Karen Lightman

Karen Lightman has been a board member at Autonomy Institute since 2013. Prior to that, they were the managing director at MEMS & Sensors Industry Group from 2007 to 2013. In this role, they were responsible for the operations of the group, spearheading strategic growth and overseeing sales, public relations, marketing and outreach. Karen was also instrumental in creating the content for all MEMS conferences, events and programming.

Before their time at MEMS & Sensors Industry Group, Karen was the executive director at Metro21 from 2001 to 2007. In this role, they were responsible for leading the Carnegie Mellon University's smart city initiative. Karen also served as a senior policy analyst at Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development from 1998 to 2000.

Karen has been active in the MEMS community for many years. In 2017, they became the vice president of MEMS & Sensors Industry Group at SEMI. In this role, they were responsible for promoting MEMS across global markets.

Karen Lightman attended Joel Barlow HS before studying Economics and Political Science as a double major at the University of Vermont. Karen then went on to earn their Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.