News
Promoting the SMC Society at Purdue University
Keith W. Hipel is an IEEE Fellow who is University Professor of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada and Senior Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
In his capacity as a Member of the Student Activities Subcommittee and Chapter Coordinator for North America of the IEEE SMC Society, Dr. Hipel visited Purdue University at the West Lafayette campus in Indiana, USA from March 23rd to 26th, 2011. The visit was hosted by Dr. Dan DeLaurentis, an Associate Professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who is Co-Chair of the SMC Technical Committee on System of Systems. The initiative for the visit was initiated by Dr. Datu Agusdinata, a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue, during the 2009 IEEE SMC International Conference in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
The objectives of Dr. Hipel’s visit were two-fold:
- To promote the SMC society among Purdue’s students and faculty. Purdue University is one of the top public universities in the USA with strong engineering programs. It is important that Purdue members are aware of the presence of the SMC Society and how they will benefit by joining and establishing a local SMC Chapter.
- To strengthen research connections on an emerging area within the SMC: System-of-Systems Engineering (SOSE), between engineers at Purdue University, the University of Waterloo and elsewhere.
During the visit, Dr. Hipel delivered a lecture and conducted multiple individual meetings with some of Purdue’s faculty members, Master’s students, and PhD candidates. These contacts are beneficial for both sides and may lead to future collaboration.
Dr. Hipel’s Presentation
The topic of the lecture on March 25th was “Competition and Cooperation in Societal and Technological System of Systems.” As decision-makers within today's government and industry are facing problems of increasing complexity, Dr. Hipel presented how the SOSE approach can aid the decision-making process in achieving solution sets that are fair for all stakeholders.
Dr. Hipel delivering his lecture at Purdue University.
The successful presentation was well-received by the more than 30 people who attended the seminar. After the technical presentation of approximately one and one half hours with questions, Dr. Hipel shared his research, teaching, and consulting experience to motivate younger faculty members and graduate students. The 30-minute talk was given under the title: “Fulfillment and Success in Research.”
Dr. Hipel (fourth from left) with graduate students and researchers after his presentation.
Connection with Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE)
Dr. Hipel’s visit was co-hosted by the Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering (https://engineering.purdue.edu/EEE/). Headed by Dr. John Sutherland, the division offers education and research programs in the areas of
- Water, Air, Soil, and Natural Resources
- Sustainable Urban Systems
- Alternative Energy Systems
- Sustainable Industrial Systems
- Education for Sustainability in Engineering
Dr. Hipel with Dr. John Sutherland (right) and Karen White (center).
Dr. Hipel conducted individual meetings with Purdue-wide faculty members who are affiliated with EEE. The discussions covered research being carried out in the above areas at Purdue and Waterloo with an emphasis on employing a systems approach.
A meeting with (from left to right) Dr. Loring Nies, Dr. Ernest (Chip) Blatchley, Dr. Hipel, doctoral student Kasey Faust, and Dr. Dulcy Abrahams.
Connection with the System-of-Systems Laboratory (SoSL)
In addition, during his visit, Dr. Hipel further strengthened his university’s relationship with the System-of-Systems Laboratory (SoSL) at Purdue (https://engineering.purdue.edu/people/daniel.a.delaurentis.1/index.html). Led by Dr. Dan DeLaurentis, the laboratory research activities focus on the development of foundational methods and tools for addressing problems characterized as system-of-systems. More specific projects include establishment of an effective frame of reference, crafting of a common lexicon, and study of various modeling and simulation techniques, including probabilistic robust design (e.g., uncertainty modeling/management), agent-based modeling, network theory, object oriented simulations, and tools for capturing the interaction of requirements, concepts, and technologies.
The main application problem domains and examples of projects for design via SoS methodologies are numerous, including but not limited to problems in:
- Energy and environment – One current project sponsored by NASA develops methods and tools that enable the exploration of potential long-range benefits of airline fleets from advanced technologies/vehicles in a variety of future scenarios. This project combines aircraft design, variable resource allocation, and network evolution research to project fleet benefits and emissions. The project includes a study of the potential life cycle emission impact of biofuels.
- Defense and homeland security – One current project sponsored by the Missile Defence Agency, for instance, aims at achieving a significant improvement in the performance of the Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) element within the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) via disruptive technologies and/or concepts.
- Air transportation – Several on-going projects investigate the interdependecies between policy, economics, and technology in the air transportation system. A wider policy impact in the context of multi-modal transportation that includes road and high speed rail is also being studied.
- Space exploration.
- city infrastructure services.
Some of the work has been published in leading international journals such as the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part B: Cybernetics and the IEEE Systems Journal.
Dr. Hipel with Dr. Dan DeLaurentis (right) and Dr. Datu Agusdinata (left) of the SoSL.
Potential Establishment of an SMC Chapter at Purdue
During his visit, Dr. Hipel encouraged students to establish a local SMC chapter at Purdue. As more participation of Purdue faculties and students are expected at future SMC meetings, the potential of a Purdue’s SMC chapter looks closer to becoming a reality.
Dr. Hipel, Datu Agusdinata (center), and Conrad Hipel (right) at the Purdue campus.