Prof.
de Weck to present keynote address
at The First International Symposium
on Symbiotic, Safe and Secure System
Design in Japan
February
13, 2009
Keio
University in Japan celebrated its
150th anniversary last year with the
founding of a new Graduate School
of System Design and Management (see
story).
During the same year, Keio University
won a major proposal for a new Global
Center of Excellence (GCOE) for Symbiotic,
Safe and Secure System Design from
the Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science & Technology
(MEXT). The Global
COE Program, the Center for Education
and Research of Safe, Secure and Symbiotic
System Design (mechanical, civil
engineering, architectural and other
fields of engineering), was selected
in FY2008.This program intends to
solve a large range of systems problems,
from artificial systems to social
systems, which have been constructed
in post-war Japan, while also training
future leaders to be able to solve
such systems problems. The center
is headed by Prof. Takashi Maeno.
To
celebrate its first year of operations,
a symposium will be held at Keio's
new Collaboration Complex on February
20, 2009. The Symposium
will focus on research and education
in the context of the new Keio
University Curriculum in System Design
and Management. This curriculum
offers both masters and doctoral degrees
and was inspired by MIT's Engineering
Systems Division.
Prof.
de Weck's keynote address will present
the background, objectives, pedagogical
approach and first year results of
a new project-oriented class called
ALPS (Active Learning Project Sequence)
that was jointly developed and taught
with Prof. Kos Ishii from Stanford
University.
The Active
Learning Project Sequence is a Capstone
Experience for Multi-disciplinary
System Design and Management Education.
Whereas team project-based learning
of engineering design has attracted
wide acceptance, it is still rare
to see a curriculum that addresses
high level societal needs involving
diverse students with technical and
non-technical background and a wide
range of practical experience. ALPS
is a collaborative curriculum between
Keio University, MIT, and Stanford.
The faculty team combined their experience
and used the System Development “V-Model”
as a roadmap for the curriculum. ALPS
begins from a high level “Voice
of Society,” from which the
project teams generated solution scenarios,
identified requirements, and described
the proposed system solutions using
appropriate prototypes of not only
hardware, but other amorphous means.
The theme for 2008 was “Enhancing
Senior Life in Japan,” which
led to a variety of systems solutions
ranging from physical products to
information systems and social innovations.
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