“Before LGO, I was working in international relief and development, advising on the technical design of water and sanitation projects, supporting disaster relief efforts, facilitating knowledge sharing among country offices, and building field staff capacity.”
Why did you decide on LGO?
“Over the course of 7+ years in the field, I had carried both managerial and technical responsibilities, and I wanted to grow in both areas. I loved the intentionality with which LGO integrated these two competencies, and I was drawn to the practical, hands-on, collaborative nature of the program.”
What are you looking forward to doing while at MIT?
“While at MIT, I’m excited to connect with like-minded leaders and innovators via the Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab, D-Lab, or Water Club. I’m also looking forward to taking unique classes offered by some pretty impressive faculty.”
“Prior to LGO, I worked in consulting for ~4 years at Boston Consulting Group in both the Chicago and Berlin offices. I worked in a variety of industries including Retail and Industrial Goods, focusing primarily on projects related to supply chain and advanced analytics.”
Why did you decide on LGO?
“I was originally drawn to LGO based on my interest in solving complex operational problems that companies were facing and translating the results into actionable business recommendations. LGO offered a unique opportunity to develop my knowledge base and skill set in both engineering and business at an institution that was world-renowned in both disciplines. However, the non-academic aspect of LGO was equally as appealing to me. Once I visited campus and saw the tight-knit community that the class of ~50 students had developed, I was convinced that LGO was the right place for me.”
What are you looking forward to doing while at MIT?
“I’m most looking forward to getting to know my other classmates and becoming friends with all of the talented and interesting people that are part of LGO, Sloan, and the broader MIT community. In addition, I’m looking forward to learning from professors who are leaders in their respective fields and are at the forefront of cutting edge research. MIT has so many exciting opportunities, and I can’t wait to take advantage of them over these next two years.”
2019 Harrison Smith awardee, LGO ’20 Nalaka Kahawatte, reflects on his time at LGO before starting his second year!
Hi Everyone! Nalaka here from LGO Class of 2020.
Brief Background
Growing up in Sri Lanka, I always dreamed about designing and building flying machines: airplanes, rockets, etc. I wanted to someday work for an aerospace company and I feel very fortunate that California State University, Chico gave me a scholarship that made it possible for me to come to the United States and study Mechatronics. Afterwards, I got the opportunity to learn more about factory automation at RobbJack Corporation and while working there, I completed a Masters in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University of California, Davis.
Before LGO, I contributed to the NMA and 787 programs as a Lead Engineer and 737MAX as a Controls Engineer, and served as an Acting Engineering Manager at The Boeing Company. It was really exciting and rewarding to work with a team of computational fluid dynamics, thermal analysis and ice protection experts who supported multiple development programs: 777X, KC-46 Pegasus Multirole tanker, VC-25B presidential aircraft, etc.
LGO Experience
LGO has been an incredible experience so far! During the first summer, even though it was academically intense, I got the chance to bond with my fellow LGO classmates. It is awesome to be surrounded by such an accomplished, passionate, brilliant, and yet down-to-earth, group of people. They have constantly challenged my perspective and inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a leader. During the MBA Core, I also had the chance to bond with all my Sloan classmates as the Chant Leader for my Ocean (CARIIIIBBEANS!!), which was a lot of fun.
My main engineering focus area is Supply Chain (within Civil Engineering) and, from the business-side, I love diving deep into the areas of Competitive Strategy, Economics, and Lean Operations. I am wrapping up my internship with the partner company Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) in Regensburg, Germany, where I focused primarily on business models for electrical power transformer monitoring tools.
Living and working in Germany as part of my internship has been a transformative experience. I loved working with the brilliant Venture Architects team at MR and learning the German language (which is not as easy as I thought, by the way), culture, and history. Every weekend, my family and I explored different beautiful areas in Bavaria and neighboring countries like Austria, Switzerland and Czech Republic.
Balancing LGO with Family Life
My lovely wife is Taniya and we have an amazing two-year old, Ayla. We love spending time with Ayla and she brings us so much joy into our lives. She’s full of energy and she loves exploring. She also loves numbers, the alphabet, jigsaw puzzles and…elevators! Everywhere we go (malls, museums, etc.), we end up spending at least 15 minutes going up and down the elevator while she keeps yelling out the numbers of each floor.
