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SERC Updates – August 2025

Aug 28, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

We are excited for the AI4SE & SE4AI Research and Application Workshop on September 17-18. This year we will hear more than 60 presentations, keynotes from Dr. Morgan Dwyer of OpenAI and Dr. Matthew Johnson of CDAO, executive panels with speakers from Lockheed Martin, Palantir, SAIC, and more. Tickets are still available on Eventbrite!

In addition to several research reports, our news section this edition reflects on the passing of one of our colleagues, Dr. Barry Horowitz. Barry was a friend and mentor to many of us, in addition to being a prolific engineer. We will miss him.

Sincerely,
Dinesh Verma
Executive Director

News

6th AI4SE & SE4AI Workshop to Introduce New Presentation Format

The hybrid, two-day workshop at The George Washington University will feature two keynote speakers, executive panels, SERC and Army perspectives, traditional presentations and new interactive sessions.

Scholars and Special Guests Gather for DCTC Showcase

DCTC scholars from Cohorts ’26 and ’27 gathered to learn about the program, see scholar presentations from summer internships, and hear encouraging stories from experienced DoD civilians.

DCTC Scholar Leads Discussion on Change at DAU Event

Faith Jones of Virginia Tech, one of the first DCTC graduates, sat down for an interview about her recent talk at a Defense Acquisition University event and her other experiences in the program.

SERC Mourns Passing of Dr. Barry Horowitz

Longtime members of the SERC community mourn the passing of Dr. Barry Horowitz, who was a talented systems engineer, a leader of the university research network, a mentor, and a friend.

Research Highlights

Trusted AI & SE Challenge: Summary of Heat 3 Deliverables

This Heat 3 report shows the efforts of student teams from The George Washington University, Old Dominion, Purdue, Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

Digital Data Strategy Pilots for Acquisition and Sustainment

Dr. Laura Freeman and a Virginia Tech team explored how DoD acquisition and sustainment programs can integrate supply chain data to enable predictive logistics and risk-informed investments.

Automated Interface for NLP Keyword Analysis in DoD Documents

Dr. Jose Ramirez Marquez led a Stevens Institute of Technology team to develop an automated user interface for natural language processing analysis to streamline decision-making in the Department of Defense.

Cooperative, Secure Data Science Environments and Repositories

Dr. Stephen Adams of Virginia Tech and colleagues developed DARCIE 2.0, the Defense Acquisitions Research, Collaboration and Innovation Environment, for analysis across the spectrum of defense acquisition.

Events

The theme of this year’s hybrid AI4SE workshop is “Systems Engineering AI that Works: Assuring Transformative Capabilities and Enabling a Digital Transformation.” See details and registration information on the event page.

Opportunities

The submission window is open for the 13th annual SERC Doctoral Student Forum, taking place November 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, as part of the 17th annual SERC Research Review. Doctoral students at SERC collaborating universities are eligible to present and compete for the Boehm Award. See guidelines on the submission form, and read about recent winners Ms. Sonali Sinha Roy of Purdue (pictured above second from right) and Ms. Casey Eaton of The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Collaborators Corner

Three SERC researchers have had reasons to celebrate recently. Executive Director Dr. Dinesh Verma received the Pioneer Award at the 2025 INCOSE International Symposium (photo credit: INCOSE on LinkedIn). Dr. Laura Freeman of Virginia Tech was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dr. Bryan Mesmer of The University of Alabama in Huntsville was named chair of the Industrial and Systems Engineering & Engineering Management Department. Congratulations to all three!

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