MIT year: 1959 (Electrical Engineering)

Because of a lifelong interest in weather I have followed both sides of the climate debate throughout the years.

Growing up and living in agricultural areas that are dependent on irrigation, living in Wyoming where dry land farming is done in the southern part of the state, and having relatives who live in farming areas dependent on precipitation has kept me informed in all of those operations.

I have attended NOAA Severe Weather Reporting training classes and am a certified severe weather reporter.

Yolanda Lau

Occupation: Entrepreneur
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, a consultancy firm, and a few other ventures in Baltimore, MD. She's since sold those companies back to her partners and is working on several new ventures. She also provides consulting services to startups and small businesses. 
 
Yolanda enjoys creative problem solving and has served as a 12.000 mentor since 2006 (Mission 2010) -- some of her other MIT alumni activities include leadership in her class and fund raising for the Institute.

Since she lives in Honolulu, most communication will have to be via email, phone, Skype, or Google+ Hangouts.

sheldonbuck@me.com
Occupation: aeronautical engineer
MIT year: 1958
Education: Bachelors

I was a course 12.000 Alumni Mentor for every Mission Class except 2001.  I am an Aero/Astro graduate, class of 1959.  Worked at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory 1957 to 1973, followed by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory 1973 to 2000 when I retired.  I was assigned to the Earth and Planetary Science Department, now called EAPS, for 5 years (1968 to 1973) working with Prof. Frank Press and Prof. Nafi Toksoz.  I was Technical Director for the Lunar Traverse Gravimeter Experiment, which flew on Apollo 17 and was a member of the lunar surface EVA team at  Mission Control during the flight.

Designed stable platforms for inertial guidance systems.

Designed seismic monitoring systems for earthquakes and underground explosions.

Designed gravimeters for lunar exploration.

Designed special purpose instrumentation for submarines and oceanography.

Recent retirement activities besides being an alumni mentor for this course for 15 years include attendance at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture  held in Oskosh, WI for the last 10 years.  A Smithsonian sponsored trip Inside the Russian Space Program to Star City outside Moscow and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to witness the final preparation and launch of  Soyuz TMA-13M and rondevous and docking with the International Space Station in May 2014.

This years activities include an eastern European trip from Prague in the Check Republic to Berlin, Germany as well as AirVenture 2015.

Hal Gustin

Occupation: Engineer

MIT year: 1973

This will be my eighth year as an alumni mentor to the 12.000 class. The first seven have been energetic, stimulating, and a lot of fun.

I love the premise of the class.

1. Identify a problem that is huge, difficult (almost intractable), with major implications for the world.
   
2. Assign it to a group of people with immense ability but no or very little exposure to the conventional ways of looking at the problem.
   
3. See what they come up with.

Bob has been a Mentor for 12.000 for the past fourteen years. He also works with and provides support for the other mentors. Bob is President of the MIT Club of Southwest Florida. Additionally he is on the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Collier County (Florida) and is Treasurer of the Everglades Astronomical Society. His hobbies include astronomy and sailing.

He is a Chemical Engineer by education (S.B., S.M., Ph.D., MIT). Bob briefly taught at MIT prior to going into the Aerospace Industry. He then spent a year in the President’s Executive Interchange Program in Washington working at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Upon returning to Rockwell International, he subsequently held various positions leading to becoming President of their Passenger Car Components Business. Upon leaving Rockwell, he became President of Bethlehem Steel’s Structural Components Business. His subsequent positions included President of Webcraft Technologies, Chairman and CEO of Northwestern Steel and Wire, and Chairman of Envirosource.

Education: Doctorate

Dr. Phillips holds B.Sc. degrees from MIT in Computer Science and two M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in the areas of computer systems, artificial intelligence and management. He has been a mentor for 12.000 for the past nine years. A successful entrepreneur for over 25 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. Jorge has been involved with MIT in many ways over the years: he is a member of the MIT Education Council, past member of MITAA’s Advisory Committee on globalizing MIT, and a founder, past President and past Vice-President of International Relations of LAMIT, MIT’s Iberoamerican affinity group. He has also held Cabinet-level government positions in Colombia and diplomatic positions in Europe, as well as academic appointments in universities in the US, South America and Europe. He is a founding member of the Children's Museum in Bogotá, 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. Dr. Phillips 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 financial technologies, high tech startups, management consulting, academia and other entrepreneurial efforts.

