Published Book Chapter with Emerald Publishing [Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces]

Morgan State University Engineering Seminar Certificate of Appreciation

I had the pleasure of presenting to a group of graduate engineering students at Morgan State University.  The presentation presented was Systems of Systems Engineering.  I felt this was important as the university has a systems engineering program but wanted to emphasis the larger picture.  After presenting the university presented me with this certificate of appreciation.  I can honestly say that every time I am at this university teaching I become more motivated to follow my passion of being in academia.

Tomorrow’s Engineering Crisis

Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Secure Software Development Life Cycle

View more presentations from Maurice Dawson.

This article examines the emerging need for software assurance.  As defense contractors continue to develop systems for the Department of Defense (DoD) those systems must meet stringent requirements for deployment.  However as over half of the vulnerabilities are found at the application layer organizations must ensure that proper mechanisms are in place to ensure the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of the code is maintained. 

BEST JOBS IN AMERICA: 1. Systems Engineer

I came across a listing of the top jobs and found out that the Systems Engineer was the best job in America for 2009.  It is rather pleasing as I am currently teaching graduate courses at Morgan State University in Systems Engineering.  Enjoy the read below.

Top 50 rank: 1
Sector: Information Technology

What they do: They're the "big think" managers on large, complex projects, from major transportation networks to military defense programs. They figure out the technical specifications required and coordinate the efforts of lower-level engineers working on specific aspects of the project.

\Why it's great: Demand is soaring for systems engineers, as what was once a niche job in the aerospace and defense industries becomes commonplace among a diverse and expanding universe of employers, from medical device makers to corporations like Xerox and BMW.
Pay can easily hit six figures for top performers, and there's ample opportunity for advancement. But many systems engineers say they most enjoy the creative aspects of the job and seeing projects come to life. "The transit system I work on really makes a tangible difference to people," says Anne O'Neil, chief systems engineer for the New York City Transit Authority.
Drawbacks: Long hours are common; project deadlines can be fierce.
Pre-reqs: An undergrad engineering degree; some jobs might also require certification as a certified systems engineering professional (CSEP).

Photo is of Anne O'Neil, a chief systems engineer at the N.Y.C. Transit Authority, is one of five female senior managers in a department of 1,500.

Engineering Complex Systems and Complex Systems Engineering

This is a great video on engineering complex systems and complex systems engineering. This is truly a great video for systems engineering

The Mysterious Field of Engineering Systems

The Mysterious Field of Engineering Systems | MIT World
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About the Lecture

One of the nation’s revered technology leaders dispenses anecdotes and wisdom on the slippery subject of engineering systems (or systems engineering). Norm Augustine just can’t get a handle on the discipline: “No one agrees on what it is, or what it does.” After years in industries like Lockheed Martin, Augustine has come up with “Norm’s Rules,” and can at least define ‘system’ as “having two or more elements that interact,” and ‘engineering’ as “creating the means for performing useful functions.” But these definitions don’t get you too far in the real world.

Augustine shows a fuel control system, which some engineers might view as part of a propulsion system. In turn, aeronautical engineers might think of the entire airplane as a system, and transport engineers view aircraft as merely components in systems incorporating airports, highways, shipping lanes. Augustine continues up the ladder until “our system that started as a fuel controller…seems to have the whole universe as a system.” Like Russian Matryoshka dolls, systems can always be embedded within larger systems. Even if you try to simplify a system in terms of just a few objects with a binary, on-off interaction, things can get complex very quickly. Five elements in a system can exist in more than a million possible states. Says Augustine, “A typical earth satellite has nearly one million parts; a 747 over 5 million. How does that make you feel about flying?”

Distinguishing the significant interactions and the important external influences on a system are central to designing and problem solving. And these days, engineers must include politics, public policy and economics as part of their systems. “The trick is to bound the scope of the system so it’s not too large to be analyzed and not too small to be representative.” Doing this right is “why systems engineers should be paid so much.”

Augustine concludes with his “Dirty Dozen” systems engineering traps, which have led to embarrassing bust-ups, monumental failures, and real tragedies. Notable among these: “the ubiquitous interface,” (or absence thereof). He describes how two flight control groups used different metric units and accidentally sent a Mars-bound spacecraft whizzing off into deep space. There’s the “single-point failure,” exemplified by the collapse of a football field-sized satellite dish due to a poorly designed bracket. There’s software, “which like entropy, always increases:” a Mariner spacecraft headed in the wrong direction due to a missing hyphen in 100 thousand lines of code. The problem with most systems ultimately is that they “contain human elements … and humans sometimes do irrational things.”

IEGR501 Intro To Adv Systems Engineering Class Begins Tomorrow at Morgan State University

IEGR501 Intro To Adv Systems Engineering class begins tomorrow at Morgan State University.  This is going to be an exciting class focused only systems engineering.  All coursework and syllabus is finally created.  I am excited about this opportunity teach at such an institution on the graduate level.  I have created an integrated course which has a group project in it as well to include a good amount of literature to review.