EVENTS

Fall 2025 speakers will be announced soon

On Thursday, April 24th students convened for a fireside chat with Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Harvard alum and Zipline Co-founder and CEO, and Harvard SEAS Dean David Parkes. The fireside chat was followed by a virtual tour of their Rwandan facility.

On Wednesday, April 2 students convened for a conversation with Adam Selipsky, former CEO at Amazon Web Services (AWS), SEAS Dean David Parkes, and HDSI Director Francesca Dominici. They discussed transformational leadership in a data driven world and their perspectives on a range of topics from AI to how a Harvard Gov concentrator became a leading tech CEO.

On Tuesday, March 25 students convened for a talk titled "Big FinTech Gives Away Software for Free! Why?" with Alex Scammon, Head of the G-Research Open Source Software, to learn more about how G-Research is using very large real-world datasets and machine learning-based research to predict movements in financial markets. 

On Tuesday, February 4 students convened for a fireside chat with Jessica Gelman ’97, MBA ’02 who is the CEO and co-founder of Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR). Jessica gave a talk titled "The 4th Industrial Revolution, Data: How Analytics is Changing the Game" where she discussed why reconciling the power and promise of data is hard and gave an inside story of how the sports industry has adopted analytics to understand fans, improve business operations, and change the game itself.

KAGR is a technology, analytics, and strategic consulting company that helps sports and entertainment understand their fan and grow their business through data-driven, customer-centric insights and business application. KAGR’s clients span all major professional US sports leagues, as well as, colleges and sports industry leaders.

On Tuesday, November 19 students convened for a fireside chat with Phill Tornroth. Phill is the Vice President of Engineering at Elation Health. Phill has been working in software engineering roles at healthcare startups since 2000. The first chapter in his career was focused on using technology to help prevent medication errors in hospital settings. He joined Elation as their first full-time developer in 2010 and is currently VP of Engineering focused on technical strategy, including all things AI.

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On Tuesday, October 29 students convened for a panel consisting of 6 members from the Central Engineering team at the Center for Astrophysics. The Center for Astrophysics is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Harvard College Observatory that’s designed to ask big questions about the universe, build the tools needed to answer them, and share the resulting discoveries with the world. 

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On Tuesday, October 22 students convened for a fireside chat with Bill Peine, Ph.D. who is the Vice President of Research and Technology in Medtronic’s Surgical Operating Unit and leads the company’s Robotics Technology Development Center. He has been with the company for over 10 years as an innovator driving the development of the Hugo Robotic System for tele-operated minimally invasive surgery.

On Tuesday, October 8 students convened for a fireside chat with Jessica Charter. Jessica Charter leads Ernst & Young's (EY) Global AI Cyber Strategy, developing go-to-market strategy, drives thought leadership, and delivers GenAI and analytics solutions to clients. She will share her expertise in in leveraging technology and AI, particularly in improving productivity, implementing cost savings, and enhancing cybersecurity to navigate the complexities of digital transformation.

On Tuesday, September 24 the Industry Insights lecture series welcomed back to campus two former members of the Harvard SEAS community, Michael Bell, PhD (Co-founder and CTO at Fleet Robotics) and Christophe Chantre, PhD (Co-founder and CEO at Tender Food).

Both companies spun-out of Harvard labs and incubated at Greentown Labs. As Christophe remarked, climate is “more of an affiliation than an industry.” While their technologies are vastly different (underwater robots and lab-grown “meat” respectively), they both tackle specific environmental challenges. The umbrella of climate challenges can be daunting but by focusing on specific problems, results can be realized.

Michael underscored this concept by emphasizing by exploring a variety of climate problems relating to the ocean. One problem their technology could tackle is that biofouling significantly reduces the efficiency of fuel consumption on large ships and therefore increases CO₂ emissions. They landed on this problem as “it was very clear from day one on who our customer was, how much value it had, and that there are numerous business cases for how this robot makes money… just starting with cleaning”.  Fleet Robotics then made it their mission to “reduce the emission of large ships, which reduces overall global emissions.”

