About Innovate for Impact: Siemens Design Challenge

Barbara Humpton is CEO of Siemens USA, where she guides the company’s strategy and engagement in serving the company’s largest market in the world, with more than 50,000 employees and over$23 billion in revenues and $5 billion in annual exports.

Most recently, Humpton served as president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, Inc.(SGT), a leading integrator of Siemens’ products and services for federal government agencies and departments. In this role, Humpton also served as an officer/director member of the board of directors of SGT.

Prior to joining Siemens in 2011, Humpton served as a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton where she was responsible for program performance and new business development for technology consulting in the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Earlier, Humpton was a vice president at Lockheed Martin Corporation with responsibility for Biometrics Programs, Border and Transportation Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection, including such critical programs as the FBI’s Next Generation Identification and the TSA’s Transportation Workers’ Identification Credential.

Humpton is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Barbara is Chairman of the Siemens Foundation and of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). She serves on the board of directors of MorganFranklin, the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region, the Northern Virginia Tech Council and the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association. She resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband David.

John Miller is senior vice president of Mainstream Engineering Software for Siemens Digital Industries Software, a business unit of the Siemens Digital Factory Division. In this role, he is responsible for leading the company’s go-to-market efforts for mainstream engineering products, including Solid Edge and Femap, on a global basis. John has more than 23 years’ experience in PLM software. He initially joined the company from Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), where he completed its Engineering Systems Engineer program and chose to work with Unigraphics for his first full-time assignment. He has since held a number of increasingly responsible positions within Siemens Digital Industries Software. John earned a Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering Systems from Kettering University (formerly GMI) and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the University of Michigan.

Kevin J. Owens is senior vice president of Human Resources for Siemens Digital Industries Software, a business unit of the Siemens Digital Factory Division.

He is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s HR strategies to foster the most competitive digital workforce in the industry. Kevin comes to this position with more than 30 years of global and regional HR experience at Siemens and Westinghouse respectively. Kevin came to Siemens Energy through the acquisition of Westinghouse Power Generation and led the formation of the Global Services Division, representing more than $2 billion in sales and approximately 3,000 employees worldwide. Prior to joining the Siemens Communications business in 2005, Kevin played a key role in the formation of the Nokia/Siemens joint venture in North America and had global HR responsibility for the Gores/Siemens joint venture, where he led the successful integration of three companies into one operational business and served as the HR business partner for global sales and global R&D. Kevin has a BS in Labor Relations from Penn State University and an MBA from Mount St. Mary’s College.

Mark Burhop is a research engineer and project manager at Siemens Corporate Technology. He has made a career of bringing scientifically advanced software technologies in simulation, CAD, and manufacturing to a useable point for scientists, engineers, and designers. A mechanical engineer from the University of Florida, he holds current or upcoming patents in additive manufacturing, generative design, and robotics. At home, he maintains a serious “maker” lab with multiple 3D printers, a wide variety of Raspberry Pi and Arduino electronics, robot named Andy, and a PC rig perfect for running both Solid Edge and compiling hi-performance C++ code.

As Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Camille Johnston oversees Communications, Strategy, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility for Siemens USA. She is responsible for developing, leading and implementing an integrated communications, marketing and brand strategy for Siemens across the U.S. She has nearly thirty years of strategic communications experience in politics, government, sports, television, philanthropy and publishing.

Alex Becker is the Digitalization Lead in the Siemens USA communications team. The United States is the single biggest market for the German-based technology company, which has transformed into one of the top 10 software companies in the world. Before coming to the US, Alex headed the business and financial media department at Siemens’ HQ in Munich. Prior to joining Siemens in 2009, Alex worked as a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and a variety of German business publications. He lives in Washington, DC.

Noah Cole is Director of Global Communications at Siemens Digital Industries Software, where he leads public relations, social media and strategic communications for the software business unit of Siemens, a global leader in industrial manufacturing. Prior to Siemens, Noah led corporate communications and social media at Autodesk, and he has also worked with technology clients ranging from global enterprise leaders to to stealth-mode start-ups PR agencies including Fleishman Hillard, GCI Group and Bite PR. Noah has an MBA in International Management and Marketing from the Rotterdam School of Management and BA from Macalester College. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Ali Nadimi is an application Engineer at Siemens Digital Industries Software working on the Solid Edge Portfolio, an affordable and easy to use portfolio of product development tools. He has extensive knowledge in moderating co-creation communities and providing technical support for Solid Edge. He recently graduated with an M.S in Systems Engineering and Management from University of Texas at Dallas.

Brett Abele is a graduate from Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship program, where he continued on to manage a USAID funded greenhouse project in Mozambique concurrently with his E4C fellowship. After working in the agricultural development field, Brett has gone on to work for World Hope International, coordinating disaster relief efforts following hurricanes in Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. He specializes in agriculture and desalination technology.

