FOR INFORMATION ON THE 2009 CONFERENCE ON SYSTEMS THINKING FOR CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES, CLICK HERE.
Co-head, Software Experience Practice, IDEO
Valerie Casey provides strategic leadership for global client relationships at IDEO, and specializes in weaving together market, organizational, and creative factors to design high-impact digital experiences.
Valerie has created novel concepts for consumer products, rich experiences for public and home environments, and visual and informational strategies for onscreen and online interactions. Her client list includes HP, Sprint, Cisco, MTV, Barnes & Noble, ESPN, Johnson & Johnson, Virgin Mobile, Dell, Nike, Logitech, Microsoft, National Geographic and Coca-Cola.
Before taking on her current role at IDEO, Valerie was Executive Creative Director at Frog Design, where she led the design research and design strategy practices globally. Previously, Valerie was an Associate at Pentagram Design in San Francisco, where she built the interaction design practice, and an Associate Creative Director at Vivid Studios.
Valerie has published and lectured on design throughout the international community. She is an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts, and she has presented regularly at UC Berkeley and NYU Stern School of Business.
Valerie holds a master’s degree in cultural theory and design from Yale University. She received her BA from Swarthmore College, where she studied English literature and psychology.
Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, Associate Director, MIT Engineering Systems Division
Olivier de Weck was born in Switzerland and holds degrees in industrial engineering from ETH Zurich (1993) and aerospace systems engineering from MIT (2001). Before joining MIT he was a liaison engineer and later engineering program manager on the F/A-18 aircraft program at McDonnell Douglas (1993-1997).
His research interests, teaching emphasis and professional experience is mainly in two areas:
Systems Engineering for Changeability and Commonality
Many engineering systems of the past were designed with only immediate use in mind as well as in relative isolation from broader considerations of context and uncertainty. This has contributed to "lock-in", i.e. the inability to adapt to new circumstances despite better architectures and technologies being known, and has led to some spectacular technical and business failures. Research in changeability acknowledges that systems need to change over time, such as growing in terms of capacity, infusing of new technologies or adaptation to shifting customer needs and regulations. Changeability research traces the evolution and change over time of existing technical systems (such as complex electro-mechanical products, airline networks etc...), formalizes patterns of change propagation and develops methods and tools for finding where and how to embed flexibility in design and how to value such flexibility, e.g. as real options. Commonality is another strategic aspect in engineering design where systems and products are no longer designed as individuals, but the need for customization and efficiency drives considerations of commonality, reuse and platform architectures.
website: http://strategic.mit.edu
Prof. de Weck is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, winner of the 2006 Frank E. Perkins award for excellence in graduate advising and recipient of the 2007 AIAA MDO TC outstanding service award. In June 2008, he and co-author Dr. Rudolf Smaling won the 2007 Best Paper Award for the journal Systems Engineering. He won two best paper awards at the 2004 INCOSE Systems Engineering Conference, held the Robert Noyce Career Development Professorship from 2002-2005, and co-advised the best MIT System Design and Management thesis in 2005. He has over 100 journal and conference publications in the area of systems engineering and space systems design for exploration and communications. His research has been funded by GM, NASA, BP, JPL, ArvinMeritor, DARPA/AFRL and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Prof. de Weck is a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). He served as the General Chair for the 2nd AIAA MDO Specialist Conference in May 2006. He serves as a faculty mentor to a number of student teams. In his spare time he enjoys his family, traveling, skiing, good food and wine as well as reading about the past and future of exploration on Earth and beyond.
Senior Director, Technical Strategy, Application Platform Marketing, Microsoft
John deVadoss has over 15 years of experience in the software industry; he has been at Microsoft for over 9 years, all of it in the enterprise space – as a consultant, as a program manager in the distributed applications platform division, as an architect working with some of Microsoft’s key partners, director of architecture strategy and most recently leading technical strategy for the application platform. Prior to Microsoft he spent many years as a technology consultant in the financial services industry in Silicon Valley.
His areas of interest are broadly in distributed application architectures, data and metadata, systems management and currently on edge architectures (both services and access), but most of all in creating business value from technology investments.
John has a MS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he dabbled in AI, getting his degree in Machine Learning, working on decision trees. He spent a year in the PhD program in Computer Science – and he still harbors visions of going back to complete this at some point in his career.
