Jacobs: If/When

Michelle Finneran Dennedy currently serves as Board member and advisor to data centric and privacy enhancing technology organizations. She was most recently Chief Executive Officer at Drumwave and remains active on the advisory board. Before working at Drumwave, Michelle was a VP and Chief Privacy Officer at Cisco. She was responsible for the development and implementation of the organization's data privacy policies and practices, working across business groups to drive data privacy excellence across the security continuum. Michelle has also served as Chief Privacy Officer for McAfee/ Intel and Vice President for Security & Privacy Solutions for the Oracle Corporation. Before the Oracle acquisition of Sun, Michelle was Chief Data Governance Officer within the Cloud Computing division at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Michelle also served as Sun’s first Chief Privacy Officer.Darrell Collett has over 20 years of legal experience, including 10 years in private practice as a commercial litigator and 13 years as in-house counsel with Jacobs.  While at Jacobs, Darrell has provided operations counsel support for the water and O&M businesses, and worked as compliance counsel in the Ethics & Compliance department.  Currently, Darrell provides general corporate legal services related to intellectual property, cybersecurity and data privacy in his role as Jacobs’ Global Privacy Officer.

Join Kari Aina Eik, Secretary General of the OiER, and Kate Kenny, Vice President at Jacobs, as they delve into the future of sustainable urban development. They discuss the critical need for smart cities and diverse, inclusive urban designs, especially post-pandemic. The duo highlights successful examples from cities like London and Singapore, showcasing the importance of collaborative strategies in governance and resource management. Tune in for insights on addressing urban challenges and creating resilient communities for everyone!

In this episode of If/When we spoke with Sean Sommer, Jacobs Vice President, Advanced Facilities; Dennis Miller, Jacobs Division Vice President - Advanced Connected Enterprise Solutions; and Micah Krider, ion Project Manager to better understand how the Jacobs ion platform is being leveraged to promote greater worksite safety. 

In her most recent position, Mrinalini "Lani" Ingram served as the president and CEO of Verizon’s Smart Communities program, leading the company’s initiative on digital transformation of cities, universities, utilities, and sports and entertainment organizations. Lani has been a leader in developing the Smart Communities and IoT industry for over a decade, beginning with leading Cisco's Smart + Connected Communities Strategy and Business Development team. Prior to her focus on Smart Communities, Lani spent over 21 years in finance, the last four years as the CFO for Cisco's Globalization Center in India, where she was part of the initial pioneer team that created Cisco's second headquarters and launched the company’s global IoT and Smart Communities initiatives. Lani served as president of the board of directors for Silicon Valley Talent Partnership, and on the board of directors for DialSource. She earned her CPA while working for PriceWaterhouse Coopers and holds a B.A. from Gonzaga University and an executive MBA from Harvard Business School.Dr. Rick Robinson is Director of Smart Places, Digital Infrastructure and Telecommunications for Jacobs. He advises cities, infrastructure operators, property developers and investors on the use of technology to improve buildings, infrastructure, places, communities and business and organisational performance. Previously, he has led Smart Cities businesses for Arup and IBM, and was Director of Technology for Amey, where he was responsible for driving advances in digital technology into public services and infrastructure that are used by about 1 in 4 people in the UK every day. Rick collaborates with a network of technology entrepreneurs, Universities and social institutions to explore innovations in digital technology, and has advised the UK Government and United Nations on their impact on the built environment, economy, communities and society. Rick is a member of the UK5G Steering Group, a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the RSA and a member of the Academy of Urbanism. He founded and co-chairs the Birmingham Smart City Alliance.

Dr. Shermin Voshmgir is the founder of BlockchainHub in Berlin and the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics. Author of the book “Token Economy: How the Web3 reinvents the internet”, Shermin has worked with several Web3 related projects during her career – she was a curator of TheDAO (Decentralized Investment Fund), and she was an advisor to several groups such as Jolocom (a Web3 based Identity Solution), Wunder (specializing in Tokenized Art Solutions) and the Estonian E-residency program. Her educational background is Business Administration with a focus on Information Systems Management from the Vienna University of Economics. Thomas Wendling is a systems engineer at Jacobs. An experienced engineer and actuary, he is responsible for technical and commercial aspects of water, wastewater, power, transportation, military utilities privatization, design, build, operate, and maintenance services in a variety of delivery methods and program management context. He also leads Jacobs' community of practice of 120 members dedicated to distributed ledger technology in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. In 2016, he became an advisor to the Integrated Engineering Blockchain Consortium, a think tank composed of leaders from major organizations that provides thought leadership, best practices, and networking opportunities to professionals working in engineering and manufacturing. Prior to that, he was Chief Innovation Officer of a start-up called CoEngineers, a blockchain talent networking platform.

Dr. David Hanson is the CEO, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Hanson Robotics. David develops robots that are widely regarded as the world’s most human-like in appearance, in a lifelong quest to create true living, caring machines. He worked as a Walt Disney Imagineer, both a sculptor and a technical consultant in robotics, and later founded Hanson Robotics. As a researcher, David published dozens of papers in materials science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics journals, and wrote two books including “Humanizing Robots”. David has been featured in the New York Times, Popular Science, Scientific American, WIRED, BBC and CNN. He has received awards from NASA, Tech Titans’ Innovator of the Year, and the Rhode Island School of Design. David holds a Ph.D. in Interactive Arts and Technology from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a BFA in film Animation video from the Rhode Island School of Design. Drew Watson is the Software Lead and Deputy Project Manager for the Valkyrie humanoid at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Drew’s work history includes roles at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the U.S. Intelligence Community. Drew has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Autonomous Systems from the Naval Postgraduate School.      

