Meet your hosts
JOSH GOLDSMITH
Josh is a UN and EU-accredited translator and interpreter working from Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan into English. He splits his time between translating, interpreting, and working as a trainer and researcher focusing on the intersection between languages, technology and education. As Co-Founder and Chief Educational Officer of techforword, Josh shares tips about technology, translation and interpreting in conferences and workshops, academic articles, and in techforword insiders, the premiere online community for language professionals.
NORA DIAZ
Nora is a full-time published Spanish-English translator and translation team leader specializing in healthcare, marketing, and technical texts. She also leads teams of linguists from Mexico, South America and Spain. Her interest in productivity has led her to constantly explore technology, including CAT tools, speech recognition, computer automation and custom macros. In her blog, Nora Díaz on Translation, Teaching and Other Stuff she shares her knowledge with translators from around the globe. She is the co-author of The Translator’s Tool Box.
Meet our fantastic assistant!
ROXANE HUGUES
Roxane is a French-English interpreter and translator who specializes in the medical, wine, and entertainment industries. An avid animal lover and photography fanatic, she splits her time between working as a language professional and pet & people photographer. She joined the techforword team in February 2021 and has produced hundreds of graphics, social media posts, videos, and summits since then! 🤩
Meet the speakers
Alan Melby
Alan is a computational linguist and ATA-certified French–English translator active in the field since the 1960s. He has developed translation tools, co-authored The Possibility of Language, and served on the boards of ATA and FIT. Now president of LTAC Global and chair of FIT North America and the FIT Standards Committee, he is an emeritus professor at Brigham Young University and contributes to international translation standards.
Carola Berger
Carola is a German–English patent translator with a PhD in physics and a master’s in engineering physics. ATA-certified in both language directions, she specializes in patents and technical texts in robotics, AI, electronics, energy, and emerging technologies. Since 2010, she has run CFB Scientific Translations LLC, serving clients in the US, Germany, Austria, and beyond.
Chantal Kamgne
Chantal is a certified translator in Quebec and Ontario. She is the managing director at Localizzz Canada and Localizzz Africa. Chantal is also a translation expert at the Cour Supérieure du Québec, a volunteer at Translators Without Borders, and a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee of the City of London (Ontario).
Dorota Pawlak
Dorota is a localization consultant and AI localization trainer, founder of Localize Like A Pro. She demystifies generative AI and localization through online courses, insightful articles, and hands-on training. With an MA in Technical Translation and an MSc in Multilingual Computing and Localization, she’s passionate about helping language professionals future-proof their skills. You can learn more about her work on her website: www.LocalizeLikeAPro.com.
Florencia Russo
Flor is an English–Spanish translator specializing in technical translation for the automotive, oil and gas, and technology sectors. A tech enthusiast since age 15, she developed her first computer-assisted dictionary on a 386 PC and now contributes to AI-powered translation software. Since 2017, she has taught courses on digital tools for translators and leads the Commission on Computer Tools at the Association of Certified Translators of La Plata, where she is a former president and current board secretary.
Francesco Cecchi
Francesco is a professional IT–EN–ES conference interpreter and translator and a full member of Assointerpreti’s Tuscany chapter. He lectures in Interpreting Studies at the University of Bologna’s Department of Interpreting and Translation, where he also coordinates the Educational Interpreting service. His main interests and specialties include technology and sports.
Francesco Saina
Francesco is a multifaceted Italian linguist working as a translator and interpreter with English, French, and Spanish.
He is also a university lecturer and scholar in translation, interpreting, and language technology, and collaborates on academic and industrial research projects on translation and interpreting technology and natural language processing.
Gabriel Fairman
Gabriel is a thought leader and entrepreneur specializing in localization and business process automation. He has navigated Bureau Works from a Boutique Translation Agency to a Global Localization Platform/Translation Management System. A speaker of six languages, Gabriel grew up speaking American English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Argentinian Spanish.
Gabriela Escarrá
Gabriela is a Certified Sworn Translator, English and Literature Teacher (UNLP), and ISO Auditor. She has actively participated at IRAM in the adoption and adaptation of some standards related to Language and Terminology (ISO TC37), and Information Security Systems. She is a member of ANSI, ASTM TC F43 on Language Services and Products as well as the chair of the ATA Standards Committee.
Gabriela Kouahla
Gabriela is a localization specialist, certified bilingual translator, and co-host of the podcast PM vs Vendor. Since 2010, she has provided English–French–Romanian services and serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Informatics and Applied Mathematics. In 2022, she founded BEYOND WORDS, Algeria’s first localization agency for Mediterranean researchers, and has been a Digital Women Awards finalist since 2023.
Graciela Darritchon
Graciela is an English Sworn Translator with postgraduate training in specialized translation and 25+ years of experience in legal, academic, technical, and migration work. She is a member of CTPCBA and AATI and founded GD Translation Studio, a boutique agency serving educational institutions, law firms, and private clients. A dedicated mentor and team leader, she supports colleagues and clients with ethical, clear, and human-centered translation.
