Innovation & Technology Management Seminar Series

Dr. Ruthie Lyle is currently the Technical Project Manager for the IBMSmartCloud, SaaS Web Delivery Platform. She joined IBM in 1999 shortly after becoming the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (Poly-NYU). Dr. Lyle's career experience with IBM spans assignments in Intellectual Property Strategy and Monetization as well as Software Development and Hardware Development. She is a registered Patent Agent, and the Team Lead Emeritus of IBM's Smarter Planet Invention Review Team. Dr. Lyle is an IBM Master Inventor with 60 issued US patents and over 170+ pending patent applications making her the leading African American female inventor in the US.

Heather Hollick, of Rizers, is an advisor, executive coach, consultant and speaker. Her work resonates with ambitious leaders who seek to build healthy teams and achieve an edge in their organizations and their leadership. She has an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from Purdue University and an undergraduate degree in math, physics and secondary education. Heather is an expert on team dynamics as well as a seasoned leader, teacher, coach and change agent with a global range of leadership experiences in IT, HR, consulting and volunteer organizations. Her experience spans such companies as Cisco Systems, United Healthcare, Research in Motion and the pensions department of the British Government. For the last five years Heather has been teaching, speaking and coaching on leadership, networking and careers with various clients and audiences ranging from college graduates to seasoned executives.

In June 1992, Dr. Connie Mariano became the first military woman in American history to be appointed White House Physician. She was nominated by the Navy and selected by the White House for this honor. In 1994, Dr. Mariano was named Director of the White House Medical Unit and chosen by President William Clinton to serve as his personal physician. Dr. Mariano served nine years at the White House where she was physician to three sitting American Presidents. Completing 24 years of active duty service, Dr. Mariano retired from the Navy in June 2001 with the rank of Rear Admiral. She became the first Filipino American in history to become a Navy Admiral on July 1, 2000. After leaving the White House, Dr. Mariano became a consultant in the Executive Health Program at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, from July 2001 to October 2005. In November 2005, Dr. Mariano founded the Center for Executive Medicine, a medical concierge practice which provides presidential-quality medical care to CEOs and their families. An expert in presidential health care including the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Dr. Mariano is a frequent speaker on the topics of care to VIPs, presidential disability, travel medicine, and optimizing quality of care.

Peter Funke is an Executive Consultant with IBM Software Group’s global sales operations. He presently leads a team which engages with IBM’s large customer base to develop the business cases for deploying social business. Peter and his team engage over fifty customers a year in complex business transformations. He actively works across all industries and functional areas (sales, support, HR, product development, etc) to make visible to his clients their most compelling investment options. Peter also leads a development team that is building visualization tools and techniques to speed adoption of IBM’s emerging technology solutions. The IBM Experience Modeler and IBM’s Business Value Assessment (BVA) method were both built from the ground up under Peter’s leadership. The IBM Experience Modeler provides a means to rapidly prototype and depict complex business processes as they will operate when using the latest Web 2.0 tools from IBM and the marketplace. The BVA is a fast path to building a business case that complements the visual models. This combination provides the organizational consensus needed by most organizations to commit to the significant changes that social business introduces. Peter started his career with IBM in Cleveland, Ohio as a sales representative for IBM’s large systems. He has fifteen years of sales and sales management experience, as well as management experience in IBM’s CIO office where he lead a transformation team that deployed IBM’s first world-wide CRM systems. He has also led services and consulting practices in CRM systems and Systems Management before starting his current practice 10 years ago. Peter has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Princeton University in social psychology. In addition to extensive IBM management training, he has completed several business management programs in financial and senior management issues at Harvard University, Babson College and Wharton School of Management.

Gigi Karmous-Edwards is the owner and designer of Uvo Luxury. All of Uvo’s designs are infused with Gigi’s values of quality and functionality and her love of style and fashion. Gigi started Uvo Luxury in pursuit of fulfilling one goal: to design and produce her vision of fashion-forward, stylish handbags for professional women, something that had eluded her as she traveled the world giving talks on her research. She searched for years for the perfect handbag to take her from her work meetings directly to stylish dinners to no avail. She named the company, Uvo (pronounced You‐vo), which in Italian means egg and symbolizes life, rebirth, and renewal. It was the perfect word to represent the career transition from research science and engineering to artists and entrepreneur. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Gigi had a long and successful 27-year career as a Research Scientist and Engineer focusing on global optical communications. She has led several research and development teams throughout her career on novel and bleeding edge technologies. She served as chairperson on several global committees and conferences. She has several publications on her research along with a book on Grid Networks. In her new entrepreneurial career, Gigi leverages her engineering mindset with her creative skills to create designs that combine the perfect mix of art and science and has established a profound connection between creativity in scientific research and aesthetic, functional design in fashion. Gigi has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and is currently completing her PhD in Electrical Engineering.

