Keith Doyle

Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Head of the Engineering Management Program

PRONOUNS he/him/his

Keith Doyle
Pronouns he/him/his
Alma mater(s)
  • Ph.D., Engineering Mechanics, University of Arizona
  • MBA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern University
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, Swarthmore College
Affiliated Department(s)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

BIO

Keith has over three decades of experience developing advanced technology at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. This has included working in a variety of roles including as a chief engineer, project manager, and holding positions in line and senior management. His technical background is in the field of mechanical engineering with expertise in solid mechanics with management expertise in technology development, project management, building high-performance teams, and organizational strategy. He is passionate about educating the next generation technology leaders to enable them to solve the most pressing local, state, national, and global challenges.

Keith was born and raised in Montpelier, Vermont. Following high school he attended Swarthmore College. Upon graduating, he took a position as a structural engineer at Itek Optical Systems where he discovered his passion for building optical systems. After two years at Itek, he went back to school to earn advanced degrees at Northeastern University and then the University of Arizona. He then began his long association with MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the Department of Defense. He started as a Technical Staff member in the Optical Systems Engineering Group working on a variety of programs including an airborne search and tracking sensor and an earth imaging telescope for NASA. After five years, he left Lincoln to serve as a consultant providing optomechanical engineering and software solutions to clients first working at the company Optical Research Associates as a Senior Systems Engineer and then as Vice-President and partner at the company Sigmadyne.

After six years, Keith returned to MIT Lincoln Laboratory as a Senior Staff member where he supported the development of 37-m radar antenna. Keith then spent the next ten years serving as a project manager including the development of a $100M airborne electro-optical payload. He then became a Group Leader in the Engineering Division where he created the Structural & Thermal-Fluids Engineering Group that grew to over seventy members. During this time, Keith participated in several Laboratory wide IR&D leadership roles. After eleven years as a group leader, Keith took a position as Assistant Head of the Engineering Division, helping lead a 500-person workforce.

Keith enjoys sharing his work through publishing and teaching. He has been an adjunct professor at the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, and the Grenon School of Business at Assumption University. He actively participates in the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) symposia where he co-chairs the biannual Optomechanical Engineering conference, is a SPIE Fellow, and a recipient of the SPIE Technical Achievement Award. He has authored or co-authored over forty technical papers, annually teaches several short courses, is the lead author of the book Integrated Optomechanical Analysis and wrote two chapters in the second edition of the Handbook of Optomechanical Engineering. He and his wife, Julie, have three children – Ian, Kiera, and Kyle - and his hobbies include biking, gardening, cooking, and health and fitness.

Courses

  • Engineering Project Management (EGMT 3051)
  • Engineering Economics (EMGT 2041)
  • Integrated Product Development (EMGT 3990 / ME 3060 / BUS 3360)
  • Systems Engineering (EMGT 3990)
  • Capstone Design I & II (ME4010 / EE4100 & ME4200 / EE4200)
  • Mechanics of Solids (ME1140)


 

Awards and Achievements

Fellow, SPIE International Society of Optics and Photonics
SPIE Technical Achievement Award, SPIE

Area(s) of expertise

Management: project management, technology development, systems engineering, building high-performance teams

Technical: solid mechanics, structural dynamics, finite element analysis, optomechanics

Bio

Keith has over three decades of experience developing advanced technology at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. This has included working in a variety of roles including as a chief engineer, project manager, and holding positions in line and senior management. His technical background is in the field of mechanical engineering with expertise in solid mechanics with management expertise in technology development, project management, building high-performance teams, and organizational strategy. He is passionate about educating the next generation technology leaders to enable them to solve the most pressing local, state, national, and global challenges.

Keith was born and raised in Montpelier, Vermont. Following high school he attended Swarthmore College. Upon graduating, he took a position as a structural engineer at Itek Optical Systems where he discovered his passion for building optical systems. After two years at Itek, he went back to school to earn advanced degrees at Northeastern University and then the University of Arizona. He then began his long association with MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the Department of Defense. He started as a Technical Staff member in the Optical Systems Engineering Group working on a variety of programs including an airborne search and tracking sensor and an earth imaging telescope for NASA. After five years, he left Lincoln to serve as a consultant providing optomechanical engineering and software solutions to clients first working at the company Optical Research Associates as a Senior Systems Engineer and then as Vice-President and partner at the company Sigmadyne.

After six years, Keith returned to MIT Lincoln Laboratory as a Senior Staff member where he supported the development of 37-m radar antenna. Keith then spent the next ten years serving as a project manager including the development of a $100M airborne electro-optical payload. He then became a Group Leader in the Engineering Division where he created the Structural & Thermal-Fluids Engineering Group that grew to over seventy members. During this time, Keith participated in several Laboratory wide IR&D leadership roles. After eleven years as a group leader, Keith took a position as Assistant Head of the Engineering Division, helping lead a 500-person workforce.

Keith enjoys sharing his work through publishing and teaching. He has been an adjunct professor at the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, and the Grenon School of Business at Assumption University. He actively participates in the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) symposia where he co-chairs the biannual Optomechanical Engineering conference, is a SPIE Fellow, and a recipient of the SPIE Technical Achievement Award. He has authored or co-authored over forty technical papers, annually teaches several short courses, is the lead author of the book Integrated Optomechanical Analysis and wrote two chapters in the second edition of the Handbook of Optomechanical Engineering. He and his wife, Julie, have three children – Ian, Kiera, and Kyle - and his hobbies include biking, gardening, cooking, and health and fitness.

Courses

  • Engineering Project Management (EGMT 3051)
  • Engineering Economics (EMGT 2041)
  • Integrated Product Development (EMGT 3990 / ME 3060 / BUS 3360)
  • Systems Engineering (EMGT 3990)
  • Capstone Design I & II (ME4010 / EE4100 & ME4200 / EE4200)
  • Mechanics of Solids (ME1140)


 

Awards and Achievements

Fellow, SPIE International Society of Optics and Photonics
SPIE Technical Achievement Award, SPIE

Areas of Expertise

Management: project management, technology development, systems engineering, building high-performance teams

Technical: solid mechanics, structural dynamics, finite element analysis, optomechanics

Publications

Selected Publications

  • Integrated Optomechanical Analysis, 2nd Edition, Doyle, K. B., Genberg, V. L., Michels, G. J., SPIE Press, Nov., 2012. (First edition, 2002).
     
  • Two chapters in the Handbook of Optomechanical Engineering, editor, Anees Ahamd, 2nd Edition, CRC Press, Baca Raton, Florida, 2017.
     
  • Conference proceedings (40+) listed in CV