Benjamin Linville-Engler

MassTech Deputy Director and Chief Investment Strategist works across the agency’s programs and funds to manage strategic investments into emerging technologies, align investments with growth strategies, and identify new opportunities for growth to ensure maximum impact on the Commonwealth’s tech and innovation economy. He provides program oversight for the agency’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM), MassCyberCenter, Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI) and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC). Linville-Engler also serves as the designated chair of the Healey-Driscoll administration's Strategic Hub for Innovation, Exchange and Leadership in Defense (SHIELD) Initiative.

Previously, Linville-Engler served as the industry and certificate co-director for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) System Design and Management (SDM) where he first joined as a fellow in 2016. SDM is jointly offered by MIT’s School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management; focusing on solving complex socio-technical challenges by taking a systems thinking approach to multi-stakeholder management, multi-disciplinary problem solving, model-driven engineering, design, and strategic decision throughout the entire product/system lifecycle. In this role, he established strategic industry partnerships and collaborations, identified industry trends, and taught medical device and project-based courses to help partner companies and students develop new technologies, products, and leaders.

Prior to MIT, Linville-Engler worked for over a decade in medical device product, team, and organization development. This experience included serving as vice president in technology and product development, as well as engineering at Applied Medical, a global, vertically-integrated company that develops innovative products that improve patient outcomes. Linville-Engler has also leveraged this experience working and consulting with digital health and other tough tech start-ups.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Linville-Engler was an integral part of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (MA M-ERT) that was established to mobilize, organize, and operationalize critical path work streams necessary for Massachusetts manufacturers to pivot their operations to produce needed FDA compliant medical devices and supplies at scale. For these efforts, Linville-Engler was awarded MIT's 2021 Collier Medal, an annual award given in memory Officer Sean Collier to honor passionate curiosity, genuine kindness, and dedication to service.

Linville-Engler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado – Boulder with an emphasis in biomedical engineering and a minor in biochemistry. Additionally, he received a Master of Science degree in engineering and management from MIT through SDM.