Month: June 2025

Logitech Blog

International Women in Engineering Day is a global platform to recognize, celebrate, and amplify the contributions of women in shaping the world through engineering. In a field historically dominated by men, this day serves as an inspiring reminder of the diverse talents and perspectives women bring to the table and a compelling call to action for creating a more inclusive and innovative future.

At Logitech, we know that diversity fuels innovation. Women in engineering are breaking stereotypes and redefining what’s possible, pioneering solutions, enhancing collaboration, and driving progress in STEM. Today, we honor the groundbreaking achievements and relentless determination of women engineers while fostering the critical conversations needed to move toward equal representation.

Established in the United Kingdom in 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society, International Women in Engineering Day celebrates years of progress while addressing the persistent need for change. This movement isn’t just about recognition, it’s about inspiration: empowering the next generation of women to envision themselves as engineers, leaders, and trailblazers in science, technology, and beyond.

Hear more from Laleh Makarem, Eileen Wu, and Meena Ramani, three Logitech engineers who are redefining what it means to be a woman in engineering. Their stories illustrate the challenges, opportunities, and rewards of pursuing a path in STEM; proof of how empowerment can pave the way for future innovators.

What does it mean to you to be a woman in engineering?

Eileen: It’s about the responsibility of showing up so the next generation sees engineering as a place they belong, too. It’s the resilience in facing challenges, and the joy in knowing your work is part of something bigger, building technologies, communities, and ideas that move the world forward.

What advice would you give girls studying STEM and young women who want to get into engineering?

Laleh: My advice is to approach engineering with confidence, curiosity, and persistence. Seek a network that supports and inspires you, or create one! Don’t hesitate to pursue your interests, speak up, and share your perspectives. Most importantly, remember that your abilities and potential define your career far more significantly than gender.

Can you share a project or achievement you’re most proud of in your career?

Laleh:  One project I’m particularly proud of is co-founding the TinyML Switzerland community. We built a space for professionals and researchers to exchange knowledge and drive innovation in deploying machine learning on ultra-low-power microcontrollers. Through workshops, hackathons, and demo days, we’ve helped foster a vibrant ecosystem and accelerate real-world applications of Edge AI. EdgeAI engineering is the field focused on designing and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) that runs directly on edge devices close to the source of data such as our mice and keyboard and headset.

What do you do on a day-to-day basis, and what are some recent projects you’ve worked on?

Meena: I lead the Digital signal processing and Machine learning team at Logitech. My team works on the Research, Development, and Implementation of audio algorithms for Hardware Audio engineering products, including Gaming headsets, Logitech for Business headsets, Microphones, and Ultimate Ears speakers. 

Our work focuses on enhancing audio in both the microphone path (“how you sound”) and the speaker path (“what you hear”). Recent accomplishments include the implementation of 48 kHz Embedded Bluevoice Microphone processing for the newly announced G522 gaming headset. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering?

Eileen: My path to engineering was inspired by a deep curiosity about how materials shape our everyday experiences. During my studies in chemistry, I became fascinated by the potential of materials to solve real-world problems, whether through improving performance, enabling new functionalities, or enhancing sustainability (green energy). This interest naturally evolved into a passion for engineering, where I could bridge scientific understanding with practical application.

Laleh: What initially drew me to engineering was my passion for math and physics. I soon realized engineering would allow me to pursue these interests while providing practical applications to satisfy my desire for problem-solving.

Meena: Growing up in a family that valued education and learning ignited my fascination with understanding how things work, particularly satellites! This led me to pursue my undergraduate studies in Electronics and Communication Engineering. During my Master’s program at the University of Florida, my work as a research assistant at the Computational Neuro-Engineering Laboratory sparked my interest in Biologically inspired signal processing. This ultimately led to my PhD research on Hearing and Speech enhancement, and I have been working on audio signal processing ever since.

PITTSBURGH, June 25, 2025 /3BL/ – Intelligent power management company Eaton is working with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to repurpose its retired Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, Tennessee into a critical asset supporting reliable and clean energy.

