Natalie Medich

Natalie Medich is an Engineer-in-Residence at iNDustry Labs (University of Notre Dame) and a former Assistant Professor and Department Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Department at Ivy Tech Community College's South Bend-Elkhart campus. She bridges regional industry with academic resources, focusing on digital transformation and advanced manufacturing.

Education: B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University; Executive Education in Engineering Leadership from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Certifications include Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (Purdue) and Green Belt.

Research interests include optimizing business processes, smart manufacturing, and curriculum development aligned with industry needs. She pioneered Ivy Tech’s groundbreaking Smart Manufacturing and Digital Integration degree (2021), the first of its kind in post-secondary education. Her entrepreneurial background includes owning and exiting a manufacturing business, plus over a decade as a consultant in manufacturing, environmental, and services industries.

Advising/Grants: Spearheaded the Garatoni Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Automation at Ivy Tech, developing faculty expansion plans and curricula. No explicit grants mentioned, but her work involved institutional resource mobilization.

Labs/Teams: Active in iNDustry Labs (Notre Dame) and the Garatoni Center (Ivy Tech).