Shiva Kommareddi works for Tiger Analytics which provides consulting services in the area of predictive analytics to clients in the Marketing, Merchandising and Supply Chain functions. Prior to Tiger Analytics, Shiva was responsible for product strategy and product management for SAS¿s Enterprise Solutions . During the tenure of this position, he managed a team of more than 50 product managers who were responsible for enterprise solutions in the areas of Risk Management, Customer Intelligence and Performance Management. He was also responsible for industry specific solutions in the retail, telecommunications, banking and insurance industries. Prior to SAS, Shiva worked for i2 Technologies where he handled product marketing for demand management, supply chain management and e-Procurement offerings for retail, CPG and hi-tech manufacturing industries. He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Yongji Fu is an algorithm development manager at Becton Dickinson Technologies (BDT). He leads the algorithm development of smart devices including the continuous glucose monitor and artificial pancreas. Prior to joining BDT, Dr. Fu worked at Sharp Labs of America, Siemens Medical Solutions and Welch Allyn Medical Monitoring System. He has numerous pending/issued patents and papers in biomedical sensing and signal analysis. He is a senior member of IEEE and serves as a member of several conference technical committees. Yongji Fu received his B.S degree in 1999 and M.S degree in 2002 from Tsinghua University, China and PhD degree in 2008 from Oregon Health and Science University, US; all three degrees are in biomedical engineering.

George Grody is originally from West Hartford Ct. and graduated from Duke in 1981 with a BS in Management Science. He then went to work for Procter & Gamble and was there for 26 years in a variety of assignments in Sales, Marketing, and General Management across the globe. He worked on projects that included developing and launching new brands, managing the integration of acquired companies, North American corporate restructure, and starting up new business and new subsidiaries in Australia/New Zealand, Central & Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. His last assignment prior to retiring was as Director for Global Strategic Alliances which entailed working with other companies and governments on co-technology and co-marketing deals. After retiring, George moved to Durham and teaches Duke undergrads in the Markets & Management Studies program. He focuses his teaching on Marketing , General Management and Leadership. He’s the faculty representative on the Duke University Union Board and the faculty advisor to the Duke Marketing Club. He also works with the Career Center. He is the Chairman of the National Board of Advisors for the Duke Children’s Hospital as well as a member of the Duke Medicine Board of Visitors and on the Executive Committee of the friends of Duke Libraries. He previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Ronald McDonald House of Durham and on the Duke Athletics Advisory Board.

John Nicholson is the instructor for the Internship/Project and the Internship/Project Assessment. He also develops and mentors semester-long corporate-sponsored Practicums for the MEMP. John has over 30 years of experience, including engineering management with IBM and Lenovo in the areas of networking, software, mobile technology and personal computing. Mr. Nicholson has an IT consulting practice and holds a certification in Information Systems Security (CISSP). Co-inventor on several patents, he served on IBM's Invention Review Board. John enjoys helping students develop professional and career enhancing skills.

Chief Information Officer, Suzanne Gordon, oversees the IT infrastructure and support services that form the cornerstone for SAS’ successful software development and sales efforts. Gordon has focused her 300-person staff on the alignment of IT resources with other business units within SAS. By advocating the use of SAS software for internal applications, she has helped the company develop solutions that organizations around the world can implement and support with confidence. She supports sales by frequently talking with other CIOs about how she, herself, uses SAS to manage the company's IT infrastructure, balance resources and ensure high-quality service to internal and external clients alike. A graduate of North Carolina State University with bachelor's degrees in Math and Computer Science and a master's degree in Statistics, Gordon maintains close ties to the university. A member of the board of trustees, she has also served on the alumni association board and College of Management Advisory board.

Charelle Lewis is a PMI certified IT Project Manager for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Durham, North Carolina. A native of Houston, Texas, Charelle moved to Durham in August 2000 to attend Duke University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. After graduating from Duke, Charelle entered the IT Development Program at GSK. While in this program, she gained experience in several Professional IT roles including positions as Business Analyst, Process Improvement Analyst and Project Manager. She also earned her Six Sigma Certification. Charelle transitioned from the development program in 2008 and began working in the Strategy, Architecture and Information Group in North America Pharma IT (NAPIT). In this role she has served as the Program Administrator for the NAPIT Innovation Team, founded and chaired GSK’s Global IT Innovation Committee, and Co-Founded the Early Career Network for GSK’s Research Triangle Park campus. She currently serves as the Program Manager for the “eDetail” initiate which will deliver an iPad Application to the US Sales Force. During her 7 year tenure at GSK, Charelle has earned a Master of Engineering Management Degree from Duke University. In addition to her role at GSK, she has been an active member of the Durham Community serving on the Advisory Council for Trinity School, serving as an Ambassador for the Durham Young Professionals, and Directing/Engineering for the Media Team of World Overcomers Christian Church.

