SERC Updates – February 2026
Dear Colleagues,
We hope you are enjoying a productive 2026. At SERC and AIRC, we have been busy with research like the kind Dr. Michael Orosz is pursuing for the Space Force and what a team from Virginia Tech has conducted on technical seams in the acquisition ecosystem.
We are also excited about new developments. This spring, we will host our first AIRC Insights webinar. This summer, we will edit a special issue of INCOSE INSIGHT. In the next few days, we will open the call for abstracts for this fall’s AI4SE & SE4AI Research and Application Workshop. You can read the new final report from last year’s workshop below.
Cheers,
Dinesh Verma
Executive Director
News
New AIRC Insights Series Explores Solutions to Pressing Acquisition Challenges
The new AIRC Insights webinar series will gather the acquisition community across government, industry, and academia on the most important challenges facing acquisition and national defense.
SERC Special Issue of INCOSE INSIGHT
SERC will guest edit an issue that traces the progress of AI and automation in SE methods, processes, tools, and applications across the decade from 2020 to a look ahead in 2030.
SERC Celebrates Life of Dr. Barclay Brown
Dr. Brown, who passed away in January, has a lasting legacy in the systems engineering community. SERC CTO Tom McDermott reflected on Dr. Brown’s contributions and their friendship.
Research Highlights
Final Report: 2025 AI4SE & SE4AI Workshop
The final report from last fall’s two-day workshop explores insights from two keynote speeches, two panel discussions, 60 technical presentations, and perspective remarks from SERC and the United States Army.
Mission Engineering and Integration of Emerging Technologies
In this SERC article with bonus audio, Dr. Michael Orosz of the University of Southern California gives an update on his multi-year research to develop Agile/DevSecOps tools for the United States Space Force.
Digital Acquisition Across R&E and A&S Technical Seams
An AIRC research team from Virginia Tech reviewed technical seams across the acquisition ecosystem to identify data-driven opportunities for improving alignment, information flow, and coordination.
Events
“AIRC Insights will disseminate research insights from academia and provide a forum for provocative discussions on how to pursue the government’s acquisition transformation strategy and other needed transformations across the acquisition system,” said AIRC Chief Scientist Dr. Philip Antón. The first session is tentatively planned for April 7. The Zoom registration link will be shared when it is available.
- Conference on Systems Engineering Research | April 6-9, 2026 | Arlington, VA
- IEEE SysCon | April 6-9, 2026 | Halifax, Canada
- NPS Acquisition Research Symposium | May 6-7, 2026 | Monterey, CA
- INCOSE International Symposium | June 13-18, 2026 | Yokohama, Japan