Escape Velocity – How Technical Leadership Skills Launched
Chris Birch to New Heights
Astronaut Chris Birch MIT PhD ’15 April 30, 2026
The TLC Distinguished Speaker Series brings nationally recognized leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and others to share their personal stories and unique perspectives on technical leadership and topics of the day. These engaging discussions offer all at MIT the opportunity to experience and learn from remarkable individuals whose achievements have touched many of our lives. Below are recent speakers.
Escape Velocity – How Technical Leadership Skills Launched
Chris Birch to New Heights
Astronaut Chris Birch MIT PhD ’15 April 30, 2026
From Apple to OpenAI – Leading the Development of Transformational Products
Tang Tan, OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer and former Apple VP October 16, 2025
Maximize Your Impact for a Better World
L. Rafael Reif, MIT President Emeritus Hosted by Anantha P. Chandrakasan April 29, 2025
Engineering Leadership – What it Takes to Define, Engineer, and Deliver Revolutionary Products
Dan Riccio, GradEL Benefactor and Former SVP Hardware Engineering, Apple October 9, 2024
Chris Birch shared fascinating stories about being an astronaut now training for her first space mission. She discussed how leadership and communication principles guided her journey to NASA: from earning a PhD in biological engineering at MIT to teaching at the University of California to winning 11 National Championships as a track cyclist.
Chris also inspired and connected with students at two smaller group sessions earlier in the day.
Astronaut. Professor. Champion Cyclist. Engineering Leader. Achieving lofty goals is in Chris Birch’s DNA. She conducted original research in synthetic biology, microfluidics, and infectious disease while earning a PhD in biological engineering at MIT. She then taught at the University of California and Caltech before joining the U.S. Cycling National Team, where she won 11 National Championships and three World Cup medals. Now she is a NASA astronaut working to reach her highest goal – flying to the International Space Station and beyond.
Tang Tan, OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer and former Apple VP of iPhone Product Design, joined us for an insightful fireside chat on leading the development of transformational products. The Course 2 alum shared his thoughts on using AI, design thinking in product design, and the importance of technical leadership skills. He encouraged students to follow their passions, take risks, and be creators.
Prior to the talk, Tan met with a small group of students from the UPOP, GEL, and GradEL programs, answering questions and sharing stories about his journey from Malaysia to MIT and beyond.
MIT President Emeritus, Reif and Anantha P. Chandrakasan, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer and Dean of the School of Engineering (SoE) focused on the importance of developing engineering leadership skills – such as persuasive communication – to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
Reif shared anecdotes and insights about technical leadership from his decades in leadership roles at MIT. He was instrumental in creating the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in 2018 as well as establishing and growing MITx online open learning and MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories.
As the inaugural TLC Distinguished Speaker, Dan Riccio shared his unique perspective on technical leadership, drawing on his 26 years of experience at Apple including nine years leading hardware engineering.
