George Mason University will be hosting the 10th International Engineering Systems Symposium, CESUN 2025, on June 9-11, 2025. The symposium seeks to bring together researchers from multiple backgrounds to address challenges posed by complex, interconnected socio-technical systems.
NPS Annual Acquisition Research Symposium 2025
The Naval Postgraduate School is hosting the 22nd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium & Innovation Summit on May 7-8, 2025. A diverse group of acquisition professionals will have the opportunity to connect with scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in this research-focused forum.
IEEE SysCon 2025
The 19th annual IEEE International Systems Conference will be held on April 7-10, 2025 at the Delta Hotels Montreal. The IEEE Systems Council facilitates interactions among communities of interest on system-level problems and applications.
Conference on Systems Engineering Research 2025
Researchers in academia, industry, and government have the opportunity to present, discuss, and influence systems engineering research at CSER, co-founded in 2003 by University of Southern California and Stevens Institute of Technology.
2025 Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference
This event serves to address the critical issues and challenges of the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on topics in science, technology, and security. This conference encourages leaders in academia, industry, and government to ideate solutions, with showcases in support of joint fires, information advantage, contested logistics, and other joint warfighting challenges.
SERC UPDATES – February 2025
FEBRUARY 2025
Dear Colleagues,
We hope 2025 is off to a productive start. Throughout the SERC and AIRC network, we are eager for another year of vigorous research, workshops, conference presentations, and engagement with the broader systems and acquisition communities. We remain dedicated to producing high-value research for our sponsors across the Department of Defense.
This newsletter includes a report on how AIRC is guiding the Defense Civilian Training Corps pilot program, a recap of a webinar Dr. Laura Freeman hosted on generative AI, and a welcome to Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez as AIRC’s first Director of Acquisition Analytics.
Sincerely,
Dinesh Verma
Executive Director
Freeman of the SERC Research Council Leads Generative AI Webinar
Dr. Laura Freeman of Virginia Tech moderated a panel with representatives from government and academia that discussed the potential for generative AI to influence the DoD acquisition process.
AIRC Adds First Director of Acquisition Analytics
Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez of Stevens Institute of Technology will track the dynamic convergence of defense acquisition, data, and analytics.
AI4SE & SE4AI Workshop Early Interest Form
Get updates for this fall’s workshop co-hosted with the U.S. Army DEVCOM Armaments Center, with a theme of “Systems Engineering AI That Works: Assuring Transformative Capabilities and Enabling a Digital Transformation.”
Research in Support of DCTC Development, Piloting and Instrumentation
This full-length report details AIRC efforts to pilot the Defense Civilian Training Corps at four universities and shows its potential for scale to prepare larger numbers of talented students for civilian DoD careers.
Implementing a Digital Data Strategy for Acquisition and Sustainment
AIRC Chief Scientist Dr. Philip Antón partnered with Virginia Tech researchers to develop frameworks, models, and practical next steps for transforming the DoD A&S community into a next-generation data-driven organization.
Systemic Factors Influencing Risk Aversion
Dr. Amanda Girth of the SERC Research Council and Dr. Laura Maguire and Dr. Mike Rayo of Ohio State collaborated with the Air Force Installation Contracting Center to study systemic pressures that impede innovation.
Bot Automation Using Large Language Models and Plugins
Dr. Naren Ramakrishnan and colleagues from Virginia Tech developed tools that automate information extraction pipelines to support business processes in contract and procurement management.
Test and Evaluation Methods for Middle-Tier Acquisition
Mr. Geoff Kerr of Virginia Tech and Dr. Laura Freeman led seven organizations collaborating on research for the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation’s Strategic Initiatives, Policy, and Emerging Technologies Directorate.
Transforming T&E for AI/ML, Autonomous, and Evolving Systems
Kerr and Freeman also produced this report regarding ongoing research for DOT&E to develop concepts and best practices to address new capabilities and methods for T&E.
Development of an Artificial Intelligence Test Harness for the DoD
A large team from Virginia Tech designed a framework for an AI test harness that could be applied to multiple types of AI models, including for use cases involving radio frequency machine learning and large language models.
March 3-7, 2025
NDIA Pacific Operational Science and Technology (POST) Conference (Honolulu, HI)
March 18-21, 2025
Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) (Long Beach, CA)
April 7-10, 2025
IEEE SysCon (Montreal, Canada)
May 7-8, 2025
Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Symposium (Monterey, CA)
June 9-11, 2025
CESUN International Engineering Systems Symposium (Arlington, VA)
July 26-31, 2025
INCOSE International Symposium (Ottawa, Canada | Hybrid)
We invite collaborators to submit research news to be included in future releases of the SERC Updates.
Resources:
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