Christophe Chantre also shared valuable insights into how scaling technology-based solutions can change the meat industry, which contributes a large share of total global greenhouse gas emissions, to embrace products that are cleaner for the planet and healthier for consumers. To bring complex technology to scale that could shift a massive industry, “you need to work on developing tech for years, then venture capital (VC) dollars really help.” Also, “having a team is really helpful”. According to Christophe, you can’t do everything all at once. For example, if you have a great team then someone can be fundraising while another person is working on building and developing the technology.

Christophe also shared unique perspectives on the food industry. Balancing demand and inventory can be a big risk. When making decisions around supply, Christophe noted that supply is a fun problem. “You always have to be at the bleeding edge of what the customer will be willing to bear in terms of uncertainty” and “you want to go as fast as possible”. You don’t want to have a ton of inventory and no customers. Especially as their product focuses on whole-cuts rather than alternative nuggets or burgers, future partnerships with major distributors will require inventory to be set at a pre-determined fixed quantity rather than partnerships with smaller stores that have a more flexible response to supply and demand.

When asked about advice for current students and researchers, Christophe cautioned the audience against the temptation to get stuck over-engineering before getting started. Christophe’s advice is to “go for it!” According to Christophe, often “when you’re a scientist or engineer you’re trying to build a beautiful perfect thing that will work”, but you don’t need to wait for it to be perfect before you get started. 

When Michael was asked about his experience as a co-founder at Fleet Robotics, he recalled that “starting with a core team of people you trust and have worked with before was super valuable”. Michael also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to work on climate problems that really can’t be solved with manual labor, but need emerging technologies, which he hopes will have a positive impact on the climate and the world. 

On Tuesday, September 10 students convened for a fireside chat with Will Ahmed. Will is the Founder and CEO of WHOOP, which has developed next generation wearable technology for optimizing human performance and health. WHOOP has raised more than $400 million from top investors and is valued at $3.6 billion, making it the most valuable standalone wearables company in the world.

On Friday, April 26 students and faculty convened for an informative talk by Pushmeet Kohli, Vice President of Research at Google DeepMind, as part of the Dean's Lecture series with Dean David Parkes. 

Pushmeet leads the science program at Google DeepMind, which uses AI to help accelerate scientific progress in areas ranging from genomics to quantum chemistry. Pushmeet's team is responsible for AlphaFold, an AI system for predicting the 3D structure of proteins. The AlphaFold paper is one of most cited AI biology papers ever, with over 15,000 citations. His team is also working on AI systems for materials discovery and nuclear fusion. 

On Tuesday, April 2 students convened for a fireside chat with Qasar Younis (Co-Founder and CEO of Applied Intuition) to discuss the startup story of Applied Intuition, an industry-leading vehicle software supplier that aims to accelerate the world’s adoption of safe and intelligent machines. The conversation was moderated by Paul Hayre, Executive Director of the Harvard Grid. Topics included market trends for the autonomy and automotive industries, startup lessons from Qasar’s time as COO at YCombinator, and leadership advice for scientists and engineering eager to make an impact in tech sectors. 

On Tuesday, Mar. 26 students convened for a fireside chat with Robin Bass to discuss how Google working to create healthier and more sustainable buildings and workspaces. The event was hosted jointly by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Harvard Office for Sustainability. 

Robin Bass leads sustainability programs for the built environment at Google. Her team drives business value through net zero and nature positive outcomes in the global campuses and communities that Google calls home. Prior to working with Google, Robin was an architect focused on sustainable buildings and has worked on projects all over the world. 

On Tuesday, Mar. 19 students convened for a panel discussion with Tye Brady, Chief Technologist at Amazon Robotics, Dean David Parkes, and Professor Rob Howe where they discussed the future of the robotics industry and their perspectives on how scientists and engineers can work to address the big challenges impacting the field. 

Tye is a leading strategic thinker and engineering professional with more than 30 years of hands-on experience in robotic systems. Tye is chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, where he heads advanced technology and research efforts to further establish Amazon as the preeminent robotics organization in the world.  As an accomplished and proven leader, Tye is shaping how robotics can benefit industry, community, and the Amazon customer.

