Dr.Jacquelynn (Jackie) Garofano is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT). She joined the executive team in 2021 after nearly a decade long career at RTX where she was a research scientist turned program manager of a global engineering leadership development program.
Jackie has played a pivotal role in the organization’s significant growth, securing more than $20 million in federally funded programs to the State. Garofano leads several federal programs funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, Navy, AirForce, Army and Department of Energy, in collaboration with national labs and consortiums, universities, global industrial corporations and subject matter experts in the areas of applied R&D for additive repair, smart manufacturing, and digital transformation initiatives.
Jackie has 12 technical publications, including the Applied Physics Letters and the Journal of Materials Science and holds three U.S. patents. Her academic and professional career has been marked with numerous accomplishments, namely named one of Connecticut’s Women of Innovation® twice, as the recipient of the Collegian Innovation and Leadership Award (2011) and as a finalist in the Large Business Innovation and Leadership category (2020). She was also named to the “40 Under 40” lists compiled by Connecticut Magazine (2013) and Hartford Business Journal (2015), for professional excellence and leadership. Most recently, she was inducted into the UConn College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2024, in recognition of her exemplary contributions to the engineering profession through research, practice, education, policy and/or service.
Jackie earned her BS in physics with Honors from Southern Connecticut State University, and MS and PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Connecticut. She serves as the board member of NE FIRST®,the external advisory board for UConn's Institute of Materials Sciences and Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center as well as the Connecticut Institute of Technology at the University of New Haven.