Joachim Lépine
Joachim is a French-speaking Belgian-born translator who grew up in the U.S. and later settled in Quebec. With a bachelor’s in translation and a master’s in education, he has translated for leading clients in Quebec and abroad. For 15+ years, he has taught French-to-English translation and trained professionals for NATO, the UN, the European Commission, OTTIAQ, and others. He is now the cofounder of LION Translation Academy, supporting translators and teams through specialized training.
Jonathan Downie
Jonathan is a consultant church and conference interpreter, researcher, speaker, and author on interpreting. His book, "Interpreters vs Machines: Can interpreters survive in an AI-dominated world?" came out in 2019, before most of the current hype, which was nice but didn't help sales too much! He has 17 years of experience in commercial and governmental conference interpreting and has been interpreting in the church since he was still a teenager. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and six children.
Judy Jenner
Judy is a Las Vegas–based court and conference interpreter, translator, and longtime small business owner. A spokesperson for the American Translators Association, she has keynoted national conferences and taught interpreting at multiple universities. She holds advanced degrees in business and conference interpreting and co-authored The Entrepreneurial Linguist. Her secret talent: memorizing airport codes — and being an identical twin.
Lola Bendana
With 30+ years of experience, Lola is one of the most authoritative voices in Canada’s translation industry.
For her outstanding contributions in helping shape national and international standards for translation and interpreting, she received the Language Industry Association’s National Award for Outstanding Contribution to the translation sector.
She co-published two books on translation and interpreting.
Maarten Korpershoek
Maarten is a sworn translator for Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Uzbek in the Netherlands. Since 2011, he has been living in Istanbul, where he runs a translation agency, primarily serving Dutch government organizations and translation agencies. For many years, he has also taught translation techniques (Turkish to Dutch) to students seeking certification as sworn translators in legal matters.
Magali Karee
Magali is a freelance translator with 15+ years in SEO, marketing, and translation, specializing in SEO-focused translations and transcreation from English and French into German. A former editor and deputy editorial director at a major German platform, she holds a master’s in linguistics and is a certified SEO manager. She co-founded Saramatik to support creative German advertising and search-ready content strategies. In her free time, she unwinds with post-apocalyptic games.
Maha El-Metwally
Maha is a conference interpreter for Arabic, English, French, and Dutch, working with international organizations including the EU and UN. She is a member of AIIC, a Fellow of the ITI and CIoL, and a credentialed member of ATA and TAALS. She holds an MA in interpreter training from the University of Geneva and contributes to curricula at universities in the UK and abroad. Passionate about technology in interpreting, she offers international courses on the subject.
Michela Bertozzi
Michela is a freelance conference interpreter, translator, and lecturer with a PhD in Interpreting and Translation Studies from the University of Bologna (Forlì). She teaches at the former Scuola Interpreti in Forlì and is a full member of TradInFo and AISPI. She has long been passionate about interpreting and interpreter training.
Pablo Román
Pablo earned degrees in History and Philosophy in 2016 and has since focused on English–Spanish translation and interpreting. He has translated Kwaidan and The Cloud of Unknowing into Spanish and became a certified official translator and interpreter in Colombia in 2019. Committed to combining quality and efficiency, he actively explores new and traditional tools to enhance his work.
Philippe Mercier
Philippe began his career as an IT consultant and author of a dozen books published by Marabout/Hachette (300,000 copies sold). His passion for writing and his expertise in IT soon led him to the software translation and localization industry. More recently, he has integrated the latest advances in AI, such as MT and ChatGPT, into a CAT tool (Wordscope), which helps translators improve the quality and speed of their services.
Silvana Debonis
Silvana is an English–Spanish financial and legal translator with 25+ years of experience working with major companies, institutions, and international organizations. She has taught translation at NYU and in Buenos Aires, and trained finance and legal professionals across Argentina. Author of a finance and accounting glossary and co-author of a commercial law dictionary, she also holds a Master’s in Generative AI from EBIS Business TechSchool.
Steve Lank
Steve is CEO of Denver-based Cesco Linguistic Services, with 35+ years in the language industry across the U.S., Ireland, and Spain. He’s worked from freelance translator to senior executive and chairs the ASTM subcommittee behind the ASTM F2575 translation standard. A frequent speaker and advocate for professional standards, he holds a Master’s from the Middlebury Institute and has taught at the University of Maryland.
Steven Bammel
Steven is a Korean>English technical translator with over 20 years of experience. Steven combines his language and translation expertise with a deep knowledge of AI workflows to develop frameworks that help translators raise their productivity. As an active member of the American Translators Association (ATA), Steven still translates daily. Steven operates from his home in rural Hongseong, Korea.
Veronica Hylák
Veronica Hylák is an award-winning AI product innovator, data privacy advocate, and co-founder of Metalinguist. With over a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies and the US government, she has led multiple high-impact AI projects, including autonomous AI drone ships. Her focus is on AI-driven innovation and product strategy.
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