Mabel D. Ramírez

A portrait of Mabel D. Ramirez.

Dr. Mabel D. Ramírez is an assistant head of the Air, Missile, and Maritime Defense Technology Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Ramírez joined Lincoln Laboratory in 2006 as a summer intern in the Airborne Radar Systems and Techniques Group, working on synthetic aperture radars and signal processing. In 2010, she returned to the Laboratory as a technical staff member in the Intelligence, Test, and Evaluation Group. She was a radar data analyst for a number of Missile Defense Agency systems, including the X-Band Transportable Radar (XTR-1). In this role, she led mission analysis and data exploitation for numerous ballistic missile flight tests and real-world events. 

Prior to her senior leadership role as an assistant division head, Ramírez assumed roles of increasingly higher leadership in the Advanced Concepts and Technologies Group, becoming assistant leader, associate leader, and leader in 2015, 2017, and 2018, respectively. In these roles, she provided strategic and technical leadership of a diverse R&D portfolio focused on systems analysis and architectures, advanced sensors, electronic warfare systems, battle management algorithms, and human-machine teaming technologies. A particular emphasis was on developing new technologies to address evolving threats to the U.S. Navy fleet.

Ramírez is actively involved in community outreach efforts. She advises employee resource groups, mentors staff and leaders across the Laboratory, and volunteers for STEM educational outreach programs. She has received several awards, including the Lincoln Laboratory Award for Leadership in Advancing Organizational Culture and the Association for Latino Professionals of America (ALPFA) Boston NEXT 50 Vanguard Award. She completed the National Academy of Engineering Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering program, The Partnership, Inc. Next Generation Executive program, and the Conexión leadership program, and has been honored as a Boston Business Journal Top 40 Under 40.

Ramírez received BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez in 2001 and 2003, respectively, and a PhD degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2009, collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on her PhD research. She is a Harvard Business School (HBS) alumna, graduating from the HBS Executive Education Program for Leadership Development in 2021.