Movers and shakers: Logic PD chief operating officer Lisa Walker

Lisa Walker, promoted to chief operating officer at Logic PD, is overseeing strategic initiatives that include positioning the Minneapolis product development firm as a "teaching company" that helps customers learn to manage digital and connected device projects.

A connected device strategy is a must, a Logic PD blog noted, given estimates that more than 3 trillion Internet-connected devices, from smartwatches and appliances to enterprise devices and systems, will be in use by 2020.

Managing connectivity, data storage and data privacy are among the challenges companies face when they enter the connected market, said Walker, 41.

"We have developed a full digital product management curriculum on everything from business models and how those change with connected products all the way through fulfillment and what you need to consider in supporting digital products and connectivity," Walker said.

Logic PD also has launched "near-shore" operations in Mexico, adding lower-cost options for product fulfillment and service of medical and other devices, Walker said.

In her new role, Walker has responsibility for design and engineering, manufacturing, product support services, ­quality and program management at Logic PD.

Walker, who joined Logic PD in 2006, most recently served as the company's vice president of product support services. She has a degree in organizational leadership and an MBA from Bethel University.

A: The idea of managing digital infrastructure and data is so far outside of what they do they don't know where to start. By partnering with our customers to teach them what's important, how to monetize it, we're able to take them from a position of fear of what comes next and position them to be successful.

Q: Is the curriculum focused on medical devices companies?

A: It's especially attractive for those because medical devices tend to be blending into the consumer market with much more use of medical devices outside of the hospital. The need for connected medical device management in the field is really expanding.

Q: What does your promotion mean to you as a woman in a male-dominated field?

A: When I started my career doing field service work in instrumentation … I was the only female doing that in the company that I worked for and there was only one other female engineer that worked there. I'm now working in a very highly technical firm that has two other female executives, one who is leading engineering. It is interesting in my 20-year career to see the change in the face of technology.