Director, System Design and Management Fellows Program
Senior Lecturer in Engineering Systems
Pat Hale holds a B.S. in Geophysical Oceanography from the University of Washington, as well as the degrees of Ocean Engineer and S.M. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from MIT. His professional interests include application of systems engineering in commercial product development, complex naval system design and engineering process frameworks and methods.
Prior to joining MIT, Mr. Hale completed a 22 year career in the U.S. Navy, qualifying in both Surface Warfare and Submarine Warfare (Engineering Duty) communities, and culminating in managing the design and construction of submarines in Groton, Connecticut. Following his Navy career, Pat held executive-level systems engineering positions in defense and commercial system and product development organizations, including Director of Systems Engineering at both Draper Laboratory and Otis Elevator Company, where he developed and implemented Otis’ first systems engineering process and organization. Since joining MIT in 2003, Mr. Hale has led the MIT-Industry Partner Systems Engineering Certificate Program, a one-year graduate certificate program under SDM, and is now Director of the SDM Fellows program.
Mr. Hale has been a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) for 12 years, and has served on the INCOSE Board of Directors for eight years. He is currently President for 2008-2009. He has published papers in the area of commercial systems engineering in the conference proceedings of both INCOSE and ASME.
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
Dr. Leveson holds a Ph.D. from UCLA. She was a Computer Science professor at the University of California, then became Boeing Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.
Professor Leveson’s research focuses on topics related to the design of complex systems containing software, hardware, and human components. Her goal is to stretch current limits of complexity and intellectual manageability of the systems we can build with reasonable resources and with confidence in their expected behavior, particularly safety. Current research topics include; model-based system and software engineering, system and software safety, software requirements specification and analysis, human-computer interaction, reusable component-based system architectures, interactive visualization, human-centered system design, and comprehensive approaches to risk management that include the organizational, political, managerial, and social aspects of system construction and operation.
Director of Environmental Safety and Sustainability Herman Miller, Inc.
Paul Murray carries the message of corporate environmental responsibility to business and academic audiences throughout the country. "The Power of One," his presentation to the design community and other audiences, affirms that each individual, company, and industry can champion environmental awareness among co-workers and clients alike, whether by promoting the use of sustainable products or through a simple commitment to "reduce, reuse, and recycle" whenever possible.
Paul grew up in Selby, a small farming community in north central South Dakota. He attended Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry; he holds a Master’s in management from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, He is also a LEED accredited professional. Initially credentialed as a high school teacher, Paul taught math and chemistry, and served as a high school coach, before leaving his teaching career to work as a research chemist with PPG Industries and Boise Cascade Corporation.
Based on his experience developing wood coatings and finishes, Paul joined Herman Miller in 1988 as a production manager responsible for wood finishing operations. Long interested in environmental work, Paul felt a connection to the company’s history of environmental stewardship. However, it was not until he sought an air quality permit for a wood finishing area that Paul discovered a growing need within Herman Miller to identify and coordinate numerous "green" initiatives underway. Paul and others soon established EQAT, the Environmental Quality Action Team, and through the group’s ongoing efforts Herman Miller has earned several environmental awards, including a Presidential citation, as well as national recognition as an environmentally progressive company.
Paul was named Environmental Affairs manager in 1992 and director of Environmental Safety and Sustainability in 2006. In May 2006, Vanity Fair magazine acknowledged Paul’s efforts by including him in its special "Green" issue, in the section entitled, "The Re-Inventors: Green Architects and Designers."
In addition to his responsibilities with Herman Miller, Paul participates in several work groups with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; holds memberships with the Air and Waste Management Association, the National Association of Environmental Managers, and the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum; and serves on the Board of Directors for both the University of Michigan’s Corporate Environmental Management Program and the International Design Center for the Environment. Additionally, he sits on the boards of several non-profit environmental organizations.
In 2002 Paul co-founded the Sustainable Research Group (SRG), an environmental consulting service created to help other companies implement green initiatives similar to Herman Miller’s.