Coming to LGO with a 10-month old baby, I was nervous at first. But the incredible support from my amazing wife makes it all possible. During the semester, I start my day early and get to school around 6AM. That gives me plenty of time to focus on the preparation for classes that day. Between and after class, I spend time on homework and call it a day around 6pm. I try to maintain the same schedule on Fridays even though we don’t have classes. My LGO and MBA teammates have been very accommodating, and we do not schedule any meetings outside of these hours.
This structure has helped me not worry about schoolwork and be fully present when I am at home during the evenings and weekends. You will also learn a lot of Lean tools that can be used to increase productivity not only in Business Operations but also in your personal life.
Housing
We lived on-campus for the first semester and it was a very pleasant experience. Westgate complex has a large play area that my daughter and I loved spending almost every evening in. It is also nice that the main recreational facilities (Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, soccer fields, track, etc.) are nearby and we are excited to take Ayla to swim lessons offered by MIT Recreation during the weekends. There is also an added benefit of on-campus housing when it comes to internship logistics: no penalty for moving out if you choose to do a February-start internship outside of Boston. We will be moving back to Westgate after the internship.
Best Advice I Received
The Boeing Company has an incredible network of LGO alumni and many of them provided valuable advice and insights throughout the process of applying. (Shout out to Laura Bogusch, Adam Marshall, Tom Sanderson, Brandon Gorang and Guillermo Pamanes!). One common piece of advice from all of them was: “It will be the best and most transformative two years of your life, so soak it all in and make the most of every minute, hour, and day!”
It can be nerve-wracking to go back to school full time for two degrees plus an internship in two years, especially if you have to uproot your family and move to Boston. At times, it may seem overwhelming logistically. It was for me.
But know that it will be the best investment you can make in yourself and your family. Take one step at a time and also know that you have an incredible support system here at MIT who will be there for you each step of the way.
Post-LGO
I am super excited to go back to The Boeing Company after graduation to help design and build innovative products that Connect, Protect, Explore, and Inspire the world!
If you have any questions about the LGO program, please feel free to reach out anytime: naka@mit.edu.
Every year LGO looks for the best and brightest engineers, scientists, and innovators to come in and become change makers in their field. Many times our prospective students and admits are weighing different options before saying yes to LGO. Read more from LGO 2021, Angela Murray, on her decision-making process between a PhD and the SM/MBA with LGO.
“Hello there! My name is Angela Murray and I am a new MIT Aero/Astro student in the LGO Class of 2021. Prior to LGO, I was working in the commercial avionics industry in LA as a software engineering manager. I really enjoyed working in industry but after 7 years I had reached a point where I wanted to take on a completely new kind of challenge and wanted to realign with my passions by pivoting to the space sector. When I started looking at graduate programs, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to deepen my technical knowledge by entering a PhD program or if I wanted to continue down the management path I had more recently embarked on. I began my research with MBA programs since that was less intimidating than the 5-6 year commitment of a PhD. I was intrigued by some of the top business programs but I feared I would not feel comfortable completely walking away from the technical side, so I began to re-entertain a long-ago plan to get a PhD in Astrodynamics. I delved further into research, talking to former professors, connecting with engineers in mission design at NASA’s JPL facility, and setting up calls with former classmates working at commercial satellite companies in both technical roles and business roles.
About a month into my exploration, I learned about the Leader for Global Operations (LGO) program by chance from a friend who had just visited Boston. I was really intrigued by the idea of working toward a masters in aeronautical/astronautical engineering and an MBA in parallel, especially from a university as prestigious as MIT. I began the application process for both LGO and PhD programs, asking for letters of recommendation, and working on essays and statements of purpose. At the time, I felt confident I wouldn’t get into any programs, but I was hopeful enough to try anyway. Fast forward a few months, I was lucky enough to get an interview at LGO, where I met some of my current classmates and friends and an interview for a PhD program, where I was really fascinated by the research being done in Geodesy. Not too long after, I was ecstatic to be offered admissions from both LGO and the research lab I was interested in. The next several months were torturous for me as I tried to decide which program offer to accept (although I was very aware of the fortunate position I sat in). Shortly before the admissions deadline for LGO, I attended the LGO adMIT weekend in Boston for admitted students. I was incredibly impressed by the community of accomplished people that I met and I believed that I was truly surrounded by tomorrow’s leaders. I was so compelled to be a part of this community that this is ultimately what solidified my decision to accept LGO.
