School of Systems & Enterprises launched at Stevens Institute of Technology
School of Systems & Enterprises launched at Stevens Institute of Technology
In recognition of the pivotal role played by complex systems in the twenty-first century, Stevens Institute of Technology's Provost and University Vice President, George P. Korfiatis recently announced the founding of a new school within the Institute, The School of Systems & Enterprises (SSE). The establishment of the school was announced during the opening day of the Fifth Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research, which was hosted at Stevens.
Dr Dinesh Verma, who has served most recently as the Associate Dean for Outreach in the Schaefer School of Engineering at Stevens, has been appointed founding Dean of the new school.
“Stevens is uniquely positioned to be a focus of academic and research opportunities that grow from the critical need to manage the development,deployment and behaviour of complex systems and enterprises” said Korfiatis. “The concept of `systems of systems' is the future, not only of engineering, but of all major industry in the public and private sectors, and this concept will play a decisive role in the continuing transformation of the American high- tech economy well into the twenty-first century.”
“Given society's inevitable march toward conceiving systems and enterprises of ever increasing complexity, The School of Systems &Enterprises is the next logical progression for Stevens as one of the leading technological universities in the world” said Stevens President Harold J. Raveche. “This school will complement our three existing schools with its emphasis on systems integration and enterprise management and optimisation.”
Dean Verma explained the strategic intent of The SSE at Stevens.
“We plan to develop a graduate education enterprise within the discipline of complex systems and enterprises that is the premier educational program of its type in the world,” he said. “We also plan to develop the premier research enterprise in the domain of complex systems and enterprise management, analysis, modelling and governance. The key here is the necessary diversity within the faculty of the new school – diversity with regard to backgrounds in engineering, management and the sciences, along with diversity in background experience in academia, business and government.”
“The Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management(SEEM) was founded in 2000, including the system design and operational effectiveness (SDOE) graduate program” said Dr John Farr, the Founding Director of SEEM. “Dr Verma initiated the SDOE program on the basis of corporate and government outreach, with the goal of partnering to engage members of these organisations in high-level graduate education and research in advanced systems. This led to a remarkable success story in higher education.”
From the first 20 students in spring 2001, sponsored by Lockheed Martin and the Office of the US Secretary of Defence, undergraduate enrolments exceeded 120 and graduate enrolments exceeded 300 in the current academic year. Growth in the SDOE program has averaged 35 per cent per year for six years, and the program now offers modules in Europe, India and the Far East. Corporate partners include Boeing, General Dynamics, IBM Global Services, ITT, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, in addition to the National Security Agency, FAA, NASA, US Army and US Navy.
As SEEM and its SDOE component came to constitute the largest academic department of its kind in the US, planning began at the highest levels of the university to expand the programs of the department into a full-scale fourth distinct school at Stevens.
The SSE will occupy the fifth floor of the new Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr Centre for Technology Management at 6th and River Streets on the Stevens campus.
