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Jayna Sheats
| Jayna is a scientist, technologist, and writer who has always thrived at the intersection of innovation and imagination. With decades of experience in microelectronics and sustainable development, she has published more than 60 journal articles and co-edited a landmark book on microlithography. But Jayna’s story doesn’t stop at science—she also brings her creativity to the written word as a novelist, where her passion for lyrical, purposeful prose shines. Whether guiding her team as CTO of Terecircuits or exploring new worlds through writing, Jayna is driven by curiosity, a love of learning, and a belief in the power of ideas to shape both technology and culture. |
What industry do you work in?
Jayna’s career spans both microelectronics and creative writing, combining technical expertise with literary expression.
What is your role?
She leads as a CTO while also pursuing her craft as a writer.
Describe a day in your life?
In her CTO role she reads lab reports and scientific literature, and try to guide the Terecircuits technical team toward its most effective directions (they know best how to do it once they're there!). Although she does not go into the lab, she comes onsite part-time to have the face-to-face interaction and mutual support.
As a novelist, she find it essential to get out and walk, especially in the local woods - it's amazing how effective the brain is with a little physical exercise underneath it! (This is true for technical problems also.) Her biggest problem is remembering; Even when she thinks "Oh, that's so obvious; I'll never forget that!" Of course if it isn't written down it will be gone long before she gets home.
What is your vision for your career int he next 5 years?
To see Terecircuits successfully exit the startup scene (so she can retire from it!), and to have finished "Genes, Gonads, and Synapses: Transgender Women in Athletics" along with at least one more novel. (It's called "Yuenü's Sword And The Ruby Con." Yuenü was a real woman who lived in China ca. 500 BCE and wrote the first book of swordfighting technique, based on the principles of yin and yang.) Besides a full synopsis she's written about a third of it, though it will undergo dozens of revisions before it's done. The book has nothing to do with China, by the way; but it's spirit does indeed grow from the only partially mythologized accounts of her life.
What are your top reads and recommendations for growth?
Jayna’s list of influential reads is far from recent best-sellers. The books that have shaped her life most profoundly include Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, and Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead.
More recently, she found The Confidence Code by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay especially impactful, opening her eyes to ways self-doubt had been holding her back. And if asked for recommendations, she admits she couldn’t leave out her own work, Hanna’s Ascent—a novel she believes speaks to far more than its jacket description suggests.
Do you have a leadership superpower?
Do you have any hobbies or passion projects outside of work?
Work and passion are closely intertwined. She often spends long stretches walking in the woods—or in places like Yosemite—where ideas flow as freely as the scenery. She is also committed to regaining the near-native fluency in German she once had as a student, believing that everyone should know at least one additional language.Copyright 2012 - 2022 The CLUB - A Women's Leadership Organization Serving Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area The Women's CLUB of Silicon Valley P.O. Box 126 Palo Alto, CA 94302 USA info@theclubsv.org |
