MIT year: 1959 (Electrical Engineering)

Beginning in 1988 I oversaw the construction of 70+ miles of transmission pipeline and a 16.5 MGD water treatment plant. As construction came to completion in 1991 I hired a crew and since that time I have overseen the operation of same as well as upgrades to keep things up to date. We supply water to six municipalities and to eight rural water districts. I have followed in the news various water problems and suits for many years. I am originally from Riverton, Wyoming, which is surrounded by the Wind River Indian Reservation. The two tribes on the reservation instituted a lawsuit over water that took many years to settle.

I live in the area served by the Cody Canal Irrigation District and I have been involved in their meetings and adjudication of water rights. I have been involved in petitions to the Wyoming Board of Control concerning the transfer of water rights. Here in Wyoming we are at the headwaters of the rivers leaving the state.

This year I attended the Wyoming Water Law Institute.

Yolanda Fan

Occupation: Partner at a Real Estate Investment / Property Management Start-up

MIT year: 2002 Education: B.S. Chemical Engineering, B.S. Biology

After graduating from MIT, Yolanda worked at MIT's Technology Licensing Office before ultimately starting a real estate investment company in Baltimore, MD, with another MIT alum. She enjoys creative problem solving and is particularly interested in this year's topic.

This is Yolanda's third year as a 12.000 mentor -- some of her other MIT alumni activities include leadership in her class, the Club of Baltimore, and fund raising.

Since she lives in Towson, MD so most communication will have to be by email or phone.

Hal Gustin

Occupation: Engineer

MIT year: 1973

Education: Masters

This is my third year as an alumni mentor for 12.000. I’m really looking forward to this year in particular, with its focus on the Colorado River system, since that’s local to me.

I received my Bachelor’s and Masters in course 2, in 1975 and 1982, respectively. I’m an engineering consultant with specialization in the areas of fracture mechanics, stress analysis, and power plant systems (especially nuclear), with supporting interests in welding engineering, materials, and probably a bunch of other things. I work for Structural Integrity Associates (www.structint.com) in the Denver area.

I promptly respond to e-mails, often even at 3 am.

MIT year: 1959

Education: Doctorate

35 yrs product development at Polaroid: Mechanical Eng, Physics, Chem. Eng, Materials, 13 patents. Previously NASA and US Army.

Travels: Oaxaca, Baltic capitals, Turkey, Costa Rica, W Europe, B Virgin Islands, Bogota. Visited Nawlinz. Hobbies: ballroom dancing, Arg. tango, biking, choir singing, cooking.

Keith MacKay

Much of my professional life has involved exploration of systems problems of one sort or another. I worked in a restaurant in high school, and was always fascinated by how it was necessary for all of the individual components to be functioning for things to run smoothly. During my time off from MIT, I spent time at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in the Earth Sciences department, developing expert systems software to analyze seismic events to help decide if events were earthquakes or underground nuclear tests. I have modeled industries (offshore oil-drilling industry, aluminum smelters) and various financial systems (options models, investment simulations, etc.) for customers including Harvard Business School, Mercer Management Consulting, and many others. My current role as Managing Director of Village Software requires keeping a lot of balls in the air, and organizational systems thinking is a key skill to make this (almost) manageable <g>. I spent last year serving as President of the MIT Club of Boston, which required learning an entirely different set of technical, political, and management skills--and integrating information received from many quarters to develop plans that would best serve the 17,000+ MIT alumni in the Greater Boston area.

These experiences have all contributed to my diverse worldview, which I have found is often as important to problem-solving as specific domain knowledge. I believe that this is especially true when approaching complicated problems that are as-yet unsolved (after all, if domain knowledge alone was enough, current subject-matter experts would have the problem--whatever it is--licked). Instead, complex problems require creative thinking, productive collaboration with many parties (to increase the knowledgebase and idea pool as large as possible), a realistic understanding of the political realities of the situation, and flexibility enough to adapt the solution as new information is received.

I'm looking forward to working with all of you as we explore this important problem.

Education: Doctorate

Dr. Phillips holds a B.Sc. degree from MIT in Computer Science as well as two M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stanford University in the areas of computer systems, artificial intelligence and management. A successful entrepreneur for over 20 years in Silicon Valley, the East Coast and overseas, he has had a lifelong interest since his MIT years in complex social and physical systems, appropriate technology, politics and policy making, the environment and social development. Dr. Phillips has held Cabinet level government positions in Colombia and diplomatic positions in Europe, as well as academic appointments in the US, South America and Europe. He is a founding member of the Children's Museum in Bogot·, Colombia and of the International Center of Physics in Colombia, and member of the Eta Kappa Nu and Sigma Xi national honorary societies to which he was inducted as an undergraduate at MIT. He is a patented inventor with registered software patents in the US, Japan and Europe, and lives in the Research Triangle area in North Carolina, where he is currently involved in high tech startups, management consulting, academia and other entrepreneurial efforts.

Class of 2004, SB, Course 15

Johnny was one of the first guinea pigs to participate in 12.000: Solving Complex Problems. As a student in Mission 2004 (Mars), he was a member of the "Mission Control" team, and later took part in writing and editing the mission's final paper. Because he loved 12.000 so much, he joined the staff for the class, serving as a Undergraduate Teaching Fellow (UTF) for Mission 2005 (Ocean) and Mission 2006 (Amazon). Due to class conflicts, Johnny was not able to return as a UTF for Mission 2007 (Alaska); however, the powers that be snuck him in as an alumni mentor.
After graduating with a Course 15 degree in 2004, Johnny has returned to be a mentor for Mission 2009 (Tsunami), Mission 2010 (Ocean), and now returns again as an alumni mentor for Mission 2011 (Oceans). He currently works for an early-stage software company in Waltham, MA.

Personally, Johnny enjoys traveling (to the extent his pocketbook allows), reading (anything and everything under the sun), and "wining and dining." He looks forward to working with his team and the entire class as a whole.