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September
15, 2009
A dynamic slate of industry experts and MIT
faculty will speak on the importance of using a systems-based
approach to solving complex interdisciplinary problems at
the 2009
Conference on Systems Thinking for Contemporary Challenges:
Addressing complexity in health care, energy, space, and
the environment. The event, sponsored by MIT’s System
Design and Management (SDM) program, will be held October
22-23, 2009, on the MIT campus.
Senior executives will offer insights into
best practices for applying systems thinking at their organizations,
which include Partners HealthCare, Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, GE, John Deere, IBM, and NASA. MIT experts
Joel Moses, Olivier de Weck, Pat Hale, Deborah Nightingale,
Stan Finklestein, Joseph Coughlin, Stephen Connors, and
Margaret Stringfellow will provide information on applying
new engineering systems methodologies to address complex
challenges. In energy and the environment, this will include
planetary water management, wind power, sustainable agricultural
production systems, and regional energy sustainability.
A systems-based approach will be also be described for improving
patient safety, delivering stroke care, applying lean principles
in hospitals, and addressing the impact of an aging population
on health care.
Pat Hale, Director of the SDM Fellows Program,
said systems-based approaches are critically needed today.
“Systems thinking, systems engineering, and engineering
systems methodologies are imperative for technical professionals
in industry, academia, and government to understand and
implement,” he said. “This conference will describe
why and how these methodologies can produce scalable approaches
for creating technologically appropriate solutions to challenges
that are critical to the survival of our nation and our
planet.”
John M. Grace, SDM’s Industry Codirector
added that the event has been specifically designed to provide
value not only for professionals across all industries.
“The intent is to offer practical information that
can be adapted and applied to any complex challenge, so
that attendees can demonstrate value to their companies
when they return to the office,” he said.
Agenda and registration information can be
found at http://sdm.mit.edu/conf09.
Created in 1996, MIT’s career compatible System Design
and Management (SDM) program is the Institute’s first
graduate-level degree granting program with a distance learning
option. SDM was created to educate future technical leaders
in architecting, engineering, and designing complex products
and systems and to give them the leadership and management
skills necessary to work successfully across organizations.
SDM is co-sponsored by MIT Sloan School of
Management and the MIT School of Engineering and resides
within the MIT Engineering Systems Division. It provides
technical/engineering depth and management breadth, and
leads to an MS in Engineering and Management granted jointly
by the two schools. Several hundred students from dozens
of countries and hundreds of companies representing a wide
range of industries have attended SDM. More than half of
recently matriculated SDM students hold Masters or Doctoral
degrees earned prior to entering the program.
For more information, please visit http://sdm.mit.edu.
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