Advisory Board

Natalia Carvajal ‘99

General Manager, Sustainability Commitments
Microsoft

Natalia Carvajal is a senior executive at Microsoft, where she serves as General Manager of Sustainability Commitments. She leads the strategy, governance, reporting, and enterprise accountability mechanisms that support Microsoft's sustainability ambitions and regulatory reporting readiness.

Over her career, Natalia has led complex global initiatives across sustainability, corporate strategy, finance, capital planning, mergers and acquisitions, and business transformation. Before joining Microsoft's sustainability organization, she held leadership positions across Treasury, Global Workplace Services, Real Estate, and Security. Prior to Microsoft, she held senior roles at Groupon, Adobe, and Deloitte Consulting, specializing in corporate development, strategic partnerships, and M&A integration.

Natalia earned bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and both a Master of Science and MBA from Stanford University.

Matt Hodson ’02, ’05, ‘08

Digital Factory Specialist
IMAGINiT Technologies
 

Matt is an experienced industrial engineering and operations professional with expertise in simulation modeling, analytics, digital transformation, sales, and business strategy. He currently serves as a FlexSim & Platform Specialist at IMAGINiT Technologies and as an Adjunct Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Operations and Industrial Engineering. Previously, Matt served as President and Owner of Growth & Performance Solutions, held senior sales and technical leadership roles at ProModel Corporation for more than 15 years, and worked as a Process Engineer at BAE Systems and an Assistant Engineer at Wyman Gordon. His career has focused on helping organizations improve operations through data analytics, capacity planning, supply chain management, workflow analysis, facility design, and simulation modeling. 

Matt earned his BS in Industrial Engineering from WPI in 2002, his MS in Operations & Information Technology from WPI in 2005, and his MBA in Operations Management from WPI in 2008.
 

Elizabeth Karpinski ‘17

Member of Technical Staff Member - Machine Learning Space
Trase

Elizabeth Karpinski is a data scientist and machine learning professional with more than eight years of experience in data science, simulation modeling, causal inference, operations research, and artificial intelligence. She currently serves as a Member of Technical Staff in Machine Learning at Trase. Previously, Elizabeth spent more than seven years at MITRE, where she progressed from Senior Data Scientist to Lead Data Scientist, leading research projects, developing data-driven solutions, and publishing peer-reviewed research. Earlier in her career, she worked with Optum and Bulbs.com, applying machine learning and analytics to healthcare and business problems. 

Elizabeth earned her BS in Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2017, graduating with high distinction and completing double minors in Data Science and Writing & Rhetoric, and her MS in Operations Analytics and Management from WPI in 2017. While at WPI, she also led her team to second place in the International IISE Student Simulation Competition and received the Provost’s MQP Award.
 

Deb McManus ‘97

Managing Director, EY Tax Edge
Ernst & Young

Deb is a senior transformation and process improvement executive with more than 25 years of experience leading global teams, strategic initiatives, Lean Six Sigma programs, and complex business transformations. She currently serves as Managing Director, Tax Edge at Ernst & Young, where she leads strategic and operational improvement initiatives. She previously held senior Master Black Belt roles focused on continuous improvement, Agile, analytics, and project management. Earlier in her career, Deb held leadership positions at Morpho Detection, General Electric Homeland Protection, GE Capital, and GE Healthcare working across product management, program management transformation, marketing, and Six Sigma.

Deb earned her BS in Industrial Engineering and International Studies from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 1997 and her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2004. She also completed a Mastering Design Thinking Certificate from MIT Sloan School of Management in 2019 and holds professional certifications including PMP, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Black Belt, and Green Belt.

Amanda Moreno ‘11

Director Analyst
Gartner

Amanda is an experienced supply chain and operations leader with expertise in operational excellence, data analytics, and continuous improvement, possessing both functional and industry breadth. She currently serves as a Director Analyst at Gartner and has also held roles across organizations including xAI, Amazon, Microsoft, Baker Hughes, and General Electric. She has worked across energy (power generation, oil & gas, grid, and renewables), healthcare, cloud infrastructure, e-commerce, and automotive — each with its own constraints, incentives, and definition of "winning" — and navigating that range has built a flexible, first-principles approach rather than a one-size-fits-all playbook. She has led a variety of supply chain initiatives, including capacity and demand planning, S&OP, procurement & sourcing, quality, manufacturing operations, inventory optimization, new product introduction, market intelligence, and business transformation programs, and she completed GE’s Operations Management Leadership Program (OMLP) early in her career.

Amanda earned her BS in Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2011, with a minor in Management, and later earned her Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University in 2014. She has consistently drawn on her industrial engineering foundation to solve operational and business challenges throughout her career. Amanda has also received recognition for her contributions to GE’s Corporate Audit Staff, including the CAS Team Honors Award in 2018.
 

Laliah Thompson ‘16

Senior Planning and Logistics Manager
Coty

Lailah is a senior supply chain and operations leader with experience in supply chain strategy, process improvement, procurement optimization, operations management, and organizational transformation. She currently serves as Senior Planning, Logistics & Master Data Leader at Coty, after previously serving as Senior Operations Manager with the company. Prior to Coty, Lailah worked as a Consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advising senior executives on supply chain strategy, operational due diligence, network strategy, procurement, and large-scale transformation initiatives. Earlier in her career, she held supply chain and operations roles at PepsiCo and completed an internship with GE Power & Water. 

Lailah earned her BS in Industrial Engineering and MS in Management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and later earned her MBA from Harvard Business School through the Harvard 2+2 MBA program. While at WPI, she was actively involved in mentoring, multicultural recruitment, student organizations and engineering leadership activities.