As more electricity comes from variable sources and electricity demand increases, maintaining grid stability becomes more challenging as coal plants reach the end of their operating lifecycles. Synchronous condensers help balance grid inertia by replacing decommissioned power generation equipment, increasing power reliability and redundancy. Eaton is providing the electrical and mechanical solutions needed to convert one machine comprised of two generators into two 605 mega-volt amperes reactive (MVAR) synchronous condensers. This will enable the Bull Run plant to add increased stability to the power grid.

“Synchronous condenser conversions are complex technical projects that require a high degree of specialized knowledge and project management capabilities,” explained Igor Stamenkovic, senior vice president and general manager for Eaton’s Electrical Engineering Services and Systems Division. “Through our approach and proven success helping other utilities across North America to support reliable and affordable power, we are confident this transformation will help enhance reliability and grid stability in the region.”

Eaton has the industry’s broadest portfolio of utility solutions and services designed to help utilities support resilience, performance and decarbonization. In addition to turnkey engineering support, the company is supplying essential electrical distribution and control equipment for the project, including medium-voltage variable-frequency drives, motor control centers, panelboards, relay panels and network automation hardware.

Learn more about Eaton’s approach to grid modernization and its synchronous condenser design and conversion capabilities.

Eaton is an intelligent power management company dedicated to protecting the environment and improving the quality of life for people everywhere. We make products for the data center, utility, industrial, commercial, machine building, residential, aerospace and mobility markets. We are guided by our commitment to do business right, to operate sustainably and to help our customers manage power ─ today and well into the future. By capitalizing on the global growth trends of electrification and digitalization, we’re helping to solve the world’s most urgent power management challenges and building a more sustainable society for people today and generations to come.

Founded in 1911, Eaton has continuously evolved to meet the changing and expanding needs of our stakeholders. With revenues of nearly $25 billion in 2024, the company serves customers in more than 160 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Contact:

Kristin Somers
+1.919.345.3714
Kristincsomers@eaton.com

Regina Parundik
Cobblestone Communications
+1.412.559.1614
Regina@cobblecreative.com

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Even if you haven’t watched Severance, odds are good you’ve heard people talking about the hit show using odd terms like “innies” and “outties.” First, let’s be clear: the show is not about belly buttons. It’s actually much stranger than that.

The series follows employees at a mysterious company called Lumen who have undergone a surgical procedure to strictly divide their work selves from their personal lives. It’s a dramatic premise, but one that illuminates a deeper truth: when disconnection is fundamental to workplace culture, mental health and well-being are often the first things to suffer.

In this post, we’ll explore five workplace behaviors that Severance exaggerates (but that many people experience) and how strong EHS practices can support something better.

Five Workplace Behaviors to Leave Behind (According to Severance)

1. Enforcing rigid work/life separation 

At Lumen, certain employees are split into two selves. Their work self (their “innie”) knows nothing of their personal life (their “outtie”), and vice versa. The goal is total separation: no stress from home affecting your performance, and no work worries following you out the door.

The impact

The fantasy of flawless boundaries may sound appealing, especially to workers stretched thin. But when people are pressured to compartmentalize too much, they struggle to find balance. Over time, inflexible schedules, emotional silencing, and productivity-at-all-costs culture erode mental health and push people toward burnout.

A healthier approach

Work and life are not cleanly divisible, and the systems we build shouldn’t pretend they are. Supporting well-being starts with designing flexibility into the way work happens. That includes advocating for policies that recognize the full scope of employee needs: mental health resources, adaptable schedules, and work environments that support both focus and recovery. When people are allowed to bring their full selves to work, they’re more capable, more connected, and more resilient.

Learn more: The Role of EHS in Workforce Mental Health Programs

2. Socially siloing departments

At Lumen, employees are confined to rigid departmental silos. Interacting across teams is discouraged, and in some cases, quietly punished. The result is a workplace where people know of each other, but aren’t allowed to know each other.

The impact

When organizations limit opportunities for employees to connect across roles or departments, they introduce a subtle but significant risk to workplace health. Disconnection like this prevents vital trust-building interactions and reduces the likelihood that people will speak up when something seems off. This can lead to a culture where people focus more on staying in their lane than staying safe.

A healthier approach

One of the most effective ways to reduce these risks is to build social cohesion and collaboration into the structure of work. Encouraging regular, cross-departmental interaction, whether through shared safety meetings, peer feedback loops, or collaborative problem-solving sessions, helps strengthen trust and surface possible issues before they become problems.

