Dr. Katerina Bagiati was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece. After graduating with a Diploma in Electrical and Computers Engineering and a Masters degree in Advanced Digital Communication Systems from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, she first worked as a software engineer, and later on as a CS and Technology Teacher in middle and high-school classes, while in parallel participated numerous K-12 STEM summer camps. In 2008 Katerina Bagiati was one of the first graduate students to join the pioneer School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. In 2011 she acquired her Doctorate in Engineering Education, followed by a post-doctoral associate appointment within the MIT-SUTD Collaboration at MIT. Katerina Bagiati is currently a research scientist at the MIT Office of Open Learning. She is actively involved in the development and the assessment related to MIT’s national and international educational projects and collaborations, and conducts research at the PreK-12 and higher education levels, in the efficacy of innovative learning mechanisms and pedagogical approaches used in initiatives mentioned above. Her research interests are in the areas of Early Engineering, Educational Technologies, STEM Curriculum Development and Teacher Training, and Design-Based Learning.

Erdin Beshimov is a Lecturer at MIT and a Founder and Senior Director of MIT Bootcamps. At MIT Erdin was also the founding Director of the MITx MicroMasters Program and the Incubation Group in the Office of Digital Learning. He co-created MIT’s first massive open online courses on entrepreneurship. Erdin’s focus at MIT is on building new pathways for learners worldwide to study innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. Erdin is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management. For his work in entrepreneurship and contributions to student life at MIT, Erdin was awarded the Patrick J. McGovern Entrepreneurship Award, the Carol and Howard Anderson Fellowship, and the MIT Sloan Peer Recognition Award. Before returning to MIT after graduating, Erdin served as Principal at Flagship Pioneering where he focused on ventures in water, energy, and materials. Erdin also co-founded Ubiquitous Energy, a solar technologies spinout from MIT, and evaluated energy efficiency innovations at Venrock Associates. In addition to an MBA from MIT Sloan, Erdin holds an MA in Area Studies of the former Soviet Union from Harvard University, and a BA (first-class honors) in Development and Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, where he was awarded the International Student Scholarship and the James O’Connell Scholarship for Peace Studies.

Dr. Cynthia Breazeal is a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT, where she founded and directs the Personal Robots group at the Media Lab. She is Associate Director of the Media Lab. and leads strategic initiatives. She is also Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning and Director of the MIT-wide Initiative on Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (raise.mit.edu). She co-founded the consumer social robotics company, Jibo, Inc., where she served as Chief Scientist and Chief Experience Officer.

Breazeal is a pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction. Her work balances technical innovation in AI, UX design, and understanding the psychology of engagement to design personified AI technologies that promote human flourishing and personal growth. Her recent work focuses on the theme of "living with AI" and understanding the long-term impact of social robots that can build relationships and provide personalized support as helpful companions in daily life. Her research group actively investigates social robots applied to education, pediatrics, health and wellness, and aging.

Her seminal book, Designing Sociable Robots, is recognized as a landmark in launching the field of Social Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction. Breazeal did her graduate work at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, received her doctorate in 2000 in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

TC Haldi oversees MIT xPRO for the corporate and professional market. She and her team partner with faculty and groups across campus to design and deliver online programs that transform individuals’ skills and drive meaningful business results.

Before working at Open Learning, TC was the Director of Content, Learning Design, and User Experience in the Corporate Learning unit at Harvard Business Publishing. She holds a BA from Harvard College.

TC is a product strategist and content leader in online education and digital media with extensive experience understanding market needs, envisioning new offerings, and overseeing all aspects of product development. Broad background in B2B, B2C, and emerging markets. She is focused on strong cross-functional collaboration with a passion about leading people, growing direct reports, and creating innovative products in the online education space.

Kathleen is currently the Executive Director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, a multidisciplinary research center. She is also the senior director of MIT Horizon, a digital learning platform helping global organizations to train at scale. In addition, she is a venture partner at Good Growth Capital.

She has held several leadership positions at MIT, including President and Chief Strategy Officer of Technology Review, MIT’s global media company; President of the MIT Enterprise Forum; and Director of Special Projects of MIT, where she worked as a lead organizer of The Engine, a venture fund and accelerator program for tough tech startups.

Kathleen is a cofounder and board member of Manifest Boston (formally HubWeek), a first-of-its-kind civic collaboration that brings together the most creative and inventive minds making an impact in art, science and technology. She has served on numerous selection committees including the Eisenhower Fellowships, the Lemelson-MIT prize and the MacArthur Foundation 100&Change competition. She is a mentor for MIT DesignX. She was awarded the Folio: 40, which recognizes the most innovative and influential people in the media industry, and named by the Women of the Harvard Club as one of Boston’s Most Influential Women.

