SERC Celebrates Life of Dr. Barclay Brown
The Systems Engineering Research Center honors the late Dr. Barclay Brown, who channeled a diverse educational background to think innovatively about systems engineering and many other fields.
Although Dr. Brown was not a SERC researcher, he attended and presented at numerous SERC events, including the annual AI4SE & SE4AI Research and Application Workshop. His contributions include “Hiring Trained Animals – Generative AI Patterns and Practices for Systems Engineering,” “Requirement Discovery Using Embedded Knowledge Graph with ChatGPT,” and “Data Requirements and the Green School Bus Problem.”
Dr. Brown and SERC CTO Tom McDermott worked closely together the past several years to advance AI4SE & SE4AI themes, as well as INCOSE’s AI Systems Working Group and numerous SERC and industry relationships. “My sense of loss is hard to put into words,” McDermott said. “Barclay and I became great friends in this relationship, and I absolutely loved working with him and his wife Honor. He will be missed, particularly by me but also by all the other SERC faculty and staff who interacted with him.”
Dr. Brown served as Senior Fellow for AI Research at Collins Aerospace, where he focused on generative AI and large language model applications. He previously led a team on machine learning design and verification with SAE International, implemented model-based systems engineering for Raytheon’s business unit, directed industry marketing for aerospace and defense for Aras, and worked various roles in engineering and business development at IBM. He published a guidebook, Engineering Intelligent Systems, in 2002.
Dr. Brown also devoted much of his time to INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering). During his membership that started in 2005, he served stints as Chief Information Officer, Assistant Director for Online Collaboration, and Director for the Americas. He created and led the Systems Engineering Quality Management Working Group, and he presided as Master of Ceremonies for INCOSE’s International Symposium in 2015 and 2018.
Dr. Brown displayed an aptitude for science, engineering, and technology at an early age, including to write code professionally and teach computing while still in high school. He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, a graduate degree in psychology from the University of West Georgia, an MBA from Kennesaw State University, and a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Central Florida. He also pursued graduate studies in philosophy from Georgia State University and was earning a law degree from UCLA.
Dr. Brown will rest in Savannah, Georgia. He is survived by his wife, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew. He will also be remembered by SERC colleagues and throughout the system engineering community for his professional engagement and warm friendship.
Read more about Dr. Brown and remembrances from family and friends. Follow SERC on LinkedIn for updates on systems engineering research.