Meeting Speaker Dr. Steve Jenkins: Is Systems Engineering Really Engineering? LUNCH MEETING-NOTE TIME

Apr 11, 2018 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM Mountain Standard Time

Abstract: Engineering is a creative process.  The object of engineering is to bring about a desired state of the world, typically through the creation of artifacts that use scientific principles to judge the state of the world in a desired direction.  Although engineering disciplines differ in their problem domains and solution techniques, there are fundamental principles that unite them and distinguish engineering from other creative activities such as painting and writing.  This talk will explore some of these fundamental principles and consider the degree to which systems engineering does or does not respect them.  Finally, it will argue that "Model-Based Systems Engineering" is just a label for a much-needed effort to firmly establish systems engineering as a legitimate application of engineering.

Bio: Steven Jenkins is a Principal Engineer in the Formulation and Systems Engineering Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. He serves as the Chief Engineer of JPL’s Integrated Model-Centric Engineering Initiative, an institutionally-funded project aimed at enhancing the value of the engineering process through modeling. His interests include the integration of descriptive and analytical modeling and the application of knowledge representation and formal semantics to systems engineering. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Millsaps College, an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from SouthernMethodist University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA. He was awarded the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1999 and was a co-recipient of the NASA Systems Engineering Award in 2012.