Meet the Presenters for This Webinar Series

Systems Thinking: An Enabler for Innovation 

Thomas Gannon has over 40 years of experience in enterprise systems engineering, real-time control systems and information management systems. Prior to recently joining the faculty of WPI as a Professor of Practice, he was Director of Information Systems Engineering and Chief Engineer for the Technology and Innovation (T&I) Directorate of the Command and Control Center (C2C) at the MITRE Corporation, where he was responsible for the formation and management of the Directorate’s technology strategy, investment plans, and science and technology (S&T) programs. Previously, he served as Director of the Corporate Technology Transfer Office.Dr. Gannon also held senior management positions in RD&E at Digital Equipment and Bell Laboratories. While at Digital, he was responsible for establishing and guiding the evolution of several national research consortia, including the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina (MCNC), SEMATECH, and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), as well as managing Digital's investments in those consortia. While at Bell Laboratories, he was responsible for the development of real-time digital control systems for military applications and the integration of large-scale information systems across the Bell System. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as an MS from Purdue University and a BS from the Illinois Institute of Technology, both in Electrical Engineering.

He was also recently appointed as Assistant Director for Academic Communications and member of the INCOSE Academic Matters Leadership Team.

Jamie Monat is a Professor of Practice and a Director of Corporate and Professional Education at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, where he teaches courses in Operations Risk Management, Systems Thinking, System Optimization, Operations Management, Business Practices for Systems Engineers, and Project Management. Dr. Monat has both management and teaching experience in the medical device, separations, food & beverage, consulting, and environmental industries, having served as President of Harvard Clinical Technology, President of Business Growth Specialists, Inc., as Sr. Vice-President of Pall Corporation, and in a variety of positions for Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. He is the author of more than 40 papers on separations technology, chemical reaction kinetics, productivity, sales management, risk management, project management, and decision analysis. Dr. Monat’s current research interests include quality in both service and manufacturing environments, corporate productivity, employee performance metrics, business applications of logistic regression, self-organization and emergence, project risk management, and operations risk analysis. He has a B.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford.

Systems Engineering: Building Innovation in Education

Shamsnaz S. Virani, Assistant Teaching Professor of Systems Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, earned her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from The University of Alabama at Huntsville. She also holds a M.S in Human Factors Engineering from Wright State University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Pune, India. Prior to joining WPI, Dr. Virani worked with The Pennsylvania State University and The University of Texas at El Paso developing and teaching systems engineering courses.

Dr. Virani’s research interests include Modeling Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Engineering Education and Team Mental Models.

Iris Burnham, M.A., is the Superintendent and Founder of the Burnham Wood Charter School District, School for Educational Enrichment and President of the El Paso Education Initiative, Inc. She has received grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education, including the Texas “T-STEM” fund for the creation of the “Da Vinci School for the Sciences and the Arts.

Empowering Business Growth through Systems Engineering Leadership and Innovation
Dr. Don Gelosh is the Director of Systems Engineering Programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is responsible for growing and developing the various Systems Engineering programs delivered through WPI’s Corporate and Professional Education department.Dr. Gelosh has over 39 years of systems engineering experience from the US Air Force, government, industry, and academia. Before WPI, Dr. Gelosh was Deputy Director for Workforce Development, working for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering at the Pentagon.

In previous assignments, he was lead systems engineer for communications and payload integration on NASA’s Vehicle Integration and Test Team supporting the Space Shuttle, he taught Electrical and Computer Engineering at the USAF Academy, he served as Deputy Department Head for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology and was Dean of Learning and Technology at the National Defense University.

Dr. Gelosh received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s Degree in Computer System Design from the University of Houston at Clear Lake, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The Ohio State University. He holds an INCOSE CSEP-Acquisition certification and is Defense Acquisition Corps Level III certified in Systems Engineering.