Kenneth Washington (engineer)
Kenneth Edward Washington | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Texas A&M University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Medtronic Amazon Sandia National Laboratories Ford Motor Company Lockheed Martin |
| Thesis | High order numerical solutions to time dependent advection-diffusion problems (1983) |
Kenneth Washington is an American Engineering and Vice President of Software Engineering at Amazon and Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer. At Amazon Washington is responsible for new devices and services. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Ford Motor Company. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024.
Early life and education[edit]
Washington grew up in inner city Chicago.[1] As a child he was passionate about robotics and science, and had a toy Erector Set.[2] At the age of twelve his father completed his own doctorate, and his family moved to Milwaukee. His father became a lecturer at Marquette University.[2] During middle school Washington relocated to Texas, where he became increasingly aware of the energy crisis.[2] He eventually completed three degrees in nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University, where he became the first African American to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering.[1] His doctoral research considered high order numerical solutions for advection-diffusion problems.[3] After earning his doctorate Washington joined Sandia National Laboratories.[2] Here he was part of the first team that showed it was possible to join off-the-rack computers together and get them to act like a supercomputer.[2] After a few years he was made Director of Distributed Computing at the Sandia California site.[2]
Career[edit]
Washington was eventually made Chief Information Officer at Sandia National Laboratories.[4] He moved to Lockheed Martin as Chief Technology Officer. He was made Vice President of the Space Systems Advanced Technology Center, and specialised in cyber security.[2]
In 2014 Washington joined Ford Motor Company as Chief Technology Officer. She was responsible for design and delivery of the technology strategy, including the identification of new materials, as well as emerging propulsion, automation and manufacturing systems. In 2021 Washington left Ford to join Amazon.[2]
At Amazon Washington was responsible for consumer robotics.[2] Specifically, he oversaw the development of Astro, Amazon's first household robot.[5][6] In 2023 he was named Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Medtronic.[7]
Awards and honours[edit]
- 2012 Black Engineer of the Year Award in Research Leadership[8]
- 2020 Elected to the National Academy of Engineering[9]
- 2022 Texas A&M University College of Engineering Outstanding Alumnus[10]
- 2023 Black Engineer of the Year[11][12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Dr. Ken Washington of Medtronic Honored as the 38th Black Engineer of the Year Awardee - Career Communications Group, Inc". intouch.ccgmag.com. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Amazon. "Touching Tomorrow". www.txamfoundation.com. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "A Study of stabilized high dielectric constant mos gate insulators | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "SEMI Ken Washington, PhD".
- ^ Dr. Ken Washington | Building Amazon Astro: The First Multi-Purpose Home Robot | TransformX 2022, retrieved 2024-02-18
- ^ "Robots With a Human Touch? Yes, Please". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Medtronic. "Ken Washington - Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer". www.medtronic.com. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
- ^ "2012 BEYA Winner tapped for key role at leading tech company". www.blackengineer.com. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
- ^ "National Academy of Engineering Elects 86 Members and 18 International Members". 2020-04-07.
- ^ DeFily, Abigail. "College of Engineering honors outstanding alumni". engineering.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Writer, Megan Sayles AFRO Business (2023-12-21). "Ken Washington named Black Engineer of the Year". AFRO American Newspapers. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ "The winner of the Black Engineer of the Year award for 2024 has been announced by BEYA". www.blackengineer.com. Retrieved 2024-02-13.