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Freelance translator and/or interpreter, Verified member This person previously served as a ProZ.com moderator. ProZ.com Kudoz editor
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My name is Maria Karra and I am an engineer, freelance translator, and linguist, with graduate degrees in all three fields. First I studied aerospace and electrical engineering and I worked as an engineer for eleven years, doing research in laboratories, testing spacecraft instruments, and writing software. While still in engineering, I fell in love with translation so I decided to study it. Translation was so gratifying to me that I became a full-time technical translator. In other words, I am not just an engineer who happens to speak a couple of foreign languages nor am I a translator who decided to specialize in a certain engineering field. I have done extensive studies in both fields and I have professional experience in both fields.
Major translation projects that I have completed include specs, training and marketing materials for major aircraft and spacecraft companies (including Airbus and the Japanese Space Exploration Agency), automotive specs for Peugeot, Citroën, and MG, and EU-related documents.
I do business as FRESNEL Translations Inc. and I am based in Miami, Florida, USA. I have also lived and worked in France, Belgium, and Greece.
My areas of expertise:
Aerospace, electrical, mechanical, and automotive engineering, IT, and software localization.
Background:
• B.S. in Engineering Physics, concentration: Space Physics and Spacecraft Design; Minor in Mathematics; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 1998.
• M.S. in Electrical Engineering, concentration: Electromagnetics and Photonics; Boston University, 1999.
• Graduate certificate in Translation: English-French and French-English; Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface, University of Manitoba, 2001.
• Master of Applied Linguistics, concentration: Phonetics, Phonology, and Second-Language Acquisition; Macquarie University, 2004.
• Certificate in Medical Interpreting, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2012.
• Continuing education courses in programming, software testing, website design, and many others.
Document types I typically translate:
Specifications, maintenance manuals, training materials, software documentation, brochures and marketing materials.
Member since Mar '04
Expertise 
7 positive feedback from outsourcers 