It has been an exciting first few weeks of the summer semester packed with classes, workshops, social events, networking activities, and plant tours. Being on campus and connecting with my talented classmates has been a humbling experience but has reassured me that I made the right choice. Transitioning back to academia after 7 years in the work world has certainly been a challenge but being surrounded by this community has been tremendously motivating. One thing we all have in common is our love to learn. Despite being in the same classroom for nearly 7-8 hours some days, you can find almost the whole class in the LGO lounge down the hall after class, working on group projects, asking for help on problem sets, planning social events, and procrastinating case write ups by any means available. Our class of 45 already feels like a family.
My advice to any prospective students going through the graduate school research process is talk to as many current students and alumni as you possibly can. Talking to former, current, and other prospective students was the absolute best way to get a feel for life on campus and it is these people that really make your experience.”
Two very special guests describe their extraordinary efforts in Puerto Rico in the face of the deadly Hurricane Maria disasters. Noel Zamot speaks about his efforts to bring private capital to Puerto Rico to revitalize critical infrastructure, and Diana Flores describes Amgen’s unwavering commitment to its employees and community on the island, and its patients throughout and after the disaster.
The LGO Playbook is a unique set of skills and strategies that have helped generations of LGOs provide leadership in operations. This year we are inviting alumni to share pages from their unique LGO Playbooks through stories of impactful experiences. Join us to learn more about our diverse community while gaining tangible skills for the future.
During these past few weeks, I came to realize two years (and two degrees) happen in the blink of an eye. So let me tell you what you should keep your eyes wide open for, if you decide to embark on the LGO journey. To that end, I curated a list of the top #5 things I will miss about LGO.
#5 – The MIT Ecosystem
Former MIT president Jerome Wiesner (1971-1980) coined this colorful description of the MIT educational experience: “Getting an education at MIT is like taking a drink from a fire hose”. He couldn’t have depicted the experience better. At MIT you should expect to have your plate full 24/7. Conferences, hack-a-thons, seminars and talks by renowned industry leaders and scientists, impressive thesis defenses, and much more happens on daily basis at the MIT campus. It is an environment that truly inspires you to get involved and take an active role in what you are passionate about. And LGO is special in the sense that it gives you a place in two departments (engineering and business), becoming part of the linkage between different systems and enabling you to operate at the intersection of them.
The LGO program exposes you to 3-week whirlwind trip across the United States (also known as Domestic Plant Trek), where you visit partner companies, get to do countless plant tours, and meet leaders from a wide range of industries. On top of the domestic trek, we participate on other local international trips; my class visited Brasil and Argentina in 2018, and China in 2019. Aside from the incredible learning opportunity, these trips are a perfect excuse to explore different cultures and have fun with friends.
Group picture in the 2019 International Plant Trek in China.
#3 – Sitting in class
Without a doubt, these two years have been the greatest and most captivating intellectual experience of my life. Be ready to learn cutting-edge topics from world renowned professors. I must add that the LGO curriculum is flexible enough that it allows you to tailor your academic experience, gearing your business and engineering classes towards your interests. If I must pick, action learning and engineering design classes are amongst my favorites. In this type of classes, you get to work on real world problems, which truly embraces MIT’s motto: “Mens et Manus”. The past Spring semester, I took Operations Lab, and my team worked with Peruvian fishing company re-designing their system to transport anchovies from the fishing vessel to the processing plant.
Artificial Intelligence class with the legendary Patrick Winston.
#2 – Hanging in the student lounge
I will definitely miss spending time at the student lounge. It is the place to have lunch, caffeinate before class, chill or work in between classes, and socialize with your classmates and the wonderful LGO staff. After the Hayden Library, the lounge is my favorite spot on campus. I hope to continue visiting it as an alumnus.
#1- The people
I’m well aware this is a cliché… but honestly, I cannot think of any other thing that I will miss more about LGO. This is real to the level that we (Class of 2019) are already planning our first-year reunion.
