MIT LGO'11 Woman Takes on Computer Science, the Status Quo & More

By Dan O’Sullivan

From a girl who loved computer science to a woman pursuing an MBA and MS in engineering, Wendy-Kay Logan has always enjoyed engaging her technical side. At the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, she's doing just that — and much more.


Wendy-Kay Logan, LGO '11, was part of a four-woman team that won an MBA case competition last year.

Logan was born in Jamaica and grew up in the Houston area. She got her first computer at age 12 and quickly became fascinated with it.

In high school, a female computer science teacher acted as a mentor, encouraging Logan to enter programming competitions and to continue exploring her interest in computer science. While other students moved in the direction of chemical engineering (Houston is home to many oil and gas companies), she stuck to her guns.

A Woman Who Opens Doors
At Rice University, Logan noticed many female classmates naturally gravitated toward electrical engineering. Computer science, in contrast, was male-dominated. "It's not like anyone proactively discouraged me from studying computer science, but I did see how women could be discouraged in subtle ways," she said.

Logan set out to address the gender gap in computer science by co-founding the Society for Women in Computer Science (CSters). The student group was able to secure funding from Rice to support and promote women in computer science.

When a woman joins CSters, she gains a network of similarly minded individuals and supporters, including members of the Rice faculty and representatives from industry. CSters has flourished, producing about 35 alumnae to date.

Victory in MBA Case Competition
After graduating from Rice in 2004, Logan worked for five years at National Instruments in Austin, Texas. The LGO program appealed to her because of the strength of MIT's engineering program and the exposure to operations and manufacturing.

"I had spent much of the previous five years doing marketing and sales, and we often threw our forecasts and customer demands over the wall into manufacturing," she said. "We weren't necessarily expected to know what manufacturing did to get products out the door. So I came here to learn what goes into that, the operations side of things."

Since coming to MIT in June 2009, Logan has earned some impressive honors, including being named an Intel Noyce Scholar and a Google UNCF Scholar. But she is most proud of an award she shared with three other LGO women.

In November 2009, Logan and her teammates won first place in the fifth annual MBA Exclusive Case Competition. The quartet bested teams from about 20 other schools.

"The case competition brought together the teamwork experience that LGO emphasizes so much — being collaborative, leveraging your strengths, focusing on improving your weaknesses," she said. "And it was an opportunity to apply some of the operations knowledge I've gained here."

Kinship and Community
At National Instruments, Logan worked to bring in more minority engineers (who were underrepresented in the company). At Rice, CSters was her attempt to unite women in computer science. Today, she serves as a senator on the MIT Sloan and Dean's Student Advisory Council, where her primary goal is to create a sense of unity among the various programs.

"I try to focus on taking down walls between MBAs, LGOs, Master of Finance students and Sloan fellows," she said. "I think the common thread that has driven me throughout my career is trying to find this sense of kinship and to build community."

To learn more about LGO, please visit our page with MBA program FAQs. Or, find out about MBA internships available through the LGO program.

Is LGO the Right Program for Me?...Taking Engineering & Operations Management Careers to the Next Level

By Jane Deutsch
LGO Director of Admissions and Career Development

LGO applications are due December 15, so I know some of you are still weighing your options. Do I simply want to hone engineering skills? Or do I want to earn an MBA? And, which program is right for me? For those considering MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations Program (LGO), the question is: Are you ready to take a deep breath, leap in, and do both?

As LGO’s director of admissions and career development, I am often asked how candidates know that this is the right program for them. And, while I can’t read minds, I can say I see some marked similarities among those whom we accept and who ultimately enroll and succeed in the program.

First of all, LGO students are interested in operations management—a broad range of issues related to the production and distribution of goods and services. They are also experienced technical professionals who want to broaden or deepen their engineering expertise—while gaining the skills they will need to lead operations companies.

“Multi-faceted career growth requires the engineer to develop the business acumen and awareness to justify and make the toughest decisions,” Michael Vento, LGO ’12 (Intel, U. of Florida ‘06, Industrial and Systems Engineering), said in explaining his decision to join LGO. “While not impossible to attain on the job, these skills can be significantly augmented by concentrated study and exposure to diverse industries, cultures, and geographies.”

LGO students are experienced professionals who want to take on challenges that fall outside their comfort zone. LGO is an active and intense program where students have a truly inter-disciplinary education and can take advantage of the world-class teaching and research done at both MIT Sloan and the MIT School of Engineering. In addition, they work on a variety of real-world projects, including our signature six-month internship at one of our partner companies, so they have to be willing to stretch themselves.

“LGO was the top choice for me given the structure of the program,” said Amil Mody LGO’12 (Goldman Sachs, Columbia University ‘05, Operations Research) who wanted to return to his operations roots. “I liked the ability to specialize in a particular engineering discipline, the small class size, and the quality of both MIT Sloan and the MIT School of Engineering... I felt like I would fit in pretty naturally.”

LGO is a small, cohesive community where the sense of belonging is strong, built up through intense work and the need for teamwork.

As Annie Kang, LGO ’12 (Northrop Grumman, UCLA ‘07, EE), put it, “I had no doubts about the LGO program. I knew a graduate degree in business and engineering from MIT would be highly valuable, but it was actually the people I met during the Interviewfest and Open House weekends who ultimately helped me make my decision to choose LGO. Everyone was so nice, and the class above us really did seem like a family.”

At LGO, students learn from each other while taking on increasing levels of leadership responsibility within the program. Admittedly, LGO is a challenging program. But joining LGO connects you to a network of technical leaders that will be there for you for the rest of your career. It’s not right for everyone, but for a select few it can be life-changing.

I am reminded of Denise Johnson, LGO ’97, who this year was named president and managing director for GM Brazil. She said, “If I had to pick out a two-year period that made the biggest difference in my life, it would be the time I spent in the [LGO] program.”

To learn more about LGO and experience it first-hand, please plan to join us on Monday, October 25 at MIT for LGO Ambassador Day and Information Evening. Learn more or RSVP.

MIT MBA Women's Alumnae Panel: Tuesday, October 19th

Join us for a presentation about the MIT Sloan MBA Program by recent women alums including Rebecca Ford, LGO '10, who currently works for Genzyme Corporation. The panel will be followed by a Q&A and an opportunity to talk with MIT Sloan/LGO women and LGO Director of Admissions, Jane Deutsch.

Tuesday, October 19th
6:00pm-8:00pm
Cambridge, MA
MIT Sloan School of Management
70 Memorial Drive, E51 room 345

RSVP here