This June, the sixth Annual Meeting of the Technology and Policy Graduate Consortium will be held.  The Consortium (which includes programs at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, George Mason, the Technical University at Delft, Netherlands, Instituto Superior Technico in Lisbon, Portugal, Harbin Institute of Technology in China, Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Cambridge University, UK) was established to provide an opportunity for students pursuing graduate degrees in areas of technology and policy to present their research and discuss areas of common concern and interest.  Over the past six years, it has been a valuable forum for faculty and students to exchange information and share experiences.  Previous Consortium meetings have been hosted by Delft University, George Mason, Cambridge University, IST in Lisbon, and by MIT TPP.

We are hoping to have at least 4 TPP/TMP/PoET students represent MIT at this year’s meeting, which will be hosted by the Engineering and Public Policy Program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from June 24-26th .  Participating students will present their research at the meeting, either as an oral or poster presentation.  The students will also be responsible, collectively, for preparing a summary report on the meeting.

TPP will nominate students to the EPP faculty, who are responsible for this year’s agenda.  Nominated students will be chosen to participate based on their stated interest and the research they would present.  Students selected for posters will be asked to submit their draft posters to us for review before finalizing them.  Students selected for oral presentations will be expected to do one or two practice presentations for review before the meeting.

Students should ask their advisors about financial support to travel to this conference and present their research.  PoET Fellows can use their travel funds for this.  TPP has some funding available for students whose research supervisors are not able to support their travel.  Students sponsored by TPP to attend the doctoral consortium will have their reasonable travel expenses covered.  Details will be provided to the students chosen to participate.

If you are interested in participating in the consortium meeting on June 25-27, please forward to us (Renee, Dava, Frank) a brief proposal for participation.  Please follow these directions carefully.  You must include:

1. a brief (1-2 paragraph) statement outlining a) your reasons for wanting to attend; b) what you expect to get out of the meeting; and c) your willingness to help prepare a summary report of the conference.   Please note your expected graduation date and your preference to present orally or to do a poster.  (Generally posters are more appropriate for students at an earlier stage of their research.)
2. an abstract (2-3 paragraphs) of the research you would present at the meeting.
3. a statement that you either have travel funding or are requesting travel funding from TPP.  If you are requesting TPP funding, please explain why your advisor can’t support your travel.  If you have any special circumstances (e.g. traveling from somewhere other than Boston, a free place to stay in Pittsburgh), please note them.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

• Proposals are due by Friday, April 20th.  We will let students know if they are selected within a few weeks of then.
• Emailing instructions:  Please put “Graduate Consortium proposal” as the subject line of your email.  Please name your abstract  “lastname abstract.doc” and make sure your name and abstract title are in the document itself!  Please put your statement for (1) and (3) above in the body of the email.

IBM’s Senior VP of Enterprise On Demand Treansformation and Information Technology Linda Sanford will speak in 34-101 on Tuesday, October 17, beginning at 4:00 pm. The topic will be “Engineering Systems Solutions to Real World Challenges.” The event, co-sponsored by IBM and MIT’s Engineering Systems Division, is open to the public. A reception with refreshments will follow.

Ms. Sanford leads the strategy for IBM’s internal transformation to the industry’s premier on demand business. In this role, she is responsible for working across IBM to transform core business processes, create an IT infrastructure to support those processes, and help create a culture that recognizes the value that on demand leadership can bring to IBM.

Previously Ms. Sanford was Senior Vice President & Group Executive, IBM Storage Systems Group, where she helped take IBM from fifth place in storage market share to second in two years. Prior to assuming that position, Ms. Sanford headed IBM Global Industries, the organization that manages relationships with IBM’s largest customers worldwide and is responsible for generating almost 70 percent of IBM’s revenue.

One of the highest-ranking women at IBM, Ms. Sanford is a member of the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Engineering. She has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Business by Fortune Magazine, one of the Top Ten Innovators in the Technology Industry by Information Week Magazine, and one of the Ten Most Influential Women in Technology by Working Woman Magazine.

Ms. Sanford is the chairman of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for New York City, ITT Industries, St. John’s University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ms. Sanford co-authored “Let Go To Grow: Escaping the Commodity Trap” a book that details how successful companies are pursuing strategies to drive long-term growth and innovation. The book was published by Prentice Hall in December 2005.

A graduate of St. John’s University, Ms. Sanford earned an M.S. in Operations Research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Details of this event are at http://esd.mit.edu/HeadLine/calendar/2006/101706sanford.html

This event is part of the IBM-MIT/ESD Innovation Lecture Series. Each session will demonstrate how today’s leaders and practitioners are using engineering systems and services sciences approaches to address complex problems. Drawing from real-life examples, the series will explain how these approaches were applied at IBM and other organizations, and demonstrate how to achieve breakthrough solutions that deliver sustained value to enterprises and society as a whole.The next event, which will feature senior executives from the healthcare industry, is scheduled for December 14, 2006. Details TBA.