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The Annual
Charles L. Miller Lecture
Engineering
Systems- Past Perspectives and Future Visions
By Professor
Daniel Roos
Associate Dean for Engineering Systems
Co-Director, MIT Engineering Systems Division
Click
here to view event poster.
About
the Lecture:
The
engineering profession today faces a series of unprecedented
challenges, many of them reflecting the changed context
in which engineers practice. The converging forces of increased
system complexity, and the social impact of technology --
with the related need for increased leadership by engineers
-- call for a redefinition of engineering education and
practice. Engineers today need to consider technological
elements as part of a larger system, which means using approaches
far different from those based on the traditional engineering
science paradigm.
Today,
with products and systems increasing in size, scope and
complexity, change is everywhere. Individual companies are
developing production facilities at sites around the world,
and relying on complex supply chains to compete in a global
marketplace. Production schedules are growing ever shorter.
Environmental concerns like global warming, air pollution,
and recycling requirements are affecting the design of both
products and processes. The Internet, meanwhile, is totally
changing how engineers conceive, design and deliver systems,
products and services.
The
upshot of such changes is an era of unprecedented technological
opportunity, with technology affecting all aspects of economic
and social development, including communications, transportation,
health care, energy production and use, and even housing.
At the same time, public concern about many technologies
has increased.
With
the changes in the context for engineering, similar new
directions are needed in engineering education and practice
today. For future engineers to succeed, they'll need to
be thoroughly versed in the principles of engineering systems.
An engineering systems approach requires developing frameworks
and methodologies that reflect new technical concerns such
as quality, robustness, flexibility, and adaptability of
the products and systems. But engineering today requires
that we go beyond the consideration of new technical criteria.
An engineering systems approach means understanding the
social, regulatory, environmental, cultural and other constraints
affecting product development and marketing. These are difficult
issues for many engineers. Not only do they require a grasp
of areas the engineers have traditionally left to others,
they also require working with a broader set of actors than
in the past.
Professor
Daniel Roos Associate Dean for Engineering Systems will
summarize the development of Engineering Systems and how
this new field of study affects engineering education and
practice. The talk explores engineering systems educational
and research initiatives at MIT over the past 25 years which
led to the creation of the Engineering Systems Division
in 1998. Engineering Systems programs at other universities
are also examined. Roos suggests that Engineering Systems
provides new leadership opportunities for the engineering
profession and new educational programs at engineering schools
to prepare those leaders.
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