November 3^rd marked the 13^th annual SERC Sponsor Research Review (SSRR) with the 9^th annual SERC Doctoral Students Forum (SDSF) wrapping our annual event on November 4^th.

This three-day event unites all sectors of the systems engineering and acquisition research communities–government, industry, and academia–and provides an opportunity to share progress on research addressing the most challenging issues facing the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal departments and agencies. Recordings and related artifacts from November 3-4 are available below.

NOVEMBER 2: AIRC Day | NOVEMBER 3: SSRR | NOVEMBER 4: SDSF

3 NOV. PLENARY SESSIONS

Opening Remarks & Keynote

WELCOME — Dr. Dinesh Verma, Executive Director, SERC/AIRC
OPENING REMARKS — Ms. Stephanie Possehl , Acting Deputy Director for Engineering and Director for Engineering Policy and Systems
MORNING KEYNOTE — Mr. Maynard Holliday, Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Modernization
PRESENTATION

Panel on Modernization Priorities

SERC OUSD(R&E) Panelists:

Mr. Maynard Holliday (Dir Modernization)
Mr. Ian Crone (Dir Cyber)
Dr. Jill Crisman (Dir AI)
Dr. Jaret C. Riddick (Dir Autonomy)
Dr. Stephanie Rogers (Dir Biotechnology)

Moderated by Dr. Dan DeLaurentis, SERC Chief Scientist, Purdue

Panel on Systems Engineering Modernization

Panelists:

Mr. Geoff Draper, L3 Harris
Mr. Chris Schreiber, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Ms. Philomena Zimmerman, OUSD(R&E)
Hosted by Ms. Nadine Geier, OUSD(R&E)

Moderated by Mr. Tom McDermott, SERC Deputy Director/CTO, Stevens Institute of Technology

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

Digital Engineering

WRT-1040 | Application of Digital Engineering Measures
Mr. Tom McDermott, Stevens Institute of Technology; Ms. Kaitlin Henderson, Virginia Tech
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1036/ART-002 | Transforming Systems Engineering through Model-Centric Engineering / MBSE
Dr. Mark Blackburn, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGES: (NAVAIR) / (CCDC)

ART-008 | Design Evaluation Automation and Optimization
Dr. Kishore Pochiraju, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

ART-005 | Methods for Integrating Dynamic Requirements
Dr. William Rouse, Georgetown University
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

ART-016 | IME Architecture Process for Vertical Lift Systems
Dr. Bryan Mesmer, University of Alabama Huntsville
PRESENTATION

ART-015 | New Observing Strategies Testbed (NOS-T) Design and Development
Dr. Paul Grogan, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1030 | Electronic Warfare Mission Engineering
Mr. Joel Patton, Virginia Tech
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

AI & Autonomy

WRT-1025 | Architecting for Digital Twins and MCE with Part II
Presented by: Dr. Mark Austin, University of Maryland on behalf of PI: Dr. Mark Blackburn, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1017 | Keyphrase Extraction Using Language Embeddings – Phase I & Phase II
Presented by: Mr. Bingyang Wen on behalf of PI: Dr. K. P. Subbalakshmi, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1028 | Validation Framework for Assuring Adaptive and Learning-Enabled Systems
Presented by: Dr. Daniel Shapiro, University of Alabama Huntsville on behalf of PI: Dr. Bryan Mesmer, University of Alabama Huntsville
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1023 | Analyzing and Assessing Contracts for Embedded Risk
Dr. Carlo Lipizzi, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1019 | Adaptive Cyber-Physical-Human Systems Testbed
Dr. Azad Madni, University of Southern California
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

Velocity

WRT-1012/1041 | Global Positioning Systems – Mission Engineering and Integration of Emerging Technologies
Dr. Michael Orosz, University of Southern California
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

Security

WRT-1022 | Developmental Test and Evaluation and Cyber Resilient Systems
Dr. Peter Beling, Virginia Tech
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1033 | Transitioning Mission Aware Concepts and Methods to Evaluate Cost Risk Decisions for Security Assurance Design
Mr. Tom McDermott, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1027 | Ecology-Inspired Techniques for Resilient Design of System of Systems
Dr. Richard Malak, Texas A&M
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

Human Capital Development

WRT-1043 | DAU Digital Engineering Simulation
Dr. Nicole Hutchison, Stevens Institute of Technology; Mr. Paul Wach, Virginia Tech
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1035 | Capstone Marketplace 2020-21
CAPT Bill Shepherd, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1055 | Policy Options to Promote DoD-Defense Industry Collaboration in STEM
Dr. Ruth David, Dr. Jeff Wilcox, Stevens Institute of Technology
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

WRT-1042 | Policy Innovations to Enhance the STEM Talent Pipeline
Dr. William Rouse, Georgetown University
PRESENTATION | PROJECT PAGE

