The 16th annual SERC Research Review will be a showcase of SERC research, strategic perspectives, and executive insights from special guests from the Department of Defense (DoD).
The gathering will take place on November 12 in Washington, DC. “The SERC Research Review is an opportunity to hear directly from a number of principal investigators from across the SERC collaborating universities, as they lead research on high-impact projects,” said SERC Executive Director Dinesh Verma.
The Honorable Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, who serves as Director, Operational Test & Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, will give the keynote address.
Dr. Verma will moderate a panel with three members of the DoD Senior Executive Service (SES): Ms. Kristen J. Baldwin, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology, and Engineering in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics); Mr. Thomas Simms, who is Principal Deputy Executive Director, Systems Engineering and Architecture in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E); and Ms. Jennifer Swanson, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering & Software.
Seven technical presentations will cover SERC research projects. “The SERC Research Review agenda demonstrates the breadth of the SERC’s research and its unique ability to address important real-world challenges with rigorous research,” said Chief Scientist Zoe Szajnfarber (The George Washington University).
Dr. Peter Beling (Virginia Tech) will discuss “Trusted AI SE Challenge” which involves a project he is running with several university teams. Beling recently presented on it during the 2024 AI4SE & SE4AI Research and Application Workshop the SERC co-organized with the Army DEVCOM Armaments Center.
Dr. Mark Blackburn (Stevens Institute of Technology) will speak on “Transforming SE to MBSE and Roadmapping a Framework of Computationally Enabled Ontologies for Digital Engineering.”
Dr. Laura Freeman (Virginia Tech) will present on “Digital Engineering for Test and Evaluation.”
Dr. Bryan Mesmer (The University of Alabama in Huntsville) will speak on “Improving and Assessing Architectures and Architecture Decision Making.” Mesmer has presented on this topic during previous reviews, including in 2022.
Dr. Michael Orosz (University of Southern California) will present on “Space Systems Command Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Directorate – Mission Engineering and Integration, of Emerging Technologies.” Orosz recently joined the SERC Research Council.
Dr. Sachin Shetty (Old Dominion University) will discuss “Center for Offshore Wind Energy Cyber Vulnerabilities and Threat Identification.”
Ms. Phil Zimmerman (Stevens Institute of Technology) and SERC CTO Tom McDermott will discuss “Digital Materiel Management / Digital Engineering Strategy.” They and other SERC researchers and colleagues from the Acquisition Innovation Research Center supported the Air Force and other entities in establishing the Digital Materiel Management Industry Association Consortium.
There will also be two branded SERC Strategic Talks. Dr. Szajnfarber will speak on “Trust and Trustworthiness in AI-Enabled Systems.” Dr. Beling and SERC CTO Tom McDermott will speak on “Secure Cyber-Resilient Engineering Methods and Tools.”
“The SERC five-year technical plan and strategy is currently documented in a set of research roadmaps,” McDermott said. “Two of these roadmaps are Security and AI/Autonomy. As these roadmaps evolve over time, we will continue to present them as SERC Strategic Talks to inform the research community and collect feedback.”
Following the SERC Research Review, the SERC Doctoral Student Forum will take place on November 13. Five doctoral students in systems engineering will compete for the Boehm Award and a monetary prize.
Tickets to both the SERC Research Review and the SERC Doctoral Student Forum are available until November 5. Presentations slides will be added after to the event page.
Follow SERC on LinkedIn for regular updates on systems engineering research.