Erika was a student in Mission 2008 (Galapagos), and then acted as a UTF for the spring and fall courses the next three years. After finishing undergrad and an M.Eng in bioengineering at MIT, Erika moved to California, where she is now finishing up a PhD in plant biology at UC Berkeley. Erika's research focuses on characterizing and engineering the regulation of photosynthesis in various plant and algal species for increased efficiency of energy conversion.  She is really excited to be involved with Mission again as an alumni mentor.

Johnny Yang
jtyang@alum.mit.edu

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 several Missions before becoming an alumni mentor beginning with Mission 2007.

Though he grew up in the South, Johnny has resided in New England for the last 10 years. Still in the process of figuring out what he wants to be when he "grows up," he has worked in a variety of industries, ranging from aerospace and biomedical to finance and distribution. He currently works for an early-stage software company in Waltham, MA.

Though not an engineer by training, Johnny's a self-proclaimed "engineer at heart," with research interests in supply chain, finance, and project management. He has also been known to be a stickler for correct grammar and to be a crusader against incomprehensible PowerPoint slides.

Johnny's current interests include traveling, penguins, microfinance, sweater vests, and hoppy beers. He currently lives in Cambridge, MA and will do his best to make it to campus to meet the class.

pjacobson@alum.mit.edu

This is Paul's seventh year as a Mentor for the 12.000 program.

Paul graduated from MIT in 1960 (Course III, Metallurgy) and received a Master's degree in Metallurgy from the University of Sheffield in England ('62).

After two years at the Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) working on materials for heat shield components critical to re-entry of spacecraft, Paul joined the General Electric Company. At GE, he worked on development of both hard and soft magnetic materials for use in electrical metering devices. Dating back to the 1970's he worked on materials for use in time-of-day metering – now referred to as Smart Grid technology. During his last decade at GE he developed and managed programs on Quality Assurance with emphasis on statistical methods.

Following his retirement from GE, Paul engaged on a “second career” teaching at community colleges in New Hampshire and Maine, and currently at Cape Cod Community College. He teaches micro- and macroeconomics, and statistics. In addition, he helps students in mathematics and science at the college tutoring center.

Paul is looking forward to working as a mentor in this challenging and critical program, and in returning to Tech to join in on stimulating analyses and discussions.

Lealia Xiong

Lealia.xiong@gmail.com

Occupation: Materials Engineer
MIT year: 2015
Education: S.B., Physics

I participated in 12.000, 1.016, and Terrascope Radio my freshman year, and was a UTF for 12.000 my sophomore, junior, and senior years, gaining a greater understanding of biodiversity loss, rare earth elements, water security, energy, frustration, argument de-escalation, and the awesome Terrascope community.

Although I graduated with my degree in physics and currently work as a materials engineer, most of my background is in biology. I was previously pre-med and now plan to apply for PhD programs in biomedical engineering.

I'm happy to talk about GMOs and other biology/bioengineering topics in relation to food security! I currently live and work in Cambridge so I look forward to stopping by the class occasionally.

Elise Hens
elisetch@alum.mit.edu
 
Occupation: Environmental Engineer at ENVIRON
MIT Year: 2012
Education: B.S. Environmental Engineering '12


As a freshman, I was involved with Mission 2012: Clean Water, had an absolute blast, then proceeded to take both spring classes! I was a UTF the next two years and loved editing the website :-) I'm living and working about an hour away from MIT with a company called Environ. I'm very passionate about Environmental Policy and love to study the politics surrounding environmental issues. I really enjoyed my time with my Terrascope family and I encourage anyone to reach out to me with questions about anything!

Emily Moberg
emoberg@mit.edu OR emoberg@whoi.edu



I was involved in Mission as a freshman in 2007 and then as a UTF the following three years; I was an alumni mentor the last three years and am excited to join the team again this year! I am currently studying Biological Oceanography at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, particularly looking at the bioeconomic effects of climate change on fisheries. I am also interested in environmental decision analysis and remote sensing, particularly image analysis. Feel free to contact me at any time!

Bashar M. Zeitoon
bashar@alum.mit.edu

Education: Chemical Engineering (MIT: SB ’87; M.S. CEP ‘89); Public Policy (Harvard University - Kennedy School of Government: MPA '2006)

After graduating from MIT, I have worked in technology, R&D, and management consulting, to solve chemicals industry problems. After 10 years, I re-directed my professional focus to environmental sustainability and related public policy. I worked on addressing air pollution problems guided by science, law, and economics, and in partnership with public and corporate sector actors.

In the past 5 years, I have directed policy, research, and advocacy programs at an environmental think tank, with an exclusive focus on the Middle east, focusing on water resources, climate change, ecological footprint, and agriculture.

As a 12.000 mentor, I hope to assist Mission students bring social science insights to bear on the problem at hand.