NOVEMBER 4

TUTORIALS

DIGITAL ENGINEERING TUTORIAL
Dr. Mark Blackburn – Stevens Institute of Technology

Skyzer Surrogate Pilot Overview and MBSE Cost Model Use Case with Model Tour Demonstration

SECURITY ENGINEERING TUTORIAL

Dr. Peter Beling – Virginia Tech

SERC Systems and Cyber Resilience Modeling

Abstract: Dr. Peter Beling will lead a tutorial on using modeling and simulation to support cyber resilience. Dr. Beling, joined by Tom McDermott (CTO, SERC), will discuss the latest findings from SERC security research and introduce two methods that are based upon more than six years of SERC research: 1) Framework for Operational Resilience in Engineering and Systems Test (FOREST), a meta-process model for use by the development and operational community that supports analysis and evaluation of resilience features in a system; and 2) Mission Aware (MA), a cybersecurity requirements elicitation process and MBSE metamodeling approach that captures cyber resilience requirements and patterns in a model-based design and test process for application across a systems lifecycle. The tutorial will present a step-by-step example of the methods applied to a fictional system called Silverfish, as captured in systems modeling tools. Target Audience: Anyone interested in the application of cyber resilience principles in the development of models and simulations, and anyone interested in understanding how modeling and simulation can build understanding and improve the efficacy of incorporating cyber resilience into system design. Prerequisites/Preferred Pre-Knowledge: Knowledge of systems engineering. An awareness of visual modeling is useful, but not essential. Method: Lecture/Demo/Video About the Instructor: Dr. Peter A. Beling serves as a SERC Research Council member, providing guidance in the Trusted Systems research area. Dr. Beling is a Professor in the Hume Center for National Security and Technology within the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Dr. Beling received his Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley and has held positions at the Center for Naval Analyses and the IBM Almaden Research Center, as well as most recently at the University of Virginia (UVA). Dr. Beling’s research interests are in data analytics and decision-making in complex systems, with emphasis on adaptive decision support systems and reinforcement learning. His research has found application in a variety of domains, including smart manufacturing, resilient cyber physical systems, finance, and consumer credit. Previously at UVA, he directed the Adaptive Decision Systems Laboratory, which focuses on data analytics and decision support in cyber-physical systems. He is the co-founder of the Financial Decision Engineering research group at UVA, which is a focal point for research on systems engineering approaches to decisions and analyses in the financial and consumer credit domains. Dr. Beling has served as editor and reviewer for many academic journals and has served as a member of two National Research Council panels.

SERC DOCTORAL STUDENTS FORUM

10 presentations on cutting edge doctoral student research in systems engineering

SERC DOCTORAL FELLOWS PRESENTATIONS

A Systematic Mapping Study of Systems Security Engineering for Modular Open Systems
Ms. Giselle Bonilla-Ortiz — SERC Raytheon Doctoral Fellow, Stevens Institute of Technology
Advisor: Dr. Dinesh Verma
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Quantitative Methods for Set-Based Design (SBD)
Mr. Shawn Dullen — SERC DEVCOMS Doctoral Fellow, Stevens Institute of Technology
Advisor: Dr. Dinesh Verma
PRESENTATION

Model Based Exploration of Historical Cases to Generate Insights
Ms. Marilee Wheaton — SERC Aerospace Doctoral Fellow, USC
Advisor: Dr. Azad Madni
PRESENTATION

SERC DOCTORAL STUDENTS PRESENTATIONS

Ecology-Inspired Design of Resilient and Affordable System of Systems
Mr. Abheek Chatterjee, Texas A&M
Advisor: Dr. Astrid Layton
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Architecting Smart City Digital Twins
Ms. Maria Coelho, University of Maryland
Advisor: Dr. Mark Austin
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Quantitatively Analyzing Defensive Actions in Cyberattacks
Mr. Daniel Colvett, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Advisor: Dr. Mikel D. Petty
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Engineering Intelligent Systems: A Systems Theoretic Perspective
Ms. Niloofar Shadab, Virginia Tech
Advisor: Dr. Peter Beling
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Complexity at the Requirement Stage – A Novel Paradigm for System Development
Mr. Maximilian Vierlboeck, Stevens Institute of Technology
Advisor: Dr. Roshanak Nilchiani
PRESENTATION | POSTER

Leveraging Systems Theory to Achieve Verification Agility
Mr. Paul Wach, Virginia Tech
Advisor: Dr. Peter Beling
PRESENTATION | POSTER

“Best Student Presentation” award winner
Reexamining the Logical Foundation of Engineering Decision Making Under Uncertainty
Mr. Christopher White, University of Alabama Huntsville
Advisor: Dr. Bryan Mesmer
PRESENTATION | POSTER