Enabling research synergies through a doctoral research network for systems engineering

As contrasted with traditional engineering and science fields, doctoral research in systems engineering is characterized by several unique factors. These include the relatively young tradition of systems engineering academic programs, the necessity for hybrid research methodologies, the existence of strong links with industry and government, and a non-traditional makeup of students in regard to their background, experience levels, and career goals. The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) has set strategic objectives and policies to encourage doctoral level research in systems engineering, and has recently undertaken an initiative to create a doctoral student research network. This paper describes the motivations for and formation of the Systems Engineering and Architecting Doctoral Student Network (SEANET), and presents findings from a survey conducted at the 2006 inaugural workshop event. While limited, this survey gives insight into the demographics of students and underscores the essential role of a network in motivating, encouraging and shaping doctoral research in systems engineering. Implications are discussed based on three key findings from the survey. These include: (1) the pool of systems engineering doctoral students is largely non-traditional; (2) students identified attending workshops and access to data as the two most pressing issues that professional societies can help with; and (3) doctoral students in systems engineering have a high diversity of career interests. Professional societies play an important role in encouraging and enabling systems engineering research, and sponsorship of a research network is an effective mechanism for this goal given that such societies can provide a neutral venue for this interchange. 1 Correspondence may be directed to this author, rhodes@,mit.edu © Donna H. Rhodes and Ricardo Valerdi, 2007 Page 1 of 24 Pre-publication Draft – to be published in Systems Engineering, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2007 1. SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DOCTORAL RESEARCH Doctoral programs around the world have a common purpose and process. First, the PhD is assumed to be a research degree, and its primary purpose is teaching junior scholars to conduct sound, rigorous research. Second, the operating model is one of mentorship. Typically, students work under the tutelage of their advisors, learning the intricacies of research, and becoming increasingly independent scholars. Within this framework there is, of course, considerable variation among disciplines and universities. Depending on the discipline and university, students may begin to conduct supervised research during their first term and see their advisor nearly every day. They conduct research in laboratories, with teams of students, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows. In other cases, each scholar may work in isolation, and meetings with advisors may be infrequent. Consequently, the experiences of students across disciplines vary depending on whether their research is lab-based (e.g., biological science), library-based (e.g., information science), or field-based (e.g., social science). Four significant characteristics that distinguish doctoral students in systems engineering from other disciplines are: 1. The relatively young tradition of systems engineering academic programs (Fabrycky 2005) and the associated research methodologies (Valerdi and Davidz 2007) 2. The strong links with industry and government 3. The non-traditional makeup of students 4. The wide range of professional opportunities available after graduate school This paper discusses how these characteristics can be leveraged through a doctoral student network to ultimately enhance the field of systems engineering. In recent years, systems engineering has received increased focus and expanded its footprint on a global scale. Many new university academic and research programs have been developed in response to the higher demand for systems approaches and skilled engineers (Brown, 2000; Ng, 2004; Fabrycky, 2005). These programs exhibit some diversity in structure, alignment within the university, and focus areas for curriculum and research. This ranges from programs embedded in dedicated departments for © Donna H. Rhodes and Ricardo Valerdi, 2007 Page 2 of 24 Pre-publication Draft – to be published in Systems Engineering, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2007 systems engineering to programs that co-exist within other fields such as industrial engineering. Furthermore, systems engineering and related programs have been categorized into two general categories: SE Centric and Domain Centric SE (Fabrycky 2005). A number of these schools have established doctoral programs for systems engineering, however most are in early stages of development and may benefit from interaction with faculty and students from other institutions. This serves as a primary motivation for the creation of a doctoral research network for systems engineering. 2. INCOSE SEANET INITIATVE As a professional society, INCOSE has set strategic objectives and policies to encourage doctoral level research in systems engineering. As a significant step, it has initiated the Systems Engineering and Architecting Doctoral Student Network (SEANET). The potential for a doctoral network may be greatest when it is realized as an enabler for doctoral research through the collaborative efforts of all of the stakeholder organizations. The authors view professional societies as the preferred owners for such networks, as they can effectively act as a ‘neutral broker’ to involve the other organizational stakeholders. A research network can add value in many ways, for example:, defining the nature of systems engineering research, aiding the formulation of good research hypotheses, and “right sizing” of dissertation topics. It can also increase the probability of success for doctoral students by providing strategies for avoiding mistakes in managing their doctoral programs. Such mistakes have been well documented and can serve as valuable lessons for future students who are concerned about managing their advisor, evaluating opportunity costs, and building an asset base of research skills (Grover 2001). SEANET brings together students from several universities with similar yet complementary interests; provides additional mentoring through INCOSE Fellows and other technical leaders; and provides collaboration and publication venues. As the first step towards this goal, a pilot workshop of SEANET was held January 29-30, 2005 at the INCOSE International Workshop in Tampa, FL (Rhodes, 2005). The pilot workshop was attended by eight doctoral students from five universities, SEANET mentors, and INCOSE senior leaders from industry, government, and academia. 2 Pilot program students came from Loughborough University (one), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (two) , Stevens Institute of Technology (two), University of South Australia (one), and University of Southern California (two). © Donna H. Rhodes and Ricardo Valerdi, 2007 Page 3 of 24 Pre-publication Draft – to be published in Systems Engineering, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2007 These individuals represent the first social network that links mentors and students from multiple organizations. As shown by the solid lines in Figure 1, some of the individuals had pre-existing relationships mostly within mentors. Through the interchange of the pilot workshop, many new linkages were established between the involved participants as shown by the dashed lines. Figure 1. SEANET Social Network in January 2005. Both mentors and students had the opportunity to exchange ideas and establish new links based on their common interests. Through their intellectual pursuits in the systems community, the mentors were able to provide ideas and valuable feedback to students in the network while gaining new knowledge about doctoral research at academic institutions. During the session, various observations and perceptions were gathered using a structured discussion and captured in meeting notes. It was observed that each student involved in this initial meeting had some industry experience, and that this may be a beneficial, but not mandatory, asset for doing systems engineering research. It was noted that there is a difficult challenge for students to go from the broad systems perspective to a © Donna H. Rhodes and Ricardo Valerdi, 2007 Page 4 of 24 Pre-publication Draft – to be published in Systems Engineering, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2007 specific dissertation-scope topic. This may be one aspect of how a doctoral network can help shape the student’s research project, although there is also a risk that exposure to a wider network and more ideas could unnecessarily expand their scope. The balance has to be carefully managed by the students and their advisors to ensure that their involvement in SEANET is value added. An issue for systems engineering research challenge is whether systems engineering in its present form is sufficient to address some of the difficult topics discussed in research sessions. The mentors noted that this meeting accentuated the issues of intellectual content and strategic directions for systems engineering, recently discussed by several INCOSE Fellows (International Council on Systems Engineering March 2006). It also underlines deeper issues in the challenges of systems engineering as an academic field (Dixit & Valerdi, 2007). Mentors suggested that students be encouraged to include in their dissertation some justification for their research in context of overall systems engineering state of the art and practice, and how it contributes to the intellectual basis. Mentors and students felt the network may provide a means to begin to build a composite picture of all of the diverse research that is going on in the field of systems engineering, and can help to characterize and give validity to doctoral worthy research. The feedback to students (via mentors and others students) could accelerate the progress perhaps