment.

At the Society level, Walker served on the outreach committee for almost two decades and on the curriculum committee. She co-led the Racial Inclusivity for Society Equity (RISE) sub-team, which helped strategically improve the Society in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For these and other leadership efforts, SWE recognized her with its Distinguished New Engineer (2009), Emerging Leader (2014), and Spark (2020) awards.

Walker’s mantra, She Believed She Could So She Did, informs her teaching, mentoring, and coaching of rising star women collegians and engineers. Her mentoring reach spans four companies as well as relationships within SWE, Medtronic’s employee resource groups, SWENext, and her St. Louis Park, Minnesota, community. She has personally influenced the careers of dozens of women engineers and mentored numerous girls interested in engineering.

Walker’s dedication to community leadership and mentoring is legendary. She is active locally in several nonprofit organizations, including the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Lutheran Social Services, and the Duck Cup Memorial Fund, all of which focus on physical, emotional, and mental well-being. She has also engaged in programs that provide meaningful, lasting role model opportunities to girls, particularly Girls on the Run, which helps girls develop their inner strength though leadership opportunities and service projects. She is currently a FIRST Robotics coach for a local high school as well.

Walker holds a B.S. in engineering science and biomedical engineering from Iowa State University and an M.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa.

She enjoys spending time with family and friends, music, the arts, travel and adventure, triathlons, and making a difference in the lives of others.