Georgette D. Kiser is an operating executive for The Carlyle Group, where she helps lead due diligence and technical strategies across various Carlyle portfolio companies. Previously, she was managing director and chief information officer (CIO), responsible for leading the firm’s global technology and solutions organization and developing and driving IT strategies to include application development, data, digital, infrastructure, cyber security, program management and outsourcing. She previously held positions of increasing responsibility at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. where she headed Enterprise Solutions and Capabilities within the Services and Technology Organization. She led and managed teams that provided creative solutions and leveraged technology for investment front office, trading, and back office operations. Prior to T. Rowe Price, Ms. Kiser worked for General Electric within their Aerospace Unit.Ms. Kiser earned a B.S. in Mathematics, with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, a M.S. in Mathematics from Villanova University, and an M.B.A from the University of Baltimore. Ms. Kiser serves on the Board of Directors of Aflac, Jacobs, NCR, and Adtalem Global Education, as well as the Carlyle portfolio company, Claritas.Heather Wishart-Smith is the Senior Vice President, Technology & Innovation for Jacobs. A registered Professional Engineer and certified Project Management Professional, Ms. Wishart-Smith is a Fellow of Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and its National President for the 2020-2021 centennial year. Prior to her current position at Jacobs, Heather led Innovation and Jacobs Connected Enterprise (JCE) for Buildings, Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities, and before that she led the Buildings & Infrastructure Mid-Atlantic region, with oversight including design, consulting, and program management/construction management projects in the rail, highway, transit, Federal, corporate/commercial, science & technology, and related markets. A former Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer, she served at the Presidential Retreat, Camp David, under two different presidential administrations, among other duty stations. She has published and presented articles on several leadership, architectural, engineering, and construction topics in the military and transportation sectors. Ms. Wishart-Smith holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia. 

Dr. Michael Goodchild’s career includes posts such as Distinguished Chair Professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Research Professor at Arizona State University; being an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and Foreign Member of the Royal Society of Canada, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and being named a Foreign Member of the Royal Society and Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He holds five honorary doctorates, has served as the editor of various journals and periodicals such as Geographical Analysis, and is the author of 15 books.Clare Bullock is Jacobs’ Director of GeoSpatial and Visualisation in Europe, and is on the Leadership Team for Digital Solutions in Jacobs Europe. Clare has over 22 years’ experience in GeoSpatial Technologies, GIS, and information management both in the UK and Australia, and is a Chartered Geographer (GGeog GIS). She has delivered projects across a wide range of technical fields that include spatial data management, spatial analysis, data specifications, data remediation and mapping.

Michael Morgan is recognized as one of America’s leading lawyers in cybersecurity. He has guided clients through some of the largest and most complex data breaches involving more than 50 million records and incidents affecting persons in over 100 countries around the world. He counsels clients on compliance with US and international regulations relating to cybersecurity and data privacy, including compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and China’s Network Security Law.Susan Howard's remit in her role at Jacobs includes cybersecurity consulting for transportation, utilities, and the US Department of Defense with a focus on governance, risk, and compliance, risk assessments, vulnerability assessments and design oversight. Susan has a multidisciplinary skillset in cybersecurity compliance, secure network design, software engineering, industrial control systems, technology management, product development, and telecommunications, with global experience in China, Taiwan, Europe, Israel, India, and South America.

Matt Walton’s career has spanned over 28+ years of entrepreneurial and enterprise C-Suite experience, most recently as Oracle’s Chief Design Officer of Adaptive and Artificial Intelligence, focused within ERP/Supply Chain automation. Now the chief executive officer of Yorcue, Matt holds multiple patents in Big Data/Analytics and Location-based Supply Chain Logistics. Matt has deep expertise in Supply Chain and Logistics, Fleet and Field Service Management, artificial intelligence and machine learning, product realization, and IP generation. Across his career, he has invented, designed, scaled and managed over 300 individual web, mobile and cloud systems for companies such as AT&T labs, DARPA, McKesson, IBM, John Deere and GE Fleet. Matt’s career has encompassed being an award-winning illustrator, Walt Disney character animator, toy designer, game designer, application designer, product management leader, business strategist and futurist.Natasha Luthra is the Director of Emerging Technologies at Jacobs. Currently, she runs an Emerging Ideas Innovation program which is focused on incubating transformational ideas, technologies, and tools in parallel to cultivating and validating emerging ideas based on client needs as well as the Jacobs strategic mission, to advance the practice through innovative processes. She has spoken about technology, innovation and architecture at conferences like the Leadership Forum at Autodesk University, BILT NA, BILT Asia, BIMForum and the AIA National Convention. Natasha has been featured in and written articles for the Architect Magazine, YAF Connection and AUGI World. She was also the 2018 Chair for Technology in Architectural Practice, the AIA knowledge community focused on the intersection of technology and architecture. In this capacity, she hosted the 2018 Building Connections Congress in Washington DC, a conference that looked at the themes of the future of design in the age of AI and machine learning.