Alex Chin and Kaned Suviwattanachai are both MEM alumni and currently work at Deloitte. Alex Chin graduated from the MEMP in 2009 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical engineering. He is currently working with Deloitte, focusing on Advanced Analytics and Modeling. Kaned Suviwattanachai graduated from the MEMP in 2010 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Bioengineering. He is currently working with the SAP Package Technologies group at Deloitte.

Bobby Compton is the Senior Engineering Manager for Technology and Product Development at the Power Quality Division for Eaton Corporation. Mr. Compton has 20 years of global engineering design, market analysis, and supply chain experience in electronics, industrial controls and medical technologies. He has worked for a number of organizations, including GE Industrial Control Systems and GE Healthcare. In his current position at Eaton, Mr. Compton leads a global team of engineers to develop leading edge products and technologies for uninterruptable energy.

Heather Hollick is an executive coach, advisor and speaker. She helps ambitious people realize their ambitions and leaders build strong organizations. She holds a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of California at Berkley. Heather is a former teacher, a seasoned leader and coach with a wide range of leadership experience in IT, HR consulting and volunteer organizations. She also worked at Cisco Systems, United Healthcare and the Pigeons Department of the British Government.

Dr. Amjad Bseisu is the Chief Executive Officer of EnQuest. EnQuest is an independent oil & gas development and production company with a geographic focus on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. Dr. Bseisu received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. Additionally, he received his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from Stanford University. Dr. Bseisu has a rich history of experience in a variety of areas, including international marketing, negotiations, operations and business development. He worked with several companies in the energy space, including Atlantic Richfield Company and Petrofac Ltd.

Tiffani Ashley Bell is a twenty-something in pursuit of better living through software. She is the CEO and founder of Pencil You In, a platform enabling the efficient management of appointments by businesses, allowing them to schedule online. Tiffani graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Science in Systems and Computer Science. In college, she interned at IBM as a mobile developer and twice at HP as a web developer. After college, Tiffani worked at a government contractor as a web developer before leaving to work on Pencil You In full-time.

Nilou Sardari is Chief Project Manager at Volvo Group Global. She leads the Volvo 3P Global Learning organization, where she is responsible for all global and common leadership and competence development initiatives. Sardari and Volvo 3P have tasked by Volvo to discover how its project managers could become more effective global leaders, addressing the competencies and approaches that serve Volvo’s particularly global strategy most effectively. Sardari also holds an MS in Instructional Systems Technology/Organizational Development from Indiana University.

Tomen Tse is responsible for creating and executing marketing campaigns for Red Hat’s business partners in North America. His leadership and experience has led to the growth of Red Hat’s ISV (Independent Software Vendors) ecosystem by over 350%. Tomen graduated with honors from Boston College with a bachelor’s in Marketing and received an MBA in Finance and Marketing from North Carolina State University. Prior to joining Red Hat he held a number of roles at IBM, A&E Television Network and Nike.

Gayle Laakman McDowell is the Founder and CEO of CareerCup.com as well as the author of “Cracking the Coding Interview” and the “Google Resume”. Gayle has worked as a software engineer for a number of companies, including Google, Microsoft and Apple and has an extensive amount of interviewing experience at both sides of the table. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UPenn in Computer Science as well as an MBA from the Wharton School.

Dr. Dina Requina is an Adjunct Professor at the Master of Engineering Management Program at Duke University and has over 15 years of technology management experience. Dr. Requina works as the Director of Product Management at Quarterline, where she drives the development of custom information technology solutions for the US Federal and State Healthcare Sector. Prior to joining Quarterline, she worked at IBM for 13 years, served as a consultant for the World Bank and worked as a process engineer for a Peruvian confectionary company.

Siddarth Shetty is the Vice President of Operations for ServiceChannel.com, where he oversees multiple functions ranging from business intelligence, client technology support and partner support to day to day administration. Prior to joining ServiceChannel.com Sid worked as the Director of Engineering and Facilities at Steve & Barry’s, a national clothing retailer. He also serves on the advisory board of GoGirl Finance, a company dedicated to women’s financial literacy, as well as on the benchmarking committee of the PRSM Association. Sid received his Master of Engineering Management Degree from Duke University in 2006 and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai in 2005.

Mike Brothers has over 20 years of experience in product development, program management and design engineering.

Orville Pierson is the author of The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search, published by McGraw-Hill in 2006.

Roy Pogrzeba is currently Senior Vice President and Principle in Charge of the Raleigh office of Bovis Lend Lease.

Mr. Cason Coplin, the Senior Director of Operations Excellence for the Sprint/Nextel Merger Integration Office shares insights from the first 10+ years of his career, ...

Robert Price is the former CEO of Control Data during its hayday of high growth, and competing successfully with IBM. It was a time ...