Vijay Kumar is the Senior Advisor to Vice President for Open Learning. He provides leadership for sustainable, technology-enabled educational innovation at MIT. He is a member of the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) advisory committee, an executive officer for MIT's Council on Educational Technology, and a member of the steering committee for I-Campus, the MIT-Microsoft alliance.

In prior roles at MIT and other institutions, Vijay has been responsible for strategy development and the integration of information technology and media services into education. His research and advising work has included engagements with the Smithsonian, the India National Knowledge Commission, UNESCO, Open University of Catalonia, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Qatar Foundation International, and the Massachusetts STEM Council's Network Operations Board.

Vijay has authored numerous articles in the area of educational innovations and technology strategy, and is a co-editor of a Carnegie Foundation book "Opening Up Education" (MIT Press, August 2008). In 2013, he was awarded an honorary professorship by Tianjin Open University. He was also named the Exxon Mobil Chair for Technology Enabled Learning at the University of Qatar, 2014. Vijay earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, and an EdD from the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Andrés F. Salazar-Gómez is a research scientist at MIT working on neuroscience and education. At MIT, Andrés was also a postdoctoral associate at the Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) leading a project on data science education, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Distributed Robotics Lab at CSAIL where he explored the use of brain activity for volitional control of robots during human-robot collaborative tasks. He was a visiting student at the Miller Lab at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, where he studied non-human primate electrophysiology and decoder error detection during brain-machine interface (BMI) control. The focus of Andrés’ work and research is developing BMI for augmentative and alternative communication and human-robot interaction, developing and employing new education models to make higher education more relevant and accessible, and bridge the work done in education in Latin America with that of MIT. Andrés received his B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from EIA University, in Colombia, and earned his Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience from Boston University, where he was an NSF Graduate Research fellow for CELESTE, an NSF Science of Learning Center.

Dr. Sanjay Sarma is the Fred Fort Flowers (1941) and Daniel Fort Flowers (1941) Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He co-founded the Auto-ID Center at MIT and developed many of the key technologies behind the EPC suite of RFID standards now used worldwide. He was also the the founder and CTO of OATSystems, which was acquired by Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP) in 2008. He serves on the boards of GS1US and Hochschild Mining and several startup companies including Top Flight Technologies.

Dr. Sarma received his Bachelors from the Indian Institute of Technology, his Masters from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Sarma also worked at Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Aberdeen, UK, and at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in Berkeley, California. He has authored over 100 academic papers in computational geometry, sensing, RFID, automation and CAD, and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research including the MacVicar Fellowship, the Business Week eBiz Award and Informationweek's Innovators and Influencers Award. He advises several national governments and global companies.

Dr. Anjali Sastry is the Faculty Director and Associate Dean for Open Learning. She is also a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, Faculty Advisor to the MIT Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development, and Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her management science PhD in system dynamics and physics and Russian bachelor’s degrees are from MIT. Since founding MIT’s GlobalHealth Lab, she has developed 100 on-the-ground projects with front-line enterprises to improve healthcare scope, efficiency, and quality in frontier markets. Drawing on her grounding in system dynamics, her current work investigates how business models and organizational design enable the delivery of needed services and goods amid constraints.

Anjali serves on the Board of Directors of global nongovernmental organization Management Sciences for Health and educational non-profit ResearchILD. A former advisor in residence to Tata Trusts on innovation and systems thinking, she is founding advisor to a new company, shift7. Anjali shares her work widely. Her book Parenting Your Child with Autism: Practical Solutions, Strategies, and Advice (New Harbinger) pairs personal experience with research. Fail Better: Design Smart Mistakes and Succeed Sooner (HBS Press), is a guide to orchestrating learning in the workplace.

Dr. George Westerman is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Principal Research Scientist, J-WEL Workforce Learning. George works at the dynamic intersection of executive leadership and technology strategy. During more than 17 years with MIT Sloan School of Management, he has written three award-winning books, including Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation. As a pioneering researcher on digital transformation, George has published papers in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and other top journals. He is now focused on helping employers, educators, and other groups to rethink the process of workforce learning around the world.

George is co-chair of the MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Awards, a member of the Digital Strategy Roundtable for the US Library of Congress, and faculty director for two executive courses at MIT Sloan. He works frequently with senior management teams and industry groups around the world. Prior to earning a Doctorate from Harvard Business School, he gained more than 13 years of experience in product development and technology leadership roles.