Article by Sherry Pietras 

This year’s symposium theme was “Systems Engineering for the Planet” and concerned the impact of engineered systems and products on the environment. Our host location was Utrecht, Netherlands inside the Jaarbeurs Conference Centre (Beatrix Building).

The Opening Keynote Speaker was Bert Klerk from ProRail, the Dutch railroad network, and he presented “Crossing Borders by Applying SE.” His topic concerned providing intelligent and sustainable solutions to the ever-increasing demand for mobility and for translating the principles and methods of SE from traditional domains to the construction industry. ProRail has partnered with the Dutch Department for Roads, Public Works and Water Management and is currently constructing new lines and rail infrastructure. Our hosts encouraged everyone to step outside their realm of expertise and explore other SE venues (e.g., if you work in aerospace, take advantage of this opportunity to learn something about earth transport systems engineering).
Our first Plenary Speaker was Dr. Shun-Jie Ji from Taiwan, and he presented “The Future of Technology and Humanity, Exploring Vision and Action.” In essence, technology is about helping people and meeting human wishes and needs. Therefore, we should pay more attention to social issues: human rights, security, multiculturalism, and sustainable development.

Our second Plenary Speaker was Ana Lorena Quiros from Costa Rica, and she presented “Using Life Cycle Thinking to Disseminate Life Cycle Management.” Life cycle thinking is critical for worldwide sustainable development, so we must address social, economical, and environmental concerns with a holistic, science-based framework of thought that transcends business product management. She suggests promoting life cycle thinking through both formal and informal education, and via market-driven forces (e.g., volunteer work and policy making).

The Closing Keynote Speaker was Jean Botti from France, the Chief Technical Officer of the European Aeronautical Defense and Space Company. He presented “Aerospace and the Environment: Global Systems Innovation Challenge.” The aerospace industry contributes immensely to the economic growth and welfare enjoyed today by the developed countries. However, in the last decade we have experienced growing concerns of global warming, environmental pollution, and the depletion of natural resources. Sustainable economic growth requires efficient air transport and the reconciliation of energy consumption with the mitigation of environment/ natural resources impacted. Proaction is a must to ensure compliance with evolving regulations (i.e., our future challenges).

There were 14 tutorials in all; the topics ranged from “Writing and Presenting Quality Conference Papers” to Scott Jackson’s “System Resilience: Accident Avoidance and Survival and Recovery from Disruptions.” Other familiar people were also encountered, such as Jim Martin (known for always having an extra presentation in his back pocket - just in case), who presented on Architecture Concepts; Cecelia Haskins and Terry Fossnes, who took SE to the natural environment (their backwoods cabin); and Sarah Sheard, who presented on Complex systems.

The new Systems Engineering Praxis presented by Professor Philip M’Pherson captured the process, content, value, and measuring of the ‘doing’ of SE. He identified SE as Intellectual Capital and discussed the need to properly nurture and manage this asset. To ensure SE design and project management are high-value-adding processes, our programs must include the process of ‘doing SE’ at both organizational and practitioner levels.

The Academic Forum investigated how to shape SE for future roles in wider global issues, and in expanding current SE practices to include the consideration of resource management and social and ethical issues when appropriate. The range of topics included the future of the earth, land use, climate, urban water systems, earthquake disaster prevention, protection of scarce resources, and other grand challenges.

There were 3 Special Technical Topics: 1. “Water Management” - explored coping with water shortages and excesses (i.e., droughts and floods) and proper treatment of toxic wastes, with emphasis on flood prevention; 2. “High Tech Systems Embedded in their Environment” – explored how to improve our social and physical environment, and how SE deals with this embedding of high tech systems in their environment, with emphasis on maritime safety and security; and 3. “Transportation Infrastructure” – explored the Rail/Transit industry challenges of sustainability and resource efficiency, with emphasis on network-wide tradeoffs for energy efficiency.

The Rail/Transit Industry Round Table, organized by the Intelligent Transportation and Transit Systems WG, exchanged views on various mobility concepts.

A new SE concept called Engineering Systems was introduced, with focus on the interdisciplinary field of study involving technology management and the social sciences and how their collaborations impact university education and research.

Our grand banquet reception was held inside the Utrecht Railway Museum; we were served cocktails while exploring the rail cars on display, followed by folk dancers in traditional Dutch costume—yes, clogs. We wined and dined on excellent traditional cuisine, were entertained by wandering magicians, and engaged in lively conversations.

The Exhibit Hall social hour included a contest called Decoding the Matrix with some great gifts and giveaways. We were also invited to the Tool Vendor Challenge; 10 vendors were provided the opportunity to show-off their powerful tools against a common benchmark.

In keeping with the ‘green’ theme, our symposium hard copy material was kept to a minimum; for example, the SE Handbook version 3.1 is available electronically for free, but a hard copy will cost.