Projects and Events

On March 10, 2023, we celebrated our new partnership by hosting the Lilly Leadership Institute Celebration. The event featured speakers from Lilly leadership followed by a gathering of students, Leadership Institute alums, Lilly folks, Miami faculty and staff, and many friends.

Above: speakers Charlie Haddad (top left) and Shelley Ford (top right). Below: four Leadership Institute alums who work at Lilly (from left to right) Nora Winnestaffer, Korey Smith, Michael Siegert, and Trevis Graham.

Lilly Speaker, Charlie Haddad, poses with Leadership Institute students.

After the world went virtual, organizations across the globe quickly adapted to a new work environment in which there was little to no in-person communication.

On March 11, 2022, Cohort 10 hosted a conference, Reimagine Collaboration, which focused on this new way of life. Industry experts and a panel of Leadership Institute alums helped us explore this reality

Keynote speakers: Bryce Williams, Lilly Sr. Director, Business Capabilities - Workforce Collaboration Services (top left) and Amy Leschke-Kahle, VP Performance Acceleration at The Marcus Buckingham Company (top right); a panel of Leadership Institute alums (mid right);

Below: attendees talk at the breakfast reception.

Cohort 9 took a deep dive into how to prepare for what the next 20 years will bring as they unveiled their project for 2021: Envision 2040 which explores the intersections of technology, social rights, and how we interact with others. They created a website, Envision2040.com, to share their learnings and to encourage others to think forward. Their introductory video received an impressive 1000+ views in the first few weeks!

When Cohort 8 students selected the topic of Embracing Change in the fall of 2019 as the theme for an April 2020 summit, no one realized that in a few short months the world would be hurled into urgent and unprecedented change because of COVID-19.

Just six weeks into the spring 2020 semester, the COVID-19 pandemic moved to the top of the list of society's most complex problems. The campus became a ghost town. The traditional classroom was empty and the new classroom was a kitchen table, dorm room, or bedroom. Face-to-face meetings and instruction was replaced by virtual online courses.

In-person events disappeared from our calendars - including a planned in-person Embracing Change Summit. With our original plan no longer feasible, we quickly "embraced change" and transitioned the summit to a virtual offering. It was a tremendous success with relevant content, excellent keynote address by Julie Elberfeld, and over 140 virtual attendees!

Top: Julie Elberfeld, the keynote speaker. Bottom left: screenshot from a Zoom showing some of the 140 attendees. Bottom right: the invitation to the Summit.

Cohort 7 students addressed a vital question  – What can be done to prepare the next generation of engineers and leaders for their careers in the digital world?  Technological change takes place around the world at an unprecedented pace. Driven by machine learning, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, cloud computing and other digital innovations, digital transformation has become the number one challenge for organizations who want to remain successful in this new world.

The students completed a literature review and learned from people in the “real world.” By interviewing business executives, students and alumni, they identified gaps between mindsets needed for the digital era and what is currently stressed in undergraduate education.

The learnings of the students were documented through the virtual speaker series, including videos and podcasts, as well as written materials and reports.

The final products were shared through social media to reach a wider audience.

Above: three Leadership Institute students are captured during their project videos.

The coaching mindset is predicated on the idea of being able to effectively analyze another individual’s situation and then utilize emotional intelligence to help that other person develop a plan of action or solution to address the issue or problem for which they have sought out assistance. Effective coaches must possess awareness of themselves and the world around them and be able to ask thought-provoking questions that allow them to focus in on the root of a given issue. They must then be able to think critically and make use of interpersonal skills to develop a meaningful connection with the other person so that they may guide that person to create their own personalized and self-directed strategy.

Cohort 6 students created and executed a project plan which included:

• Interviewing experienced executive coaches to learn about the skills of coaching and how organizations use coaching to help leaders contribute to their effectiveness in their careers.
• Seeking input from Leadership Institute graduates who are now “in the real world” regarding experience with coaching in their organizations.
• Researching coaching through books, articles, videos, and outside sources.

The Coaching Mindset Summit project exposed college-age students to the world of coaching and allowed them to begin to develop the skills necessary to be an effective coach - something that is not seen in academia. 

Upon conclusion of the project, students were more prepared to be effective leaders in the world beyond their academic careers.

Top left: Cohort 6 students prepping for Coaching Project with the Hoberman Sphere. Bottom left: a student films a podcast regarding the Summit. Top right: Marek Dollar, Ph.D. addresses the Summit attendees. Middle right: Mindset Summit invitation poster, featuring the keynote speaker, John Schuster. Bottom right: students in Cohort 6 celebrate. 

To celebrate the first five years of the program, the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute hosted its first ever Transformational Leadership Conference. The conference shared insights on a new kind of transformational leadership development for a new kind of world.

Conference attendees include Leadership Institute alumni and current students and leaders in business, industry, and government. Notable speakers at the conference included Miami University President Gregory Crawford, and Jeffrey J. Wilcox, Vice President for Engineering and Operations for Lockheed Martin.

