For the 16th time, the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) convened the annual SERC Research Review to hear technical presentations, strategic insights, and executive perspectives from senior sponsors in the Department of Defense (DoD).
“It’s amazing,” said SERC Executive Director Dinesh Verma during his opening remarks. “It feels like yesterday we had our first review, and here we are in our 16th.”
Dr. Verma previewed the agenda focused on five thematic areas: Digital Engineering and Digital Acquisition; Test and Evaluation; Cyber Resilience; Agile Development; and AI and Systems Engineering. “We believe these are the key items that matter from a strategic point of view for the DoD,” Verma said.
In a new agenda feature, two presentations were labeled as SERC Strategic Talks. SERC Chief Scientist Zoe Szajnfarber (The George Washington University) spoke on “Trust and Trustworthiness in AI-Enabled Systems.” Dr. Peter Beling (Virginia Tech) and SERC CTO Tom McDermott discussed “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.”
Aligned with the five focus areas, seven technical presentations covered recent or ongoing SERC research projects. Dr. Bryan Mesmer (The University of Alabama in Huntsville) is a regular speaker at the SERC Research Review and returned in 2024 to share his insights on “Improving and Assessing Architectures and Architecture Decision Making.”
“The SERC Research Review is an incredible opportunity to present current research to my academic colleagues, industry partners, and government sponsors,” Mesmer said. “The insights that are gained from this community helps mold the research to further increase its quality and usability to practitioners. Presenting is an amazing opportunity, and I look forward to participating again in future years.”
Additionally, Beling and Mr. Scott Lucero (Virginia Tech) discussed “Trusted AI SE Challenge.” Dr. Mark Blackburn (Stevens Institute of Technology) spoke on “Transforming SE to MBSE and Roadmapping a Framework of Computationally Enabled Ontologies for Digital Engineering.” Dr. Laura Freeman (Virginia Tech) presented on “Digital Engineering for Test and Evaluation.”
Dr. Michael Orosz (University of Southern California) discussed “Space Systems Command Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Directorate – Mission Engineering and Integration, of Emerging Technologies.” Dr. Sachin Shetty (Old Dominion University) and Beling spoke on “Center for Offshore Wind Energy Cyber Vulnerabilities and Threat Identification.” Ms. Philomena Zimmerman (Stevens Institute of Technology) and McDermott presented on “Digital Materiel Management / Digital Engineering Strategy.”
For the morning keynote address, the SERC welcomed the Honorable Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, who serves as Director, Operational Test & Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Schmidt attended through an invitation from Dr. Freeman, who serves on the SERC Research Council. “The SERC Research Review is a great forum for connecting academic research with the DoD,” Freeman said. “Dr. Schmidt has been pushing for updating T&E practice to keep pace with the evolving technology and threat landscape. As an AI researcher and senior T&E professional, he provides novel insights into how the academic research community can solve the big challenges the T&E community faces today.”
There was also an insightful panel with three members of the DoD’s Senior Executive Service (SES): Ms. Kristen Baldwin, who serves as 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); Ms. Jennifer Swanson, who serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering & Software (presentation slides); and Mr. Thomas Simms, who serves as Principal Deputy Executive Director, Systems Engineering and Architecture in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (presentation slides).
All presentation slides from the SERC Research Review are available for download on the event page. See pictures on Flickr, and follow SERC on LinkedIn for regular updates on systems engineering research.