Learn more: An Emerging and Growing Workplace Issue: Psychosocial Risks

3. Obscuring the purpose of work

In Severance, no one – not even the employees themselves – seems to know what the “macrodata refinement” team is actually doing. They sit at glowing screens, dragging numbers into files with vague instructions about removing “scary” data. There’s no explanation. No context. Just tasks for task’s sake.

The impact

When workers don’t understand the purpose of what they’re doing, the job becomes mechanical, something to get through, not something to engage with. That disconnection feeds chronic stress and contributes to burnout, even when workloads aren’t objectively extreme. People want their work to matter. When purpose is missing, it can lead to frustration, detachment, and a creeping sense that the effort doesn’t add up to anything meaningful.

That disconnect takes a toll on both personal well-being and collective performance.

A healthier approach

Helping employees understand how their work contributes to the broader mission supports both mental well-being and organizational resilience. When people see the connection between their role and the bigger picture, they’re more likely to stay engaged, notice problems early, and feel a deeper sense of investment in the outcomes.

Learn more: Workplace Culture Surveys: How to Measure and Improve Employee Health and Well-Being 

4. Offering superficial or inauthentic recognition

In Severance, Lumen rewards employees with bizarre perks like drumlines and “waffle parties” (apologies to the waffle enthusiasts for whom this may be a dream reward). The rituals are elaborate, but entirely disconnected from the employees they’re meant to honor. Without any shared joy, they come off as just another work task wrapped in the illusion of reward.

The impact

When recognition feels forced, out of touch, or performative, it misses the mark. Workers can sense when appreciation is more about optics than authenticity. Over time, that disconnect breeds cynicism. People stop trusting praise, assume ulterior motives, and disengage emotionally. Instead of boosting morale, hollow gestures can leave employees feeling unseen, misunderstood, or even mocked.

A healthier approach

Meaningful recognition starts with empathy. It requires listening to what employees actually value and building appreciation into the culture in ways that feel genuine and reciprocal. Whether it’s a public thank-you, a flexible schedule, or development opportunities, the most effective recognition strategies reflect what matters to the people receiving them, not just the people giving them. When done well, recognition reinforces connection, builds trust, and strengthens the social fabric that safety depends on.

5. Responding to mistakes with punishment instead of curiosity

At Lumen, mistakes are met with eerie, ritualized punishment. Employees who step out of line are sent to the “break room,” where they must recite scripted apologies until deemed sincere. The goal of this exercise isn’t understanding; it’s control.

The impact

Fear shrinks people. It quiets instincts, silences questions, and trains workers to avoid visibility rather than pursue improvement. In a culture where errors are met with punishment, employees are less likely to report problems, admit uncertainty, or share near-misses. That silence endangers workers. Over time, risk accumulates in the gaps between what’s known and what’s hidden.

A healthier approach

Effective EHS practices are built on learning, not blame. When something goes wrong, the most productive question isn’t “Who messed up?” it’s “What broke down, and how can we fix it?” A Just Culture framework encourages organizations to examine the systems that contribute to mistakes while still holding space for accountability. With this approach, every incident, no matter how small, turns into an opportunity to make the workplace safer for everyone.

Reconnecting the Whole Worker

Severance may be fiction, but the emotional terrain it explores feels familiar. The temptation to compartmentalize – to leave stress at the door or mute parts of yourself to get through the day – is real. But over time, those internal splits wear people down. They disconnect workers not only from their roles, but from each other and from themselves.

That’s why modern health and safety strategies must account for the full experience of being at work.

Total Worker Health® provides a framework for doing just that. It’s a proactive, integrated approach that considers the full spectrum of well-being, including:

• Physical safety through hazard prevention and safe work environments
• Mental and emotional health supported by stress-reduction efforts and access to care
• Purposeful culture that helps employees understand how their work contributes
• Empowered feedback that makes space for concerns, questions, and ideas to surface

Each of these elements contributes to a healthier, more sustainable workplace.

When EHS programs are designed with this kind of depth, they move beyond reactive compliance. They help shape environments where people feel capable, connected, and safe enough to do their best work—day in and day out.

