Alba Colón, the director of competition systems at Hendrick Motorsports, has been honored by SAE International as a recipient of the 2022 Rodica Baranescu Award for Technical & Leadership Excellence.

The Rodica Baranescu Award, established in 2011 by SAE International, celebrates the successes of women in the engineering profession and recognizes their leadership and technical contributions across aerospace, automotive, and commercial vehicle sectors. The award is named after the mechanical engineer and past president of SAE International, Baranescu. 

"You don't do this job because you are expecting awards," Colón said in a Hendricks Motorsports release. "The only awards to expect are the ones that happen on most Sundays between 6 and 7 p.m. (when the race is won). We did a great job, and we are going to win that race. For me, those are the awards that we work hard for. 

"That somebody thought highly enough of you to nominate you and to go through the whole process, means a lot. That means somebody has noticed what you have been doing, but once again, you don't do your job expecting an award. You do it because it is the right thing to do and because you want to make a difference. It was very nice surprise."

For more information, visit sae.org and hendrickmotorsports.com.