SERC Doctoral Student Forum Award Renamed in Honor of Dr. Barry W. Boehm
The Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) 14th Annual Research Review, held on November 16, provided an opportunity to recognize and celebrate Dr. Barry W. Boehm, former SERC Research Council Chair and Chief Scientist Emeritus. SERC and AIRC Executive Director Dr. Dinesh Verma announced that the Doctoral Student Presentation Award, presented annually for the best research presentation delivered by a doctoral student at the SERC Doctoral Student Forum (SDSF), would be renamed the Dr. Barry Boehm Award for Doctoral Student Research Excellence in memory of Dr. Boehm, who passed away on August 20, 2022.
Dr. Barry Boehm
At the event’s morning welcome, Dr. Verma noted that Dr. Boehm (University of Southern California) joined SERC “as Chief Scientist and led in engaging the right researchers and universities and establishing the collaborative networking ethos within the SERC.” Dr. Boehm’s belief that the work of Ph.D. students should be recognized resulted in expanding the SERC Annual Research Review to include the SDSF, at which doctoral students conducting highly relevant, systems engineering (SE)-related research could present their research in an open forum amongst practitioners from academia, government and industry. Dr. Verma went on to conclude that Dr. Boehm’s family felt it was especially fitting to rename this award in his honor.
Dr. Boehm’s impressive body of work and history of leadership guided the decision to rename the award. His career spanned over six decades and included ground-breaking advances in software and SE. He published prolifically and a Springer analysis lists him as the second most cited software engineer in the world, testament to the applicability and longevity of his work. Dr. Boehm was a leader on integrating software in systems and contributed findings and insights on using a systems perspective on both the technical aspects of development and on how organizational characteristics impact software and systems development. When the Stevens Institute of Technology was awarded the original SERC University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) contract in 2008, Dr. Boehm was engaged in both the leadership and research of the SERC, serving as the Chief Scientist and the Chair of the Research Council. In 2018, Dr. Boehm received the SERC Founders Award, which praised his contributions towards making SERC a national resource. In May 2022, Barry retired from professional life to spend more time with his beloved wife, Sharla.
This year’s 11th annual SDSF provided the opportunity to select the first recipient of the renamed award. Students conducting innovative SE-related research and exemplifying a passion for addressing the most challenging SE issues facing the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal departments and agencies are encouraged to participate. The award is given in recognition of potential impact, advancement of SE, originality, technical content, as well as clarity of presentation.
2022 Recipient of the Dr. Barry Boehm Award for Doctoral Student Research Excellence
This year’s first ever Dr. Barry Boehm Award for Doctoral Student Research Excellence was presented to Mr. Daniel Herrington, who is a Doctoral candidate in the Systems Engineering Department at the Naval Postgraduate School. Mr. Herrington’s areas of research interest include model-based systems engineering and applications of graph theory, with an emphasis on tools that improve engineering efficiency through reuse of past work. He is currently an Operations Research Analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, DC, where he leads assessments of Tactical Aircraft development and procurement programs, supply chain resiliency, and long-term strategic competition. Mr. Herrington holds a B.S. in Economics from The George Washington University, an M.A. in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.S. in Engineering Systems from the Naval Postgraduate School.