Michael Richey, Retired. Former Chief Learning Scientist, Associate Technical Fellow at The Boeing Company. His current research projects include engineering education, socio-technical systems, university online STEM programs and educational data analytics. This multi-disciplinary research brings together expertise in the Learning Sciences, Complexity Science and Social Networking together with data in ways that can create an integrated understanding of system structure and behavior. In exploration and education conversation, Michael discusses topics on:
1. Adaptability matters: We are living in an age transformed by intelligent systems. Data science methods including Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing are changing business communication and making workforce expertise and culture more transparent and traceable. Coupling AI and digital data between agents and system culture enables us to see and measure interaction patterns, agent sensing, acting, and knowledge optimization. Changes in the skills and knowledge necessary for successful digital life and workflow are impacting organization cultural systems(Madhavan and Richey, 2016).
2. What adaptability looks like: Organizations are inherently relational. Firms are complex adaptive systems composed of a network of employees bound together by contracts, who perform tasks by negotiating internal relationships, as well as by observing, managing, and responding to constantly shifting external environments. (Richey Et Al., 2014 WIP). Key to understanding this flow of human and network capital is measuring the quality of social ties, i.e., making emergent actor expertise explicit as innovation resides within densely connected trusting, social-work related networks.
3. The future of the workforce: Business leaders, educators and governments all need to be proactive in up-skilling and retraining people so everyone can benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Joanna emphasizes cultivating an experimental mindset while embedding a discipline of process. She held executive leadership positions at a global engineering firm, where she concentrated on generating business opportunities for advanced technologies. Drawing on these experiences, she now coaches and mentors startup founders and small business owners.
Her areas of expertise are B2B marketing and cost accounting. Over her career, she has partnered with leading educational institutions in marketing and innovation: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Penn State’s Smeal College of Business’s Institute for the Study of Business to Business Markets, and the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State. She also holds a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification.
Technology, she specializes in informal learning environments and the practical application of emerging technologies in education. As a prior LinDiv fellow, her work has focused on the intersection of human-computer interaction and linguistic diversity, leveraging AI to support diverse learners.
With a rich background spanning International Relations, Foreign Language Education, and Technology, Stephanie brings over a decade of experience in education, program coordination, and instructional design—both in the U.S. and internationally. Her expertise spans public speaking, team leadership, design, video production, and full-stack development, further enriched by diverse professional experiences, including the military and the tourism industry.
Students, faculty, staff and guests listen to a panel of Penn State New Kensington faculty members during the 2024 Faculty Research Reception in the Elizabeth S. Blissel Library on Dec. 4. The panel was part of the event, which recognizes campus faculty and staff for publications and awards made during the calendar year.
Cathi Gerhard, Richard Wentling, Penelope Morrison and Joie Marhefka take part in a faculty panel to speak about research during the annual Faculty Research Reception in the Elisabeth S. Blissell Library. The panel was part of the event, which recognizes campus faculty and staff for publications and awards made during the calendar year.
Students, faculty, staff and guests listen to a panel of Penn State New Kensington faculty members during the 2024 Faculty Research Reception in the Elisabeth S. Blissell Library on Dec. 4. The panel was part of the event, which recognizes campus faculty and staff for publications and awards made during the calendar year.
As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
