Should systems engineering degrees only be offered at the graduate level?

1. Should systems engineering degrees only be offered at the graduate level? Dinesh Verma, Panel Chair Panel Members: Tim Trainor, USMA Brian Wells, Raytheon Company Dennis Barnabe, Department of Defense Tom Mazzuchi, George Washington University The 1st Workshop on U.S. Undergraduate Programs in Systems EngineeringApril 7-8, 2010U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

2. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) There have been eight different studies conducted in recent decades that have indicated that public investment in science and technology produces a societal rate of return of between 20 and 67 percent. There have been a number of other studies that have shown that somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of the growth in gross domestic product in this country in the last half century is attributable to advancements of science engineering. And the Federal Reserve Board concluded that about two thirds of the increase in productivity in this country in the last two decades is attributable to advancements in science and engineering. Reference: http://spie.org/documents/newsroom/PDF/NormAugustine0409.pdf

3. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) There have been eight different studies conducted inrecent decades that have indicated that public investment in science and technology produces a societal rate of return of between 20 and 67 percent. There have been a number of other studies that have shown that somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of the growth in gross domestic product in this country in the last half century is attributable to advancements of science engineering. And the Federal Reserve Board concluded that about two thirds of the increase in productivity in this country in the last two decades is attributable to advancements in science and engineering.

4. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) There have been eight different studies conducted inrecent decades that have indicated that public investment in science and technology produces a societal rate of return of between 20 and 67 percent. There have been a number of other studies that have shown that somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of the growth in gross domestic product in this country in the last half century is attributable to advancements of science engineering. And the Federal Reserve Board concluded that about two thirds of the increase in productivity in this country in the last two decades is attributable to advancements in science and engineering.

5. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) There have been eight different studies conducted inrecent decades that have indicated that public investment in science and technology produces a societal rate of return of between 20 and 67 percent. There have been a number of other studies that have shown that somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of the growth in gross domestic product in this country in the last half century is attributable to advancements of science engineering. And the Federal Reserve Board concluded that about two thirds of the increase in productivity in this country in the last two decades is attributable to advancements in science and engineering. This takes on a whole new meaning when you realize we live in Tom Friedman’s world where “Beijing, Bangalore and Bethesda are next-door neighbors”… "If you don't solve the Kindergarten through 12th grade education problem, nothing else is going to matter all that much." Alan Greenspan, when he was the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank “ACADEMIC politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.” This observation is routinely attributed to former Harvard professor Henry Kissinger. Then there is of course the problem of crossing boundaries…

6. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) A 16-point agenda to transform engineering education… • Solid understanding of the laws of nature – physics, chemistry, and mathematics (this is a pre-requisite to everything else) • Concepts of design and analysis, including parametric trade offs. This should include an experience with developing a piece of hardware – get your hands dirty. This should also include experience with testing, manufacturing, reliability, maintainability • Timing • A course on engineering failures and design errors • Expose engineering students to the rudiments of systems engineering at the undergraduate level – so much is happening at the interfaces of different science and engineering fields • Solid foundation in probability and statistics • Rudimentary knowledge of modern bio sciences

7. Borrowing heavily from Norm Augustine’s talk on April 14, 2009… on re-engineering engineering… (SPIE conference) A 16-point agenda to transform engineering education… (Continued) • Solid understanding of economics • Engineering ethics • Courses in history, public policy, and civics • Exposure to liberal arts, music, and literature • Communications – Oral and Written • Team projects, and working in teams • Exposure to multiple cultures and traditions – spend a semester abroad

9. Reference: Tow, Bruce, L. and David A. Gilliam, Synthesis: An Interdisciplinary Discipline, The Futurist, May/June 2009. http://www.allbusiness.com/science-technology/astronomy-space-astrophysics/12323589-1.html