I came to the program expecting the innovative and inspiring MIT ecosystem, the fascinating classes, the incredible trips. However, I did not expect to be part of such a close-knit community that I am pleased to call family. I met a cohort of impressive, highly-accomplished while humble and collaborative individuals that became friends after three months. I am truly grateful to have made the decision to come to LGO. I will be forever thankful for the special bond I built with my classmates, and the strong LGO Alumni Network I am now a part of.
My new family, LGO Class of 2019
If you are interested in LGO or just want to follow up with me, feel free to do so at melopezm@mit.edu.
My name is Caitlin Butala and I am one of the 17 women in the 2020 Class of MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations. As an engineer and a quant focused person, I root myself in data and want to start off by sharing some statistics. Just last year, the US Department of Commerce released a report on the status of women in STEM related fields, and of their many topics, they found that “Women filled 47 percent of all U.S. jobs in 2015 but held only 24 percent of STEM jobs. Likewise, women constitute slightly more than half of college educated workers but make up only 25 percent of college educated STEM workers.” When you get to executive level management those figures drop even more. The most shocking statistic I have learned so far at MIT was from the Sloan Women In Management (SWIM) and that is in 2016 Women made up only 4.1% of Fortune 500 CEOs…while 4.5% of Fortune 500 CEOs were named David. Clearly there is something wrong here. Looking at these stats in comparison to their level 30 years ago there is no argument that women have become a larger percentage of the STEM community, and I do not intend to diminish the meaningful advancements many strong women have made in getting the conversation started. I only intend to highlight that there is still much to accomplish, and I am proud to be part of a class igniting this change.
Being one of the only females in the room is not an unfamiliar occurrence for me. Several of my college classes had all men except for me, and in the first few years of my career, the departments I worked in never had more than one other woman. Because of those experiences, I have become passionate about exposing the excitement of STEM to women of all ages and advocating that women speak up and contribute to management discussions. That’s why much of my time outside of work and school has been dedicated to education, and specifically STEM education for girls. During college, I worked with my engineering department to host a women in engineering day for local Girl Scout troops to expose participants to different opportunities in engineering fields. Since graduating I became a board member at The Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport Connecticut, a non-profit focused on women’s education.
“I am an advocate for the development of more STEM content at all levels of education. Being a part of the LGO Class of 2020, it has been encouraging to see the women in LGO feel as passionate about this as I do.”
Paige Youngerman, another one of the strong women of the LGO Class of 2020 has focused her volunteerism on highlighting opportunities in STEM to girls from a young age. As an officer in the United States Army, her unit partnered with local schools, holding workshops for girls, teaching them STEM fundamentals, and designing fun engineering projects like building Lego bridges and holding boat races. When she joined the LGO Class of 2020, she has continued to be involved with introducing STEM to the next generation. She participates in events talking to middle and high school girls in advanced science programs about future opportunities as an engineer. When asked why she does it, Paige said, “making sure women are encouraged to pursue STEM at a young age and making it fun is one of my passions!”
Bidusha Poudyal and Lea Dagle have both been involved with organizations that focus on teaching girls about opportunities in STEM from a young age. Bidusha was a mentor for girls in Girls Who Code in New York City, talking to young women about navigating their careers and introducing them to the fundamentals of coding. She also participated in the Columbia Girls in STEM program as a mentor and taught a class one day a week at a local all-girls high school where her team built a curriculum focused on STEM enrichment. Lea, in conjunction with fellow volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club started a group called GirlsLab! This organization leads sessions weekly, hosting events such as egg drops and roller coaster design labs in a hands on approach to STEM education.
These are just some of the examples of how the Women of LGO have been involved championing others to get involved with STEM. Here on campus the LGO ladies have taken on leadership roles throughout campus, heading up committees and clubs, hosting women’s preview days, and revolutionizing the mentor matching program for SWIM by building optimization algorithms to match 2nd year women at Sloan to 1styears so that these women can find their ideal mentor. This network extends beyond your two years at MIT. The WLGO is a group of women that have graduated from LGO that stay connected, sharing experiences and lessons learned across the network and host events during the LGO alumni conference.