Co-founder and CEO, eClinicalWorks
Girish Kumar Navani oversees the strategic direction of eClinicalWorks, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, and leads efforts to grow and expand all aspects of the business. Navani also actively manages the development and product roadmap for eClinicalWorks solutions. As co-founder, Navani has helped turn the company into one of the leading providers in its market, with approximately $60 million in revenue for 2007 and no corporate debt. eClinicalWorks has been ranked #34 and the fourth fastest growing private software company by Inc. magazine’s 2007 Inc. 500 list.
In March 2008, Navani testified on Beacon Hill in favor of potential legislation that will help advance the adoption of electronic health records. In March 2007, he along with the other company co-founders presented the Harvard Business School case study, titled "eClinicalWorks: The Paths to Growth," to a class at Harvard. Navani was named to Boston Business Journal’s 2006 40 Under 40 list of entrepreneurs and innovators.
Prior to founding eClinicalWorks, Navani led successful IT and business initiatives at Fidelity Investments, Teradyne and Aspen Technology. He holds a Masters of Science in Engineering from Boston University.
Business Director, New Business Creation, Agilent Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Lee Ng is a Business Director in the New Business Creation group at Agilent Technologies Inc. As part of Agilent Central Research Labs, she has been exploring new business opportunities for the electronics and chemical analysis industry. Since joining HP and subsequently its spin-off Agilent, she has worked with many business organizations on projects on manufacturing strategy, new product positioning, competitive analysis, strategic alliances, with a focus on the economic analysis of emerging technologies.
Prior to joining HP and Agilent, she consulted to Fortune 500 companies, specializing in the economic analysis of new electronics packaging technologies. She was also involved with Ampersand Ventures to assess the viability of new business ventures, start-ups, and spin-offs and was involved in deal screen, due diligence, technology, and market analysis.
Lee holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas at Austin, Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Engineering from M.I.T, with minors in Economics, Finance, and Strategy.
Vice President of Consulting Services, Capgemini
Michael Schulte leads Capgemini’s Consulting Services operations in North America. He was appointed to the role in January 2008.
Previously, Michael headed the Consulting Services practice in his native Germany, and in Switzerland. Michael joined the group in 1993, eventually heading the Information Management discipline within Gemini Consulting. Since 2001, Michael has held further senior roles in Central Europe including sector head for Manufacturing, Automotive and Hi-Tech, and as overall head of Consulting Services in that region.
Michael holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
Senior Lecturer, MIT
Dr. Senge is Founding Chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL), a global community of corporations, researchers, and consultants dedicated to the "interdependent development of people and their institutions." In 2008, the Wall Street Journal included Dr. Senge in its list of the top 20 most influential business thinkers.
Dr. Senge has lectured extensively throughout the world, translating the abstract ideas of systems theory into tools for better understanding of economic and organizational change. His areas of special interest focus on decentralizing the role of leadership in organizations so as to enhance the capacity of all people to work productively toward common goals. Dr. Senge's work articulates a cornerstone position of human values in the workplace; namely, that vision, purpose, reflectiveness, and systems thinking are essential if organizations are to realize their potentials. He has worked with leaders in business, education, health care and government.
Dr. Senge is the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization (1990, revised edition published 2006) and, with colleagues Charlotte Roberts, Rick Ross, Bryan Smith and Art Kleiner, co-author of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization (1994) and a fieldbook The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (March, 1999), also co-authored by George Roth.
In September 2000, a fieldbook on education was published, the award winning Schools That Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education, co-authored with Nelda Cambron-McCabe, Timothy Lucas, Bryan Smith, Janis Dutton, and Art Kleiner.
Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, co-authored with Claus Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, was published in 2004. A new book, The Necessary Revolution, co-authored with Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur and Sara Schley was released June, 2008. See www.solonline.org for more information.
The Fifth Discipline hit a nerve deep within the business and education community by introducing the theory of learning organizations. Since its publication, more than a million copies have been sold world-wide. In 1997, Harvard Business Review identified it as one of the seminal management books of the past 75 years. There have been feature articles in Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company, Sloan Management Review and other leading business periodicals regarding the work of Dr. Senge and his colleagues at MIT and SoL.
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (over 400,000 copies sold) was developed in response to questions from readers of The Fifth Discipline who wanted more help with tools, methods and practical experiences in developing enhanced learning capabilities within their own companies. The Dance of Change is based on more recent experiences of companies developing learning capabilities over many years, and the strategies leaders develop to deal with the many challenges this work entails. Dr. Senge has also authored many articles published in both academic journals and the business press on systems thinking in management.
