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 Yamile C. Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP
yamile@zakeez.com
Founder and President of Zakeez, Inc.
In 2001 Yamile Jackson founded Zakeez, Inc., the ergonomics and
human factors engineering company that designs and markets products to
assist children and babies, including those born prematurely. She is paying her promise to help babies because her son, Zachary survived when he was born prematurely weighing less than 2 lbs.
The first
project lasted 3 years and was completed in 2004; she was the project
manager and principal investigator of a project that researched, designed,
developed and patented the award-winner “the Zaky”,
a hand mimetic device and pediatric bolster support system that she invented for her own son and with important support of medical personnel in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Her product are the only one in the market designed to promote child/parent bond by simulating the touch, scent, warmth, and weight of the hand and forearm of the mother/father. It is proven to provide stimulation, improve sleep of babies and moms, reduce anxiety and restlessness, aid with pain management, as well as to assist with the baby’s physical and psychological development. It provides comfort, appropriate positioning, and a sense of security and support for healthy, ill, and disable children. Since 2001 the Zaky is used in hundreds neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, and at homes and childcare centers around the world. It has been particularly successful as baby shower presents, and it is an appropriate and welcomed gift for ill or disabled children.
In the Fall of 2009, she introduced the Kangaroo Zak, a tool to facilitate Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), also known as Skin-to-Skin Contact. Hospitals give the Kangaroo Zak as a welcome gift to parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Labor and Delivery Units. It is used at homes too.
She is now working on developing more products that will help babies and their parents, always ON BEHALF OF HER SON, ZACHARY
Past Experience
A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Yamile founded Ringstones Consulting International Inc. in 1998 to offer project management consulting and training in the United States, Europe and Latin America. For 3 years she was an adjunct professor of management at the University of Applied Sciences of Vorarlberg, Austria, and visiting professor at numerous universities in the U.S. and Latin America. Her PhD is in Industrial Engineering with concentration in Ergonomics and Human Factors, she is a licensed Professional Engineer and a certified Project Manager Professional.
For 12 years she worked in domestic and international project management and project planning and controls from small in multi-projects environment to mega projects of several billion dollars. For eight years of those years, she was a project engineer for Kværner and a project controls engineer for Fluor in the U.S. and Europe for capital projects executed around the world. Both are important and international engineering and construction companies.
Dr. Jackson was part of the research team (and co-authored) the "International Project Risk Assessment (IPRA)" of the Construction Industry Institute (CII). This tool identifies and describes the complex issues that are critical elements related to an international capital project, allowing the project team to focus on risk factors of potential concern. The IPRA is designed to facilitate risk assessment and to help address management of these concerns.
She was elected and served in the 2005-2006 Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Board of Directors. It is her distinct honor to be the first Latin American professional in this role of Director-at-Large. PMI is a non-for-profit, professional, and global organization dedicated to promote and advance the Project Management Profession. With the Global Operation Center in the US, PMI(R) counts with over 300,000 members in around 170 countries.
Membership and Activities
Yamile has been a PMI member since 1998, and graduated with the inaugural class of the PMI world class Leadership Institute. In 2004, she was a member of the Component Services Member Advisory Group (CSMAG), the North American Congress Project Action Team (CoPAT) that decides the technical content of the event, and also served as bilingual reviewer of the applications for the Registered Education Provider (REP) program. From 2001 to 2004 she was the chair of the Steering Committee Construction Industry Institute (CII)/Design-Procurement-Construction SIG (DPCSIG), and the representative of the DPCSIG in the CII research team for International Projects Risk Assessment. She was the chair of the Education and Training SIG in 2000-2001, and received a Chair's Award for Reorganization Activities of this SIG. She served the PMI’s Board of Directors in 2005-2006.
She is a senior member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), where she has been a member since 1989; the Society for Engineering and Management Systems (SEMS) since 2000; the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) since 1999; the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR) since 2000, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) since 2006.
Honors and Awards
Yamile has been the recipient of 11 different awards for her products and for the work she does helping babies and their families. The last one is from the SCORE FOUNDATION, an award sponsored by Constant Contact: "2009 Outstanding Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year", Washington DC. More>>
Speaking Experience
Yamile has been a speaker at dozens of domestic and international congresses and seminars including such renowned groups as the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES), The March of Dimes, as well as the Project Management Institute (PMI) and numerous universities. Equally important, she visits hospitals to talk to mothers and caregivers of preemies, and visits schools to encourage students about choosing engineering as a profession.
Articles and Interviews of Note
Yamile’s personal and professional experience have been featured in the health and medical Reports of the Houston Chronicle, ABC, NBC, CBN, CBS, FOX, Univision, and BBC TV and Radio in Great Britain), as well as shows as the Rachel Ray Show and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and various articles in publications such as Reader’s Digest (April 2002), the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, the StarNews (North Carolina), the Daily Mail (United Kingdom), MundoPM (Brazil), the Magazine of the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston and Clemson World Magazine, the TV documentary and special report "Healing from the Storm," which aired on CBS in June 2002, and the made-for-TV movie "14 Hours," which aired on TNT in April 2005.
More on Articles>>
More on TV Media Coverage>>
Education
Yamile did 3.5 years of her bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia), and then earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Houston. Her concentration is in human factors and ergonomics engineering. She also has master's degree in engineering from Clemson University. She is a 2002 graduate of the PMI Leadership Institute. She is also a licensed Professional Engineer since 2005 and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), since 1999.
Extracurricular Activities
Yamile enjoys golf and photography and has traveled to over 43 countries. She lives to spend time with her family and friends, especially with her husband and with Zachary (her son and loving inspiration).
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