Want to create a healthier, more connected workplace?

Explore our Health & Safety Consulting services and learn how our team can help you build an environment where health, safety, and culture work together.

By Candace Higginbotham

Final exams are complete, the last bell has rung and students and teachers are ready for a fun and relaxing summer break. Regions teams across the footprint are joining in on the celebrations but the bank’s commitment and support doesn’t stop when the books are closed.

Education and workforce development are key priorities and a strategic pillar for both Regions Bank and the Regions Foundation^®. The Regions Foundation is a nonprofit funded primarily by Regions Bank. Along with funding related to education and workforce development in areas served by Regions Bank, the foundation delivers grants and investments to organizations that enhance economic and community development, financial wellness and more.

The bank and foundation champion education programs and initiatives in a variety of ways, through grants, investments and financial wellness. And Regions Bank associates always raise their hands for classroom volunteer opportunities.

‘Lighting a Flame’

Regions Bank’s Finance division recently took part in an end-of-school year blowout for students hosted by Better Basics, a Birmingham nonprofit whose mission is to eradicate illiteracy among children in central Alabama.

Better Basics Reads 2025, the organization’s largest annual volunteer event, brought in hundreds of community members who read to more than 14,000 pre-K through 5th-grade students across the Birmingham area. As a bonus, the students get to take a book home.

Amanda Saint, Business Unit Controller at Regions, is an active board member at Better Basics and organized a team that read to K-5^th grade students in 18 classrooms at i3 Academy. She said the day was impactful for not just the students but also the teachers and the Regions Finance team.

“The students loved the books!” Saint said. “They were engaged, asking questions and giving answers to questions we had. And they were so excited to get to take the book home with them. The teachers were amazing and very appreciative of Better Basics and Regions.”

The experience was fun, but Saint also acknowledged the long-term value of this activity.

“Ensuring students have books at home and hopefully lighting a flame to love reading is very important. Without reading, learning becomes exponentially tougher. Stats show that students who are reading below grade level by 3rd grade are more likely to drop out of high school and fail to become college and career ready. And 60 percent of low-income families do not have a single children’s book in their homes. Having a time to interact with students and share my love for reading with them is the best.”

Education-Focused Grants

Better Basics also received good news from the Regions Foundation, which announced a grant that will go toward the Reading Intervention Program for underserved K-4th grade students. The program focuses on teacher training, high quality tutoring, early reading intervention and enrichment activities.

The Regions Foundation continued the end-of -school year celebration with the announcement of additional education-focused grants, including a $250,000 commitment to three affiliates of the Council for Economic Education. The CEE’s mission is to equip K-12 students with the tools and knowledge of personal finance and economics so that they can make better decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. It does this by providing programs for teachers, students and families through a network of 200 affiliates across the country.

The Mississippi Council on Economic Education received funding to support the Get2College Teacher Training and Certification Program. The Georgia council grant supports the Advancing Financial Literacy Project, and the Alabama affiliate grant will fund their Never Too Early Project.

“The Regions Foundation is proud to support programs and initiatives that empower educators with the knowledge and tools in financial literacy” said Marta Self, executive director of the Regions Foundation. “These training programs enable teachers and families to take charge of their own financial wellness, and in turn, help their students start building a strong financial foundation for their future.”

Regions Bank and Regions Foundation have a long history with another education-focused organization, A+ Education Partnership in Alabama. For the last six years, the Regions Foundation has funded two professional development programs, Powerful Learning Networks and Instructional Partners Network, part of the A+ Best Practices Center. Regions Chairman, President and CEO John Turner serves as a board member.

“The Regions Foundation is proud to support programs and initiatives that empower educators with the knowledge and tools in financial literacy.”
Marta Self, executive director of the Regions Foundation

“We are incredibly grateful for the investment and long-term collaboration Regions Bank and the Regions Foundation have provided for A+’s work through the years,” said Stirling Hutchins, senior director of development at A+ Education Partnership.

A+ works to promote policies and directly support public schools to improve outcomes for all students, particularly those with greater needs, and they are especially excited about an end-of-school-year win that will benefit students across the state when they return in the fall. The organization served a major role in the passage of Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act, which was signed into law in early May.

