Karen Lightman

Executive Director, Metro21 | Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES

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

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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 (6)

Leadership

Semiconductors

Emerging Technologies

Smart Cities

Strategic Planning

Materials Science

Media Appearances (5)

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.”

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."

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.

‘RAMP’ing up transportation in Greene

Observer-Reporter online

2024-04-26

“It’s not just the cost of transportation, but reliable transportation is often a hindrance to people getting jobs, getting training, health care; it’s a hindrance to economic development in this county,” said Karen Lightman, executive director of Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. “What if a plant comes here or a manufacturer comes here but no one can get there?”

How Carnegie Mellon helped transform Pittsburgh into a smart city playground

Fast Company online

2019-12-13

“We show the realm of the possible,” says executive director Karen Lightman. When late local billionaire philanthropist Henry Hillman asked Metro21 to tackle the inefficiencies of timed traffic lights, for example, the institute developed interactive smart lights that react to traffic volume in real time. With funding from Hillman’s foundation, the city has installed 50 of these traffic lights since 2012, and plans to roll out an additional 120 next year. Next, researchers will teach the system to prioritize emergency vehicles and public transport. The collaboration goes both ways: Although the city pioneered the smart trash can initiative itself, Lightman plans to study the data to learn more about the city’s sanitation and recycling needs. “What’s exciting is that we keep iterating,” she says. “We’ve got all the right ingredients here in Pittsburgh.”

Media

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Industry Expertise (6)

Transportation/Trucking/Railroad

Construction - Commercial

Health Care - Facilities

Military

Manufacturing

Automotive

Accomplishments (2)

Top 25 “Women in Tech” (professional)

EETimes

SEMI/MSIG "Hall of Fame" (professional)

2020

Education (2)

Carnegie Mellon University: M.S., Public Policy and Management 1994

University of Vermont: B.A., Economics and Political Science 1991

Links (2)

Languages (3)

English
German
Spanish

Event Appearances (1)

Smart Infrastructure: Building the Future

January 2023 | CES 2023 Las Vegas, NV

Articles (2)

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.

Why U.S. Companies Will Win Wearables