Job description: Claudia has been a driving force at Hitachi Rail STS, where she has leveraged over 20 years of rail industry experience and her Ph.D. in engineering to deliver groundbreaking solutions in safety, reliability and certification processes.

Why she's influential as an innovator: Since joining the organization over 10 years ago, Claudia has developed innovative methods to streamline safety and security criteria management, integrating them seamlessly into the company's existing requirements management tools. She has revolutionized how safety and security criteria are managed in large-scale turnkey rail projects. Drawing from her technical depth and international perspective, she created a method to seamlessly integrate these critical criteria into existing requirements management tools. This transformed the certification process by improving efficiency, boosting productivity and reducing organizational risks. By ensuring compliance with standards without compromising timelines, Claudia's work has become a model for advancing operational and safety outcomes in rail.

Claudia's contributions extend beyond the company. She played a central role in helping to define and refine the American Public Transportation Association's recommended practices for Safety and Security Certification (2024). At the 2019 Mid-Year Safety Seminar, Claudia presented on the processes she helped shape, providing transit agencies and rail professionals with actionable tools to navigate certification challenges. Her leadership has strengthened industry practices, demonstrating how innovative thinking can enhance both clarity and reliability in complex operational environments.