Pictured above are photos from the Transformational Leadership Conference. Top left: Leadership Institute alumni. Top right: group of sophomore engineering students working together.  Middle left: group of students, along with Louise Morman, standing in front of Benton Hall and displaying a Transformational Leadership banner. Center and Middle right: Cohort students displaying table runners created with paper they made themselves. Bottom row: three of the conference presenters: Jeff Wilcox (left); Karen Moss (center); and, President Greg Crawford (right).

In conjunction with the 2015-16 campus-wide MiamIdeas initiative inspiring creativity + innovation, the Leadership Institute students created an ambitious new project called Listen4Insight.

Leadership Institute students interviewed a variety of leaders to learn how innovation and creativity shaped their leadership style and contributed to their career. The Listen4Instight project is a collection of conversations presented online via podcasts, short videos and blogs on a website so the insights are available to a broad audience. 

A grant from the P&G Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation helped provide funding for this project and marks the third time in four years a grant from the P&G Fund has been awarded to the Leadership Institute.

Some of those featured on the podcasts include former Miami President David Hodge; Nicole Smith, NASA; and Emmy award-winning producer and National Broadcasting Hall of Fame Member, Dr. Jim Friedman. To hear these podcasts or check out the complete list of podcasts visit www.listen4insight.com.

The picture collage features members of the Leadership Institute who worked together to make the Listen4Insight project a reality. Bottom right: a stack of Listen4Insight Podcast magnets.

Above: three students work on projects during Engineering Week.

Above image features Louise Morman and Karen Moss at the banquet with a group of Engineering students, and below is a brochure advertising 2016's Engineering Week.

Engineers Week was created to get engineering students more involved in activities within the college. Also, it was intended to build awareness among non-engineering students so that they may better understand the work of engineers. 

The themes of Engineers Week 2015 were Why Engineering Matters and Women in Engineering. Events included:

Start the Trend Challenge: The Change Begins with You!

An all-day idea-generating event with sponsorship from NEFGen (National Engineering Forum - Next Generation) and the Celebrating Women Leaders Initiative. The goal of the day was to ‘Start the Trend’ of changing the engineering culture. The two topics were Women/Diversity in Engineering and the engagement of college students in Engineering.

The photo at the top of the collage is the Start the Trend Challenge registration. The bottom two photos are an advertising banner (left) and a flyer (right.)

Why Engineering Matters
Linda Harty, treasurer at Medtronics, Inc., gave a speech that focused on the importance of engineering in today’s world stemming from her unique background in finance. Ms. Harty has worked for many large engineering companies in the past including Parker-Hannifin and Cardinal Health. 

Women in Engineering
Starting at the Eastman Kodak Company as an engineer, Dr. Kathleen Buse has worked in various technical and management roles for more than 25 years. Her research on STEM women has been framed by her practical experience in technology-driven and male-dominated organizations.
Dr. Buse’s presentation concluded with practical recommendations for changing undergraduate education, developing specific skills in STEM women and for changes within STEM organizations.

More Photos:

Featured above in the top left are Engineering students working in the Idea Cafe. Top right: a student arranges post-it notes on a board. The middle right and bottom left photos are of two of the showcases. The bottom middle and bottom right photos are of the advertising and schedule for Engineering Week 2015.

Engineers Week was created to get engineering students more involved in activities within the college. Also, it was intended to build awareness among non-engineering students so that they may better understand the work of engineers. 

The two main themes of Engineers Week 2014 were e-waste and Women in Engineering. Events were scheduled throughout the week to highlight these themes, including:

• The Showcase which featured industry presentations and displayed research projects of students and faculty, and engineering clubs
• Annual banquet with keynote address given by Sharon Mitchell, Retired Senior Vice President of R&D for Procter and Gamble, and Chair of the Miami University Board of Trustees
• Showing of the documentary, ‘Design & Thinking’
• Speaker Maribeth Malloy, Director of Environmental Sustainability and External Engagements for Lockheed Martin

Pictured above are students' showcases, which was held in the lobby of Benton Hall.

The above collage highlights two of the speakers; Maribeth Malloy (top left) and Sharon Mitchell (bottom right). In the bottom left are the CEI Women Leader's group. The top right is a photo from the banquet, and below that is a flyer with the schedule of events for the week.

Featured in the top half of the collage is a sheet banner advertising Engineers Week, and below is a Tweet from President David Hodge with a photo taken at the banquet.

Engineers Week was created to get engineering students more involved in activities within the college. Also, it was intended to build awareness among non-engineering students so that they may better understand the work of engineers. 

The three main themes of Engineers Week 2013 were e-waste, space and energy. All three categories are part of the grand challenges of the world. Events were scheduled throughout the week to highlight these themes, including:

• The Showcase which displayed research projects of students and faculty and engineering clubs
• Presentation from James Free, NASA Glenn speaker
• Banquet featuring speaker from International Paper, Dennis Crawshaw
• Presentation from Gary Spitznogle, American Electric Power

The top section of the above collage features students discussing a carbon footprint poster session. The middle row features an Engineering week showcase poster, students working in the Idea kitchen, and a student at one of the many displays. In the bottom row, there are photos of an Engineer week t-shirt, the banquet celebration, and a promotional flyer.