Prior to Amazon Robotics, Tye spent 15 years with Draper Laboratory holding a variety of technical and leadership roles, each advancing technologies and teamwork for robotics and spacecraft engineering. Tye is a founding partner of MassRobotics, a not-for-profit organization that has become the world’s largest robotics incubator and serves on a number of boards to promote STEM learning and advancement within his community.  He is the recipient of the Exceptional Public Service Medal for outstanding technical leadership from NASA and has been recognized by the Boston Globe as a top ten Technology Power Player in 2022 and 2023.  He holds over 30 patents and has authored over 30 publications related to robotics and autonomy.  He has been featured by major media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Wired Magazine, PBS Nova, NBC, Bloomberg, BBC, and many others.  Tye holds a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering from MIT and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace from Boston University.

On Thursday, Feb. 8 students convened for a fireside chat with alum, Ben Zauzmer '15, Assistant General Manager for the New York Mets to learn more about using data analytics in sports and sports management.

Ben graduated with an A.B. from Harvard in 2015. He concentrated in Applied Math, with a focus in Government, and a secondary in Computer Science. Ben worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2015-2020 and joined the Mets in January of 2021 as the director of baseball analytics, where he oversaw the research and development areas within baseball operations. He was promoted to assistant general manager for the Mets in December 2021. Ben is also the author of Oscarmetrics: The Math Behind the Biggest Night in Hollywood, which uses math to predict award winners. He lives in New York with his wife, Rabbi Shayna Zauzmer.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is a leading organization in robotic space exploration pursuing a variety of missions including analysis within the Earth's atmosphere to explorations extending to the limits of the universe. During this Industry Insights event, JPL employees from different divisions of the organization shared their perspectives on the future challenges in space exploration and the highest priorities on JPL's horizon. 

About the presenters: 
Marc Sanchez Net, PhD. is a telecommunications engineer and works in the Communications, Tracking and Radar division of JPL. Marc works on systems to send data to our spacecrafts across the solar system, collect navigation observables, and perform planetary radar observations. He leads different technology development projects in the area of communications, both for flight and ground systems, and supports missions such as CADRE, VIPER and HLS.

Lauren St. Hilaire works on instrument structural support as a member of the Mechanical Engineering division at JPL. Lauren works with spacecraft mechanics as the technical lead for major subsystems on missions. Currently, Lauren is working as a lead structural engineer on a mission which plans to capture high resolution mapping of the surface of Venus.

Interested in video game design, e-sports, and the data science and business strategies behind the video game industry? Curious about career pathways at Riot Games—the makers of League of Legends, Valorant, and others? On November 28, alum Mark Yetter ’08, and a panel of experts from Riot Games shared their perspectives on the work that goes on behind the scenes in the video game development industry. 

On October 24, the SEAS community learned more about the early journey of building and funding a startup through the lens of the startup story of Prive. Prive is a payments infrastructure startup helping commerce brands such as ThirdLove and Coterie manage their revenue levers. Prive helps brands grow new revenue with subscriptions, optimize existing revenue with experimentation and market intelligence, and unlock new sales channels via referrals and the Prive discovery marketplace. 
 
Claudia Laurie (Harvard College ’18) is the founder and Co-CEO of Prive. Prior to founding Prive, Claudia was a Product Manager at Uber and helped lead the APM program as a part of Uber’s APM Steering Committee. Claudia is also the Co-Host of The Room Podcast, one of the most globally shared podcasts.

The last decade has seen huge advances in machine intelligence. Yet robots in the world are still primarily confined to vacuuming and building cars. On Tuesday, September 12, Dr. Jennifer Barry discussed the challenges behind making robots smart, focusing on three primary areas: Improving cognitive abilities, improving athletic abilities, and improving hardware design.

Innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in hearing from Harvard alums that are building startups with the support of The Engine, a Cambridge-based venture firm that invests in tough tech came together on Tuesday, April 11 for a panel discussion and networking event with The Engine founders from Harvard affiliated startups. The event featured the startup stories of Atlantic Quantum and Axoft with insights on what the founders have learned along the way. Founders Tim Menke (Cofounder & COO, Atlantic Quantum) and Tianyang Ye (Cofounder & CTO, Axoft) discussed how their startups are building quantum computers and interfaces between the brain and machines. The panel was moderated by Paul Hayre, Executive Director of the Harvard Grid.

On April 6, Dean Frank Doyle hosted a fireside chat with Andy Jassy. Andy Jassy is President and CEO of Amazon.com and also serves on the Board of Directors. He founded and led Amazon Web Services (AWS) from its inception and served as its CEO from April 2016 until July 2021. He joined Amazon in 1997 and, prior to founding AWS, held various leadership roles across the company, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. He serves on the Trust of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, on the Board of Trustees for Rainier Scholars, and as Chair of Rainier Prep’s Board of Directors. He has an AB from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Biospectal is a digital health startup founded on a mission to democratize remote vital signs monitoring worldwide using smartphones and other consumer-friendly connected devices. Members of the Harvard community interested in how to start a company in the healthcare and tech industries came together to hear from the Biospectal team and how their working to make an impact in the global health sector. The discussion was moderated by Paul Hayre, Executive Director of the Harvard Grid. 

Meet the Panelists:
Eliot Jones '88 | Co-Founder and CEO, Biospectal
Natalie Meyer | Strategic Investment and Partnerships, Biospectal
Prof. Patrick Schoettker | Co-Founder and CMO, Biospectal and professor and Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at the CHUV University Hospital (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Dr. Fred St. Goar, HMS '84 | Cardiologist, Inventor, and Biospectal Board of Directors

Members of the SEAS community interested in using their tech skills for medical applications and for social good convened on Wednesday, March 1 for a virtual Industry Insights event presented by Google Health. During this presentation, Andrew Sellergren ‘08, Software Engineer, Machine Learning at Google Health, discussed using AI for medical imaging and how to get started—even with limited previous experience!

During this Industry Insights event, Tom Soderstrom, Director of Chief Technologists for the Worldwide Public Sector for Amazon Web Services (AWS) discussed the emerging technology trends and innovations at Amazon. Tom Soderstrom leads a team of experienced technology builders/advisors to public sector executive CTOs and to AWS leaders. They identify emerging technology trends and patterns and help solve deep, complex technical problems, including problems at large scale. Tom is currently focused on exploring and evolving emerging business and technology trends, such as The Future Space Economy. From 2006-2020, Tom served as the IT Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he helped define, support, and implement innovative Space missions, emerging IT trends, and mentor the next generation of IT and Space explorers. 

Industry Insights presented by Ned Cahoon (A.B. '80, Physics), from GlobalFoundries where attendees gained insights on the smart mobile devices and wearables business unit, next generation communication infrastructure, and the future of the semiconductor industry.

A panel from Apple Acoustics provided their insights on November 8, 2022. Their discussion focused on what the Apple Acoustics team's role is at Apple. They provided a deep dive on recent products and technologies, and discussed how interested members of the SEAS community could pursue a career in the field.

Panelists from the Apple Acoustics team included Danielle Davis '21, Drew Hulva, Karla Jauregui, and Kavitha Srinivasan.

This Industry Insights lecture was presented by Nina Sinatra (PhD '19), a Senior Mechanical/Materials Engineer at Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group. At Google, Dr. Sinatra develops next-generation consumer electronic devices and modules. During this event, the SEAS community learned about the product design process, asked questions about the industry, and had the opportunity to connect with a SEAS alum working in Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP). Google ATAP is Google's hardware invention studio. The group includes engineers, scientists, artists, and designers working together to turn new ideas into finished products that change the way we relate to technology.

This event provided the opportunity for SEAS to hear from Pasquale Romano, an experienced entrepreneur, Harvard alum, and current President and Chief Executive Officer of ChargePoint, an electric vehicle infrastructure company with the largest network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in North America and Europe. Pasquale Romano shared advice about the transition from leading smaller-scale projects to leading entire companies, discussed the electric vehicle infrastructure industry, and answered questions from his perspective as a Harvard alum.

