Researcher

Dr. Jo Ann Lane is currently the systems engineering Co-Director of the University of Southern California Center for Systems and Software Engineering, a member of the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) Research Council representing the system of systems research area, and emeritus professor of computer science at San Diego State University. Her current areas of research include system of systems engineering (SoSE), SoSE processes, SoSE cost modeling, system of systems interoperability, SoSE test and evaluation, system affordability, system development feasibility assessments, expediting systems engineering, balancing lean and agile techniques with technical debt, and innovation in systems engineering.

Her list of publications includes over 50 journal articles and conference papers. In addition, she was co-author of the 2014 Incremental Commitment Spiral Model: Principles and Practices for Successful Systems, co-author of the 2008 Department of Defense (DoD) Systems Engineering Guide for Systems of Systems, and a contributor to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK).

Prior to her current work in academia, she had a distinguished career in industry beginning as a software computer scientist, progressively assuming more responsibilities as both a technical chief scientist and a project/program manager, and culminating as a vice president in the Software and Systems Integration Group. During her tenure in industry, she was responsible for the development and integration of software-intensive systems and systems of systems, evaluation and transition to new technologies, development of corporate software development processes, and quantitative assessment of corporate program performance and software development processes. Systems she worked on included healthcare systems of systems; local government information management systems and systems of systems; DoD command, control, and communications systems; integrated undersea surveillance systems; aircraft simulator systems; and the Global Positioning System.

She received her PhD in systems engineering from the University of Southern California, her Master’s Degree in computer science from San Diego State University, and her Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics from San Diego State University. She is currently a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) professional organizations and Past President of the San Diego Chapter of INCOSE.