At the end of February, Clemson University hosted the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Driving Change Guest Speaker event, made possible by an HHMI grant awarded to a collaborative team representing multiple disciplines and administrative offices. HHMI, a non-profit medical research organization, focuses on promoting and enriching STEM fields by supporting events and other activities. This grant has provided several such events for the advancement of our STEM students, including STEM Equity in addition to the Driving Change Speaker.
The HHMI Driving Change team discussed several candidates for this year’s speaker, each from a diverse background and representing a unique engineering perspective, before deciding on Ivan Williams, the Executive Vice President for the Los Angeles-based Scenario Entertainment LLC. Prior to the media and film industry, Ivan spent 35 years as a practicing engineer in performance analysis, procurement senior leadership, and business transformation for such companies as ARCO, BP and Worley. While at ARCO, Ivan designed and implemented the first-of-its-kind advanced computer controls for the company’s oil refinery operations.
In addition to his engineering expertise, Ivan brought a strong background in the media and film industry to his current position. Before joining Scenario Entertainment, he was involved in
creating, producing and supporting a Broadway musical, feature films, and episodes for various web series. In his current role, he has launched several media technology companies, some of which are involved in streaming services such as Netflix.
During his time at Clemson, Mr. Williams had lunch with some of our STEM students from the Programs for Educational Enrichment and Retention (PEER), the Women in Science and
Engineering (WISE), the College of Science Mentoring and Inclusion Collaborative (COSMIC), Breakthrough Scholars, Bridge-to-Doctorate, and STEM All In. He shared his experiences as both an engineer and a film executive, focusing on how he moved from his former career to his current one. As he explained, because of his engineering skills, he was able to bring a different perspective and way of thinking that has led to his success in the film industry. Ivan continued his discussion on how his education and experiences have shaped who he is both as an engineer and as a film executive during his talk later that evening in the Poole Agriculture Center.
Clemson University appreciates the opportunity afforded by HHMI to host speakers that like Mr. Williams who can show our students how engineering can impact and transcend multiple fields. You can find more information about this initiative and HHMI in general on its website Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