The RAISE Act creates a new funding mechanism for public schools in Alabama that allocates additional resources based on specific student characteristics. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, a RAISE Fund will provide weighted allocations for students in various categories, including those experiencing poverty, students with special needs, English Language Learners, charter school students and gifted students. This means that districts will receive additional funding based on the number of students in these specific categories, which they can then use to address those students’ needs.

Supporting Teachers, Students and Parents

As exciting as this time of year is for students, it’s really the teachers who deserve the high five. In Knoxville, Regions Bank associates hosted a much-deserved end-of-school year celebration for more than 100 teachers at Hardin Valley Middle School.

Regions Baton Rouge associates and local families kicked off summer in a big way with the Summer FUN BASH hosted by the Salvation Army Pathway of Hope Program. Parents and children 12 and under enjoyed games, crafts, snacks and live entertainment.

Summer is clearly off to a great start. While everyone enjoys beach vacations, pool parties and popsicles, back at Regions HQ our teams will be busy planning fall Back to School celebrations!

Authored by: Baker Tilly’s David Hickey and Bashar Elayyan

The need for agility, efficiency and value delivery is more critical than ever for organizations to stay competitive in today’s business landscape. At the heart of this challenge lies business process optimization — the careful design and refinement of workflows to maximize productivity, minimize waste and drive impactful outcomes.

Emerging as a powerful enabler of this transformation is agentic AI, a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) approach that autonomously navigates complex tasks, learns from data and dynamically pursues goals without constant human direction.

What is business process optimization? 

A business process is a structured sequence of activities designed to achieve specific objectives by synchronizing people, procedures, tools and methods. Process optimization involves fine-tuning this orchestration to eliminate inefficiencies, reduce redundancies and accelerate delivery — all while preserving the quality and integrity of the output. The goal is to achieve business objectives with maximum velocity, throughput and cost-effectiveness.

Agentic AI: Revolutionizing process optimization 

Unlike traditional automation that performs predefined, agentic AI operates with flexibility, autonomy and intelligence. It makes independent decisions, adapts to shifting priorities and actively pursues objectives without waiting for human input. This capability unlocks new dimensions of process optimization, enabling businesses to scale operations, enhance accuracy and reduce operational costs while driving continuous improvement.

A practical example of agentic AI is virtual assistants in customer service that autonomously resolve inquiries, escalate issues as needed and update records with minimal human intervention. These AI agents learn from interactions, improve over time and integrate seamlessly with business systems, allowing organizations to deliver faster and more personalized customer experiences.

How does agentic AI differ from traditional automation? 

Key characteristics that differentiate agentic AI include:

• Flexibility: It can adjust to new information, shifting goals and evolving business environments.
• Autonomy: It initiates actions and decisions independently, rather than following fixed instructions.
• Self-reasoning: It analyzes data contextually to determine the best path forward.
• Ecosystem integration: It connects dynamically with external systems by integration with traditional robotic process automation (RPA) bots, extending its capabilities across organizational boundaries.

These traits allow agentic AI to tackle complex processes that traditional automation cannot efficiently handle, enabling intelligent, adaptive workflows that continuously optimize themselves.

Processes best suited for agentic AI optimization 

Processes involving complex decision trees, high volumes of data and repetitive yet nuanced tasks benefit most from agentic AI. Common examples include:

• Customer service: Responding to inquiries by analyzing extensive data sets, providing accurate answers and routing complex issues.
• Back-office operations: Automating data validation, reconciliation and reporting to reduce errors and improve turnaround.
• Supply chain management: Adapting procurement, logistics and inventory decisions dynamically based on real-time data and market shifts.

By accelerating and scaling these processes, organizations free their workforce to focus on strategic initiatives, innovation and customer engagement.

Challenges to anticipate when implementing agentic AI 

Integrating agentic AI into existing operations is not without challenges:

• Data quality and governance: High-quality, domain-specific data is crucial. Poor data leads to unreliable AI outputs.
• Model reasoning and insight: Ensuring the AI models are trained on high-quality, realistic data to make reliable decisions.
• Security and privacy risks: Increased system connectivity expands attack surfaces, requiring robust security controls.
• Ethical and regulatory considerations: Autonomous AI decision-making necessitates strict guardrails to prevent compliance violations and protect sensitive information.
• Change management and user adoption: Employees and customers must adapt to new workflows and roles, often involving a cultural shift toward trusting AI-driven processes.

