ESD initiates research focused on science and technology issues of national and international importance. These studies, which range from next generation manufacturing to global telecommunications delivery, build on $20 million a year in research activity at ESD centers and programs.

As a vital part of engineering systems education, ESD faculty and students work with hundreds of enterprises and have forged novel industry-government-academic relationships. Examples of current research initiatives:

Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals
ESD’s Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals was founded in September 2005 to conduct research on the fundamentals and cross-cutting issues in Engineering Systems.

CESF is engaged in several areas, among them developing seminars and other mechanisms to discuss Engineering Systems fundamentals; collaborating with faculty to bring in resources for CESF and shape its relationships with ESD’s other research centers, the Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development and the Center for Transportation and Logistics; and sponsoring an Engineering Systems book series and a biannual international symposium on Engineering Systems fundamentals.

MIT Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development
The Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development (CTPID), a multi-industry research enterprise, applies intellectual tools from engineering, management, and the social sciences to critical industry issues. CTPID's ten research programs investigate sustainable global solutions to challenges in aerospace, automotive production and transportation, Internet technology and policy, materials systems, and technology and law. Over 80 corporations and government agencies support CTPID research. CTPID recently sponsored a conference entitled The Third Wave: Industry Opportunities for the Internet-Enabled Future, which explored the technological, business, and policy forces shaping the future of the Internet and creating new industry challenges.

Motorola, Eastman Kodak Company, and Compaq Computer Corporation are among the 24 industry partner companies that support Leaders for Manufacturing Program research on topics such as the organizational dynamics of change, large system development, and multi-step manufacturing flows.

MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics
As regional leader of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers Program, the Center for Transportation and Logistics hosts over 100 projects in a dozen research areas ranging from logistics and network analysis to urban and regional transportation. The center’s Intelligent Transportation Systems program is currently developing new traffic sensor technology in a project sponsored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Federal Highway Administration.

The Council of Engineering Systems Universities
The Council of Engineering Systems Universities (CESUN) was established in 2004 by universities offering educational and research programs in engineering systems. CESUN membership includes over 30 universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Council provides a mechanism for the member universities to work together developing engineering systems as a new field of study. An overall objective of the Council is to broaden engineering education and practice.