Resources | Symposium 2004

 

Engineering Systems Symposium March 29-31, 2004 Tang Center - Wong Auditorium, MIT –––––––––––––––––––––––– Sponsored by:   Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Cambridge-MIT Institute MIT Industrial Liaison Program MIT School of Engineering     On-line registration for the March 29-31 Engineering Systems Symposium is closed.  There is limited space available for on-site registration on Monday and Tuesday, March 29th and 30th. A major symposium on engineering systems will be held at MIT on March 29-31, 2004. The first two days of the Symposium will feature plenary sessions with invited speakers from industry, government, and academia. The third day will feature accepted papers on specific topics in engineering systems with an emphasis on foundational issues. For a preliminary agenda for the third day, please click here. The Symposium will explore the emerging field of engineering systems. Prominent speakers from industry and government will describe issues and challenges in engineering systems based on their real world experiences. Academics from MIT and other leading universities will discuss advances in engineering systems research and education. The speakers will explore engineering systems from several different perspectives including foundational issues (e.g. complexity, flexibility, uncertainty, emergence, system architecture), system domains (e.g. transportation, energy, telecommunications, aerospace), and contextual considerations (e.g. social, political, economic and institutional factors). Some of the speakers are: Charles Vest, President of MIT; William Wulf, President of the National Academy of Engineering; Sheila Widnall, MIT Institute Professor and member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board; Travis Engen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcan; Joseph Bordogna, Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation; Mortimer Downey, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation; Fred Salvucci, architect of the Boston Central Artery Project (the "Big Dig"); Joel Moses, MIT Institute Professor; Thomas Hughes, Emeritus Mellon Professor of the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania; Robert Lucky, Corporate Vice President, Applied Research, Bellcore; Mary Good, former Undersecretary of Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce; and Lui Pao Chuen, Chief Defense Scientist, Singapore. About Engineering Systems: The engineering profession today faces a series of unprecedented challenges as the size, scope, and complexity of engineering systems increase at an accelerating rate. Engineering system problems present new and difficult design considerations because of globalization, emerging technological opportunities, rising consumer expectations and increasing social requirements. New frameworks, methodologies and approaches must be developed to better understand engineering systems behavior and design. In addition to increasing technical complexity, an engineer must consider organizational and societal requirements to insure that engineering systems are developed on time, on budget and performs to technical expectations.