The Journal of Business Strategy (September/October 1999) named Dr. Senge one of the 24 people who had the greatest influence on business strategy over the last 100 years. The Financial Times (2000) named him one of the world’s "top management gurus." Business Week (October 2001) rated him as one of "the top 10 management gurus".
Dr. Senge received a B.S. in engineering from Stanford University, an M.S. in social systems modeling and Ph.D. in management from MIT.
Founder and Chief Software Architect, HubSpot; Serial Software Entrepreneur and Startup Blogger
Dharmesh is the founder and Chief Software Architect of HubSpot. HubSpot is a venture-backed software company offering a hosted software service for internet marketing. HubSpot is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Prior to HubSpot, Dharmesh was the founder and CEO of Pyramid Digital Solutions, an enterprise software company in the financial services sector. Pyramid was a three time recipient of the Inc. 500 award. The company was acquired by SunGard Data Systems in 2005.
Dharmesh currently authors OnStartups.com, a top-ranking startup blog with over 10,000 subscribers. He is an active member of the Boston area entrepreneurial community and a frequent speaker on the topic of startups and internet marketing.
Dharmesh has a B.S. in Computer Science from UAB and an M.S. in the Management of Technology from MIT.
Professor of Engineering Systems
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Director, MIT Engineering Systems Division
Director, Center for Transportation and Logistics
Director and Founder, Master of Engineering in Logistics Program
Dr. Yossi Sheffi became Director of MIT's Engineering Systems Division, effective Nov. 15, 2007.
Dr. Sheffi holds a dual appointment at MIT at the Civil and Environmental Engineering and at the Engineering Systems Division. He also serves as Director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. He is an expert in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management, which are the subjects he teaches and researches at MIT. He is the author of dozens of scientific publications and two books: a textbook on transportation networks optimization and the recently published business best-seller The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage (MIT Press, October 2005). The Resilient Enterprise got rave reviews from dozens of trade publications as well as from the NYT, WSJ, and The Economist. The Financial Times chose it as one of the best business books of 2005. It was also awarded the "2005 Book of the Year" in the category of Business and Economics by Forward Magazine.
Under his leadership, the Center launched many new educational, research, and industry/government outreach programs, leading to substantial growth. He is the director of MIT's Master of Engineering in Logistics (MLOG) degree which he founded and launched in 1998. In 2003 he launched the MIT-Zaragoza program, building a new logistics university in Spain based on a unique international academia, government and industry partnership.
Outside the university Professor Sheffi has consulted with numerous governments and leading manufacturing, retail and transportation enterprises all over the world. He is also an active entrepreneur, having founded five successful companies, and a sought-after speaker in corporate and professional events.
Dr. Sheffi was recognized in numerous ways in academic and industry forums and was on the cover of Purchasing Magazine and Transportation and Distribution Magazine. In 1997 he won the Distinguished Service Award given by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. In 2002/03 he was on sabbatical in the Judge Institute of Management in Cambridge University, UK. He is also a life fellow of Cambridge University’s Clare Hall College.
He obtained his B.Sc. from the Technion in Israel in 1975, his S.M. from MIT in 1977, and Ph.D. from MIT in 1978. He now resides in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jerome C. Hunsacker Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, MIT
Dr. Weigel’s research interests include aerospace policy and economics, aerospace systems architecting and design, innovation and change dynamics in the aerospace industry, and systems engineering. She began her professional career as an engineer at Adroit Systems, first supporting the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office as an analyst for manned and unmanned platforms. Later, she worked in support of the Department of Defense Space Architect Office during its stand-up and initial space system architecture design studies in the areas of satellite communications, satellite operations, and launch on demand. After completing her Ph.D., Annalisa worked for a year as a research associate at Lehman Brothers in New York City before returning to MIT to join the faculty.
She received an SB (1994) and SM (2000) in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Ph.D. (2002) in Technology, Management and Policy from MIT. She also received a second SB (1995) in Science, Technology and Society from MIT, and an MA (1998) in International Relations from George Washington University.
Dr. Weigel was elected AIAA Associate Fellow in 2007.
