Message from the Executive Director

Systems today are becoming increasingly more complex as a result of technological advances, hyper-connectivity, and convergence. Spurred by this recognition, systems engineering is in the midst of an exciting transformation. This transformation is being led by advances in systems engineering theory, formal methods, model-based systems engineering, and probabilistic methods in systems engineering.

The University of Southern California's flagship Systems Architecting and Engineering Program in the Viterbi School of Engineering is a multi-disciplinary program that is patterned on exploiting these advances. The Master of Science educational program has a proven track record of producing well-rounded professionals who are fully capable of meeting the nation's systems engineering workforce requirements today, while also being prepared to take on the challenges of complex systems engineering in the future. The program is also the longest running systems engineering program in the country with well over a thousand Master of Science degrees awarded since inception. In 2017, the program was also recognized as the nation's top information systems program.

The SAE Program is the co-founder of the Conference on Systems Engineering Research, which it hosts every three years in Los Angeles, and is featured in the articles below. Our research in systems architecting and engineering is currently being sponsored by DOD, aerospace and automotive industries. Our researchers have long recognized that the Grand Challenges identified by the National Academy of Engineering are all "systems" challenges that need to capitalize on convergence research. Accordingly, our cross-disciplinary research thrusts include: model-based engineering of autonomous systems and system-of-systems; engineered resilient systems; interactive storytelling in personalized education (featured below); adaptive cyber-physical-human systems; and formal and probabilistic modeling methods in complex, sociotechnical systems engineering.

The SAE program continues to prepare students to successfully take on the challenges of the 21st century and succeed in exciting technical, technical management, and leadership careers in industry, academia, and government.

Azad Madni, PhD