You can see LGO’s commitment to driving more women to apply to the program, with the positive trends of women in the LGO Class going from 29% two years ago to 38% in the Class of 2021, but 38% is not enough, we need to do more to encourage young girls to pursue a STEM background, because having the fundamentals from grade school to high school, builds confidence to take on the tough problems we are facing in industry today and become leaders our field.
Leigh Hunnicutt shares stories about finding her identity as a leader and her passion for biotech. Leigh is currently an Executive Director, Global Operations at Amgen.
The LGO Playbook is a unique set of skills and strategies that have helped generations of LGOs provide leadership in operations. This year we are inviting alumni to share pages from their unique LGO Playbooks through stories of impactful experiences. Join us to learn more about our diverse community while gaining tangible skills for the future.
✅Done and Done!✅ Two degrees in two years, I can’t believe it’s over!
Growing up in South Africa, my only exposure to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was through books and film, attending was beyond a dream. Last Friday I graduated with an amazing cohort of classmates and friends! Extremely proud, I also know that I have been immensely lucky.
A few thoughts for those who would dare to dream (and those who have yet to):
Think! Believe! Dream! – Maybe it was the
distance, both literal and metaphorical, but it took a long time and
moving countries for me to believe MIT could happen for me.
I made it, you can too! – It may take some hard work and a lot of luck but you have to dream and try!
Not everybody makes it – That’s okay! You learn and grow so much from trying, it is truly worth it!
Follow your passion! – There are other paths and that is alright. You don’t have to go to MIT. You don’t have to go back to school. You do you!
LGO Best Thesis 2019: Big Data Analysis at Amgen, Inc.
After the official MIT commencement ceremonies, Thomas Roemer, LGO’s executive director, announced the best thesis winner at LGO’s annual post-graduation celebration. This year’s winner was Maria Emilia Lopez Marino (Emi), who developed a predictive framework to evaluate and assess the impact of raw material attributes on the manufacturing process at Amgen. Thesis readers described Marino’s project as an “extremely well-written thesis. Excellent coverage of not only the project, but also the industry as a whole.”
Applying MIT knowledge in the real world
Marino, who earned her MBA and SM in Civil and Environmental Engineering, completed her six-month LGO internship project at Amgen, Inc. For her project, Marino developed a new predictive framework through machine learning techniques to assess the impact of raw material variability on the performance of several commercial processes of biologics manufacturing. Finding this solution represents a competitive advantage for biopharmaceutical leaders. The results from her analysis showed an 80% average accuracy on predictions for new data. Additionally, the framework she developed is the starting point of a new methodology towards material variability understanding in the manufacturing process for the pharmaceutical industry.
Each year, the theses are nominated by faculty advisors and then reviewed by LGO alumni readers to determine the winner. Thesis advisor and Professor Roy Welsch stated Emi “understood variation both in a statistical sense and in manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical industry and left behind highly accurate and interpretable models in a form that others can use and expand. We hope she will share her experiences with us in the future at LGO alumni reunions and on DPT visits.”
Marino, who earned her undergraduate degree Chemical Engineering from the National University of Mar Del Plata in Argentina, has accepted a job offer with Amgen in Puerto Rico.
MIT team places second in 2019 NASA BIG Idea Challenge
As part of an MS/MBA dual degree program, LGO students are fully integrated into both MIT Sloan School of Management and the School of Engineering and have a wide range of extracurricular options and avenues. Many take part in conferences and competitions across campus, drawing on both their business and technical skills to build their experience and network.
An MIT student team, including LGO ’20 Hans Nowak (MBA/Mechanical Engineering), took second place for its design of a multilevel greenhouse to be used on Mars in NASA’s 2019 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge last month.
Each year, NASA holds the BIG Idea competition in its search for innovative and futuristic ideas. This year’s challenge invited universities across the United States to submit designs for a sustainable, cost-effective, and efficient method of supplying food to astronauts during future crewed explorations of Mars.
A very exciting talk by Matt Vokoun about Google’s model of innovation. He is currently the Director of Product for the Create Hardware (Tablet and Laptop) category there and has served in various Product and Strategy roles in the past.
The LGO Playbook is a unique set of skills and strategies that have helped generations of LGOs provide leadership in operations. This year we are inviting alumni to share pages from their unique LGO Playbooks through stories of impactful experiences. Join us to learn more about our diverse community while gaining tangible skills for the future.
