Organizational Leadership Capstone

J. Edward Colgate received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from M.I.T. in 1988 and subsequently joined Northwestern University, where he is currently the Allen and Johnnie Breed University Design Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His primary research interests include haptics and human-robot interaction, and he is known for co-inventing collaborative robots, or "cobots," alongside collaborator Michael Peshkin. Colgate has served as an associate editor for several prestigious journals, including the Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Haptics. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the National Academy of Inventors. In addition to his academic contributions, Dr. Colgate has founded three start-up companies and played a key role in establishing the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. He also directs the Master of Science in Engineering Design and Innovation program, which emphasizes human-centered design principles.

Florian Zettelmeyer is the Nancy L. Ertle Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he also founded and directs the Program on Data Analytics, a key initiative focused on big data. Before his current role, he was an Associate Professor of Marketing and chair of the marketing group at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. Zettelmeyer began his career in consulting at McKinsey & Company in Germany before pursuing his Ph.D. His research specializes in evaluating the impact of information technology and big data on firms, particularly in the auto industry, where he has studied customer information's effects on purchasing behavior and promotional effectiveness. He teaches the MBA elective "Customer Analytics" at Kellogg and has received numerous teaching awards, including being named "Outstanding Professor of the Year" by Kellogg MBA students. Zettelmeyer is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and holds degrees from the University of Karlsruhe (Germany), University of Warwick (UK), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Greg Holderfield is the Pentair-Nugent Clinical Associate Professor of Design at Northwestern University, where he serves as the Director of the Segal Design Institute and co-Director of the MMM program. The Segal Design Institute acts as a design innovation hub, catering to undergraduates, master's students, and Ph.D. candidates across the university. In his role, Holderfield is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of synthetic thinkers and leaders who can navigate various domains and industries, identify convergences, and create impactful solutions through human-centered design.

Pam Daniels is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Design Innovator in Residence at The Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. She is an accomplished product designer and an active contributor to the entrepreneurial and maker movements in Chicago. Her professional background includes significant roles as a Director at IDEO, a leading global design and innovation consultancy, and as a Senior Vice President at Starcom MediaVest Group / Leo Burnett in the media communications sector.

Sanjay Khosla serves as an Adjunct Professor of Executive Education at Northwestern University and holds positions as a Senior Fellow at Kellogg Markets and Customers Initiative (KMCI) and Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group. His illustrious corporate career includes transformative leadership as President of Developing Markets at Kraft Foods (now Mondelez International), where he led 65,000 employees across 60 countries and tripled business revenue from $5 billion to $16 billion in just five years. His remarkable achievements include scaling brands like Oreo and Tang to billion-dollar status and successfully integrating major acquisitions including Cadbury and Danone biscuits. Prior to Kraft, he revitalized Fonterra's $3 billion consumer business and spent 27 years at Unilever, where he notably launched the successful Wheel detergents brand in India and led the global "Paint the World Yellow with Lipton" initiative. Currently, he serves on the boards of several major corporations including Best Buy Inc, Zoetis Inc, and NIIT Ltd. Khosla, who frequently lectures at prestigious universities and global forums like Davos, co-authored "Fewer Bigger Bolder" with Professor Mohan Sawhney, introducing the Focus7 framework for sustainable profitable growth.