Keynote speaker: Professor Deborah Nightingale                                    
Monday, October 24, 2011
6:45 am - 7:45 am

MIT Faculty Club
50 Memorial Drive
Bldg. E52 — 6th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139

NOTE: RSVP required by October 17th -- see below.

The Women in System Design and Management's (WiSDM) Breakfast with Engineering Leaders will highlight the role of women in engineering leadership.

Professor Deborah Nightingale will share her experience as a high-profile woman in both academia and industry, and address some of the challenges that women face today. There will be opportunities to learn about the field of system design and management from the female perspective and engage in discussion with experienced mid-career engineering leaders from MIT’s SDM program.  

Women interested in pursuing careers at the intersection of engineering and management are encouraged to attend this event, as are SDM fellows, alumni, and conference participants.

This event is sponsored by Women in SDM (WiSDM), a student-led organization within MIT’s System Design and Management Program.  It will be moderated by SDM fellows Melissa Rosen and Tina Srivastava.

About the Keynote Speaker

MIT Professor Deborah Nightingale is a dynamic engineering leader, currently serving as the Director of the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development at MIT.  She is also the co-director of the MIT Lean Advancement Initiative and a Professor of the Practice for the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Division.  Professor Nightingale has also held engineering leadership roles in industry and the government.  At Allied Signal Engines, Professor Nightingale held a number of executive leadership positions in operations, engineering, and program management, participating in enterprise-wide operations from concept development to customer support.  Prior to joining Allied Signal, she worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where she served as program manager for computer simulation modeling research, design, and development in support of advanced man-machine design concepts.

Professor Nightingale has a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Industrial and Systems Engineering.  In addition, she holds MS and BS degrees in Computer and Information Science from The Ohio State University and University of Dayton, respectively.  She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Past-President and Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Enterprise Transformation.  She is a co-author of the books Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT’s Lean Aerospace Initiative and Beyond the Lean Revolution: Achieving Successful and Sustainable Enterprise Transformation.  Professor Nightingale serves on a number of boards and national committees, where she interacts extensively with industry, government and academic leaders.