Karen Lightman

Executive Director, Metro21 Carnegie Mellon University

  • Pittsburgh PA

Karen is an internationally recognized leader in building and supporting communities based on emerging technologies.

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Carnegie Mellon University

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Biography

Karen is an internationally recognized leader in building and supporting communities based on emerging technologies. She is well-regarded in the MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) industry, having helped start and then lead MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), the largest industry consortium solely focused on MEMS and sensors. Under her leadership, MSIG covered every sector of the MEMS value chain and successfully orchestrated numerous annual international conferences, workshops and tradeshows. Karen led the successful acquisition of MSIG by SEMI, the world’s largest semiconductor association. Karen has expertise with commercializing academic research, building industry-based consortiums and strategically leading teams to explore market-based opportunities. Her diverse background spans the consumer, military, healthcare, manufacturing, and automotive sectors. Karen is ranked by EETimes as one of the top 25 “Women in Tech.” She is a passionate advocate and spokesperson for technology solutions to real-world problems and has held several board positions and is currently treasurer on the board of the MetroLab Network.

Karen has a BA from the University of Vermont (UVM) and a MS in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. She and her family reside in Pittsburgh, PA.

Areas of Expertise

Leadership
Semiconductors
Emerging Technologies
Smart Cities
Strategic Planning
Materials Science

Media Appearances

An unprecedented gathering of safety leaders reveal 7 core principles of safe organizations

Pittsburgh Business Times  online

2024-08-09

“Data can play a really important role, where using AI to move the data that without bias can shine a light where it’s been dark,” said Karen Lightman, interim executive director of Safety21, executive director of Metro21: Smart Cities Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. “That transparency is really critical because that will hold people accountable.”

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Pilot Transportation Program Improves Rural Access and Mobility

My Science  online

2024-06-11

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with our partners and using our research to address rural citizens’ mobility needs for enhanced quality of life, while taking into account energy efficiency and sustainability," said Karen Lightman , executive director of Safety21 , the U.S. DOT National University Transportation Center for Safety. "We’ve taken the lessons and learnings from the RAMP project to spin out a more ambitious multimodal project throughout Appalachia. With funding we received from the Appalachian Regional Commission, we will further define how to scale this across other rural communities struggling with similar mobility issues to Greene County."

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Mount Washington landslide mitigation begins as climate challenges increase

90.5 WESA  radio

2024-05-21

There could be more efficient and cheaper ways to catch a landslide before it takes down a hill, according to Karen Lightman, the executive director of Metro21 — a civic research institute at Carnegie Mellon University. One of Metro21’s projects used cameras on buses to track changes on roads. Lightman said equipping every public works truck or city bus on regular routes could be a first step in helping to monitor local slides. “It's capturing images and it's showing the change over time,” Lightman said.

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Media

Social

Industry Expertise

Transportation/Trucking/Railroad
Construction - Commercial
Health Care - Facilities
Military
Manufacturing
Automotive

Accomplishments

Top 25 “Women in Tech”

EETimes

SEMI/MSIG "Hall of Fame"

2020

Education

Carnegie Mellon University

M.S.

Public Policy and Management

1994

University of Vermont

B.A.

Economics and Political Science

1991

Languages

  • English
  • German
  • Spanish

Event Appearances

Smart Infrastructure: Building the Future

January 2023 | CES 2023  Las Vegas, NV

Articles

Next-Gen Sensors Make Golf Clubs, Tennis Rackets, and Baseball Bats Smarter Than Ever

IEEE Spectrum

2016

Sensor fusion and integrated MEMS are essential tools for today’s athletes - learn more about how MEMS and sensors are making sports and those who play it, a better, smarter game.

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Why U.S. Companies Will Win Wearables

IEEE Spectrum

2014

Wearables seem to be everywhere. Whether it’s the wearables of the near future, like smart glasses, the even nearer future—smartwatches—or the ones most widely available today—activity monitors—it’s clear that the next great wave of consumer electronics will be worn on the human body. Ubiquitous gadgets studding clothing, worn on the wrist, covering the eyes, tattooed on the skin, or placed in the ear is where we're heading—and we're moving there fast.

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