Iana Aranda is the Director of the Engineering for Global Development Department at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) where she sets the business strategy of a portfolio of programs and platforms that advance knowledge, workforce and hardware-led social innovation to improve the quality of life of underserved communities. Iana also serves as the President of Engineering for Change, LLC (E4C) - a knowledge organization and global community of over 1 million individuals dedicated to design and delivery of essential technologies advancing sustainable development. In both roles, Iana is driving an agenda for a multidisciplinary and human-centered approach to international development enabled by technology, cross-sector partnerships, innovation ecosystems and engineering workforce development. Iana has 15 years of experience in academic, research and nonprofit sectors focusing on the intersection of engineering design, business strategy and social impact.

Grace Burleson is from Beaverton, Oregon (USA) and is pursuing a Ph.D in Design Science at the University of Michigan. She holds a Dual M.S in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Anthropology from Oregon State Univesity and focuses her research on socially-engaged engineering design, particularly in international development contexts.

Noha is responsible for ITT’s strategy to amplify the technology-for-development ecosystem by partnering with key stakeholders to develop and scale breakthrough technologies that address global poverty. As a strategic adviser on technology and social impact, her role also includes shaping the thought-leadership and innovation strategies for ITT’s overall portfolio. Prior to ITT, Noha served as founder and president of Engineering for Change, a global alliance of 15 organizations and 1 million+ individuals dedicated to promoting sustainable and accessible technology-based solutions for underserved communities worldwide. She also served as Executive Director of the ASME Foundation in New York City, focusing on K-16 STEM education, social innovation and sustainable design.

Noha earned her BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Columbia University, and has two U.S. patents related to broadband equipment design. She served as Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, and is a member of the External Advisory Board of Columbia University's Mechanical Engineering Department. In 2013, she received the American Association of Engineering Societies’ Kenneth Andrew Roe Award and, most recently, was named one of New York Business Journal's Women of Influence. Noha was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in New York, where she’s currently based.

Carlos is a Natural Environment Engineer. During his Bachelor he started to be curious about sustainability in the management of natural resources and the use of new technologies in management. He has also worked in various international development projects using Geographical Information Systems. He is currently finishing a Master in Strategies and Technologies for Development at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Marilynn is a biologist from Universidad del Valle, Colombia with a master in Biotechnology from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has been part of the IDIN network since the first International Design and Development Summits (IDDS) in Colombia in 2015. And is currently testing and improving a low-cost prototype to capture and treat rainwater, developed from a co-creative process with FARC ex-combatants at IDDS Peace 2018. She uses her sustainable family farm project as a field laboratory to test this and other alternatives in water purification and sanitation.

Adam Horbinski is a product designer whose passion lies at the intersection of social innovation and product development. Drawing on his early experiences assisting disabled adults and homeless youth, Adam’s aim is in leveraging design to address the unmet needs of marginalized communities. His experience spans a number of industries and disciplines, from working as a design engineer in off-grid energy and outdoor recreation, to more traditional design roles in consumer electronics, packaging, and systems design. He often finds himself obsessing over proof-of-concept prototypes and searching for ways to improve inefficient processes.

Kathleen has a passion for innovative water and sanitation technologies, and is currently completing a Master of Public Policy and M.S. Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. While at graduate school, Kathleen has conducted research on waste management policies, green bond financing for sustainable infrastructure, and solutions to air pollution from crop burning.

Anna Libey is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder interested in the systems underlying rural water service delivery in Ethiopia. Her research lies at the intersection of remote sensing, systems thinking, and water security. She has volunteered extensively with Engineers Without Borders in Ghana, completed the International Development Design Summit in Botswana, and worked for a circular economy and IOT social enterprise in Bangalore. She has a BS in Environmental Engineering from Columbia University.

Krista is currently pursuing a PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. She holds an MSPH from Johns Hopkins in Global Epidemiology and Control and a B.S. in Biology from Penn State. Krista's research experience spans water, sanitation, health, and social entrepreneurship in a variety of diverse settings from southern Virginia to the Peruvian Amazon. As a previous ORISE Fellow at The US Environmental Protection Agency she worked on Human Health Benchmarks, Criteria, and Advisories for contaminants in Drinking Water and Recreational Water. Through her PhD she is combining Public Health, Microbiology, and Environmental Engineering in the study of Antibiotic Resistance in environmental waters.

Dr. Laura MacDonald is the Managing Director of the Mortensen Center in Global Engineering. She has a PhD and MSE in Geography and Environmental Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University. In her role as Managing Director, Laura provides administrative and financial oversight of the Center's graduate certificate and Professional Master's programs. Additionally, she manages several research projects in Rwanda and provides support to the Mortenson Center's broader research portfolio in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to joining the Mortenson Center, Laura was Knowledge and Research Advisor at the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST). There, she worked to build CAWST's reputation and credibility as a global leader in capacity development and technical support for non-networked water and sanitation. During her time at CAWST, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern, Laura's research spanned a range of topics, including household water treatment and water-vending kiosks in Ghana, capacity development of sanitation practitioners, and the geochemistry of arsenic in the Atacama Desert. This work has taken her to Panama, Colombia, Chile, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal. Throughout her studies, Laura was engaged with student groups focused on engineering and environmental education and outreach, including leadership roles in the Society of Women Engineers and Engineers for a Sustainable World.

