Macbook Pro 17" mid 2010 + NEC upd720202 Express Card USB 3.0
As pointed out, the info is inaccurate for the MacBook Pro 2010 as it doesn't have Thunderbolt yet. The 2011 models have Thunderbolt and the info is accurate below. The 2012 models have USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, so the adapter is irrelevant

I'm not a big fan of adapters used to try and improve speed as they tend to not work as well as you expect.

I hunted around for a product that might help and the best option I could find was to get you Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 via the Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA plus USB 3.0 Adapter.

Kanex makes a bunch of stuff for Macs and their stuff is hit or miss. At least they offer support for their products so if it doesn't work you can return it or talk with someone who makes the product.

If you have Amazon, you can find the adapter there, or you can get it straight from Kanex directly. It's a bit pricy though at around $75-$100 USD so it might make more sense to get yourself a thunderbolt drive or put the money towards a newer system at this point.

Here's the Kanex link for the product: Thunderbolt to eSata + USB 3.0 Adapter

Note: Sonnet used to make a ExpressCard to USB adapter that would have worked, but they no longer sell the product or support it. I would advise skipping the ExpressCard slot on your Mac altogether for this issue.