Chief Software Architect and Engineering Fellow, Raytheon Technologies Missiles and Defense
Tokar works in mission and safety critical, real-time, and embedded software systems. She leads a team to define, develop and implement hard-real time embedded systems. conducting research on the use of Open Systems Architectures in this domain.
For 20 years, Tokar provided technical consultancy services on Open System/Software Architecture as president of Pyrrus Software, which she founded with her partner F. David Jones. The agency provided expertise on emerging open architecture standards, such as the Open Missions Systems (OMS), Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Command and Control Initiative, and Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) for current and next-generation Air Force weapon systems. She has been involved in research and development in the areas of software and systems architectures, high level computing languages such as Ada, Ada 95, C/C++, and Java, and real-time analysis methodologies. During this time, she co-authored the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) standard. She has written the Programming Language Annex for the SAE AADL standard. Tokar has also participated in the evolution of the Ada programming language both as a member of the team defining the Ada 05 update and as a distinguished reviewer for Ada 95.
She is also active in secure software system development tools and environments. She is leading a team in the analysis and evolution of the system of systems software for the US Department of Defense Future Combat System (FCS).
Tokar was responsible for the development of the Gensoft (Western Digital) Ada system. She received her PhD in Computer Engineering from Clemson University in South Carolina. She holds an MS and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Tokar is a member of multiple professional associations representing many dimensions within the industry. She is a regular presenter at conferences, a distinguished researcher, and active in the field. She is an active volunteer for groups of all ages working to broaden participation in computing, giving her time to teach, participate on boards, and more.