Dean Frank Doyle and Professor Jim Waldo were joined by Microsoft President and Vice Chair, Brad Smith for a conversation on topics from the New York Times bestselling book Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age. Brad Smith shared his views on the continued threat of cyberattacks, the role of technology in addressing COVID-19, and how big tech and government can come together to combat some of the toughest issues of our time – from climate change to equity to digital sovereignty. The conversation also provided insights on leadership, decision making, and the responsibility of those who are creating technology for the future.

Panelists discussed the essential role of scientists and engineers in the design and development of equitable vaccine clinical trials. The panel addressed how specific populations have been historically marginalized in the drug development process, and how critical planning and implementation can help ensure better outcomes for all.

Panelists:
Gilda Barabino, PhD, President and Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Olin College of Engineering
Melanie Ivarsson, PhD, Chief Development Officer, Moderna
Jayne Morgan, MD, Cardiologist and Clinical Director of the Covid Task Force at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation

This conversation was moderated by Frank Doyle, PhD, John A. Paulson Dean of the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and John A. & Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor, Harvard University

Parrot is a leader in professional and consumer drones and launched the first consumer drone in 2010. Today, Parrot is working for the professional market, for security, defense and inspection always with the objective of pushing innovation even further. In this Industry Insights presentation, Henri Seydoux, CEO of Parrot shared an overview of technologies used in drones and robotics and his point of view on evolutions expected in the upcoming years. The Head of Partnership at Parrot, Jerome Bouvard, shared insights on today’s drone use in academia and ways for Harvard students to use drones in labs and research. Chloe Tescari, Recruiter at Parrot, discussed opportunities for Harvard students who might want to work in the field.

Unity is a leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content for creators ranging from game developers to artists, architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and others. Historically, Unity has been used for game development, but a growing interest in 3D applications has led to a number of exciting developments in mixed reality, industrial simulation, AI, and robotics. During this panel discussion, insights were discussed about Unity as a company, trends in the real-time 3D space, new developments in artificial intelligence, and how robotics can be made better with Unity and other 3D engines. Panelists also answered questions about their career paths and experiences in the field. 

Panelists:
Devin Miller - a senior robotics engineer with a background in computer vision, simulation, and robotics development
Amanda Trang - a software engineer with a background in aerospace engineering, game development, and robotics
Sarah Gibson - a senior engineering manager with a background in electrical engineering, machine learning, signal processing, and robotics
Cameron Greene - a senior product manager with a background in industrial IoT, smart manufacturing, and robotics

A panel of Harvard alumni discussed their experiences working on projects and space missions at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). They also shared insights they’ve gathered on their journeys from Harvard students to industry experts at the leading U.S. center for robotic exploration of our solar system. Attendees had the opportunity to hear their perspectives, learn about potential career pathways, and find out how to pursue opportunities in the field.

Panelists: 
Adrian Arteaga Garcia, Systems Engineer
Hayden Burgoyne, Systems Engineer
Matthew Smith, Systems Engineer
Stephanie Smith, Digital & Social Media Supervisor

In the inaugural Industry Insights event, a panel of experienced professionals discussed how engineering and science skill sets are in demand across finance organizations with a specific focus on career opportunities and internships that students may not have considered before.

As we continue to see advances in technology, we also see an evolution in career paths and in the way we work. On Tuesday, October 13 students tuned in to hear from leaders in finance from the Capital Group, Capital One, and Fidelity. The panelists have experience in a variety of roles and discussed the future of technology and data in the finance sector, the various engineering and science pathways into the finance workforce, and advice for students considering a career in finance. Panelists also discussed lessons learned and the challenges they have overcome as leaders in the field. The conversation was moderated by Diana Wagner, Partner and Portfolio Manager at Capital Group.

Panelists:
Celia Edwards Karam – Chief Audit Officer at Capital One
Ramona Persaud – Portfolio Manager at Fidelity
Tyrone Canaday – VP of Product Management in Investment Group Technology at Capital Group