Jim Magarian

Senior Lecturer and Associate Academic Director

Jim Magarian serves as Senior Lecturer and Associate Academic Director for the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program. He joined the program in 2013 after more than nine years in industry as an engineering manager and mechanical engineer in the aerospace/defense sector.

While in industry, Dr. Magarian specialized in hardware design for airborne electronic equipment, aircraft systems integration, system qualification flight testing, and project management. In his most recent industry position, Jim led a staff of electrical and mechanical engineers at BAE Systems, Inc.

Dr. Magarian has conducted graduate research in two areas: during his Master’s program, he focused on process optimization and real-time quality control for engine block manufacture for the automotive industry. Here he worked with engineers at General Motors Powertrain/Metal Casting Technologies on a method for identifying abnormalities during the lost-foam casting process. In his Doctoral research, Dr. Magarian examined the interface between university engineering education and the workforce, studying factors associated with career choices of undergraduate engineering students.

Dr. Magarian completed his Ph.D. at MIT in 2018, and holds B.S., M.S., and MBA degrees from other institutions. In addition to his passions as an engineer and engineering leadership educator, Jim is an enthusiast of all things transportation (particularly, commercial aviation). He also enjoys playing the drums.

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307