Practical steps for embracing agentic AI

To successfully harness agentic AI, organizations should consider these foundational steps:

1. Identify purposeful use cases: Focus on processes where AI’s autonomous capabilities offer the highest return on investment.
2. Develop a data-first strategy: Prioritize data quality, governance and accessibility to fuel AI learning and accuracy.
3. Maintain human oversight: Establish clear guardrails with human supervision to monitor AI performance and intervene when necessary.
4. Modernize IT infrastructure: Invest in scalable, secure integrations to enable smooth data flow and AI interaction.
5. Enhance security frameworks: Protect data privacy, ensure compliance and safeguard intellectual property in AI ecosystems.
6. Drive organizational readiness: Implement comprehensive change management programs to prepare employees and customers for AI-powered transformation.

How we can help 

At Baker Tilly, we help organizations navigate the complexities of integrating agentic AI into their business operations. Our team works with you to identify the right, fit-for-purpose use cases and design and build agentic workers that balance AI autonomy with proper governance. We help lay the foundation for success with a strong data strategy, ensuring your systems deliver meaningful and accurate outcomes.

We also support organizational readiness, from integrating with legacy systems to safeguarding against security and compliance risks. Just as important, we help your teams and customers prepare for change through thoughtful change management strategies that build confidence and adoption.

Whether you’re just beginning your AI journey or scaling an existing initiative, we’re here to help you unlock real, sustainable value with agentic AI.

Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist to learn more

The following is an excerpt from our FY24 Purpose Report, celebrating 40 years of impact at Cisco. Data and metrics are reflective of Cisco’s fiscal year 2024, ending on July 31, 2024.

Circular design means designing products, packaging, and systems that enable reuse, minimize environmental impacts, drive innovation, and realize value for our stakeholders. We design our products and packaging with circularity in mind, aligning them to 25 Circular Design Principles organized across five focus areas.

We developed a circular design evaluation methodology and web-based tool to help us track progress toward our circular design goal. Every new product and packaging design must be scored in the evaluation tool and achieve a score of at least 75% before its release to production. A score of 75% or higher represents substantial incorporation of our Circular Design Principles into our new products and packaging and counts toward our circular design goal. We formalized processes and dashboards to support and enforce the mandatory scoring requirement, resulting in all new designs released in fiscal 2024 being evaluated in the tool.

Cisco’s products are designed to convey our brand of quality and innovation. In fiscal 2024, Cisco updated the industrial design guidelines to incorporate brand requirements and Circular Design Principles, including guidelines such as avoiding the usage of solely cosmetic and nonfunctional plastic parts and optimizing the product packaging. In fiscal 2025, we will review the Circular Design Principles, methodology, and tool based on key learnings, stakeholder feedback, and external requirements, to identify opportunities to further our efforts.

Pinnacle Awards

A cross-functional team from Supply Chain and Engineering won the Sustainability Impact Award at the 2024 Cisco Pinnacle Awards, the highest recognition of product and engineering innovation at Cisco, for helping transform our company strategy and meaningfully accelerating Cisco and our customers toward key environmental sustainability goals.

Assessing Our Products’ Environmental Impacts

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to model the environmental impacts of a product across multiple impact categories over the product life cycle, from cradle to grave. We use LCAs to quantify key environmental impacts of our products, identify hot spots for continuous product design and operational improvement, and opportunities to reduce resources used throughout our supply chain.

In fiscal 2024, to address the need for LCAs across our product portfolio, we developed a scalable LCA model including environmental impact reports aligned to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040/44 standards. The intent of this model is to improve the quality and decrease the resource-intensiveness of performing LCAs. It can be used for most Cisco hardware products to address internal and external stakeholder interest. With the large number of products in our portfolio, we started by using this model for representative products across Cisco product families. In fiscal 2024, we published our first LCA report using the scalable LCA model.

Read the full FY24 Purpose Report

To learn more about the progress we’re making to Power an Inclusive Future for All, visit our Cisco Purpose Reporting Hub.

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