Mariela Machado is a Program Manager in the Engineering for Global Development Department at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Engineering for Change, LLC, where she manages a portfolio of programs and platforms that advance knowledge, workforce and Tech4Dev to improve the quality of life of underserved communities around the world. Mariela has a Telecommunication/Network Engineering degree from UCAB in Caracas, Venezuela, a Master’s degree in ICTs from Barcelona, Spain and a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) in Development Practice from Columbia University. She has worked both in private sector telecommunication companies and in nonprofit organizations devoted to technology for development and ICT4D. Mariela continues supporting research in projects devoted to connecting the unconnected in the developing world and teaches an ICT4D master class at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Benson holds a BSc in Horticulture from the University of Nairobi and is now finalizing his MSc in Horticulture from the same University, focusing on Postharvest management and technologies. Currently he’s doing research work with a team from the University of Nairobi on various post-harvest tools and technologies which can be employed to curb the high losses in the fruit sub-sector in the country. He’s also involved in development of aggregation centers for small-holder farmers, and equipping them with low cost cooling facilities for storage of their produce.

Theodore completed his undergraduate degree in Mechatronic Engineering. He has a passion for providing grassroots technological innovations geared towards community development. He currently works for a start-up, KOKO networks, which aims to provide an affordable smart commerce platform in African countries and he is also working with a team on a device that will help reduce the high number of maternal related deaths in sub Saharan Africa.

Pauline is from Kenya and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. She is an active member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) - Kenya Section and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Her current research is on Hybrid Small-Hydro and Solar PV for power generation in Rural Areas.

Specialist in agribusiness, project design, management, and evaluation with over 30 years of experience managing and implementing complex USAID and multilateral development bank projects in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Megan has an MS in Mechanical Engineering through the Peace Corps Masters International program at Oregon State University. The degree combines graduate research with a full service in the Peace Corps, which she completed in Tanzania. Her research, a synthesis of work performed in Tanzania and at Oregon State, is centered on school resource security and focuses on water, sanitation and energy.

As a Digital Engagement Manager in the AMSE P&P team, Amrita oversees the digital engagement strategy across all programs for ASME. She is responsible for developing, leading and implementing an integrated communication, marketing and brand strategy for ASME program’s team. She has an MBA in Sales and Marketing and an MS in Digital Marketing. Before joining ASME, she has worked in several companies across USA and India like Dell, Cisco, Dimension Data, Sprinklr etc.

Ignatius is a Renewable Energy Researcher at the Strathmore University Energy Research Center (SERC). He graduated as an Electrical and Electronic Engineer from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), in Kenya. He is an active member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). As a student, he took part in many energy audits for different companies, and this developed his passion for the energy sector. He has worked in projects such as the study of the Performance of Solar PV plants in Kenya, Testing the Performance of Solar Home Systems, Solar Thermal Desalination Plants, Smart Metering in Kenya and Small Hydro Plants in Kenya at SERC.

Natasha Wright is an incoming Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Minnesota. She received her PhD in the Global Engineering and Research Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research and teaching is focused at the intersection of the technical and socioeconomic sides of design, as relevant to designing solutions in developing and emerging markets. Natasha is passionate about helping students contextualize problems in the complex social, economic, and political landscape in which they exist, working together in multi-disciplinary teams, and utilizing design theory to develop potential solutions to those problems.

Natasha’s experience in India includes implementing the use of electrodialysis (ED) desalination as a means of treating salty groundwater in rural areas. Her research has shown how to reduce capital and lifetime cost of village-scale ED systems by up to 40%. She has since installed pilot systems currently operating in India, Gaza, and New Mexico. Natasha’s work in water-energy systems led her inclusion in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” in 2016. She has served as an instructor at Tufts University and first led Acara’s Design for Sustainable Development – India course in May 2019.

Harsh is from Vadodara, Gujarat, India. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 2013 and is currently working as a product design engineer at ITT Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. As an early career engineer he has worked with three industrial sectors: Energy, Agriculture and Industrial Process (Pump Industry). He was an E4C Fellow in Agriculture sector during 2018 cohort. In the past he has worked as a part of global volunteering team for one of the online UN Volunteer program (For NGO NKA FOUNDATION) for design and development of a low tech wind mill to mechanize a rural water well in Tanzania. He volunteers with ASME and is Members at Large for ECEPC DECCD (Digital Engagement in Content Creation and Delivery) team developing content for Early Career Engineers.