Zoe Szajnfarber

Zoe Szajnfarber is a Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering. She holds a secondary appointment in Space Policy and is also a research affiliate in the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research seeks to understand the fundamental dynamics of innovation in technology-intensive governmental organization, as a basis for decision-making. She is particular in the relationship between organizational design and technical systems architectures. Dr. Szajnfarber''s research is funded by grants from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the NSF.

Dr. Szajnfarber received her bachelor's degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto (2005) and conducted her graduate work at MIT, earning dual masters' degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics (2009) and Technology Policy (2009) and a Ph.D. in Engineering Systems (2011). Her dissertation focused on technology infusion at NASA and involved substantial field work at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Outside of academia, Dr. Szajnfarber has worked as a systems engineer at MDA Space Missions (Canadarm Program) and Dynacon Inc. (Microsatellites); and as a researcher at the European Space Agency (Advanced Concepts Team).