Initiatives

DoD Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC)

Stevens Institute of Technology was awarded a five-year renewable contract under the authority of 10 USC 2304(c)(3)(B) by the National Security Agency (NSA), in conjunction with the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology (DUSD(A&T)), to establish the DoD Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) at its Hoboken, New Jersey campus. This DoD University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) is focused on systems engineering research. The SERC was established to advance the practice of systems engineering within DoD by conducting innovative research into new SE methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) to address recurring problems in the acquisition of systems and services.

The SERC is responsible for systems engineering research that supports the development, integration, testing and sustainability of complex defense systems, enterprises and services. SERC will serve as the systems engineering research engine for the DoD and Intelligence Community (IC). Along with Stevens and the University of Southern California (USC) as its principal collaborator, researchers from 16 universities and research centers throughout the United States will support the mission of SERC.

Dr. Dinesh Verma, dean, Stevens’ School of Systems and Enterprises, serves as executive director with Dr. Art Pyster, distinguished Stevens’ research professor, and Dr. Barry Boehm, professor of software engineering and director of the Center for Systems and Software Engineering at USC, serving as deputy executive director and director of research, respectively.
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Mission
The mission of the SERC is to research and analyze advanced and emerging systems engineering practices and relevant technologies to address the full spectrum of DoD systems across the Department, from capability areas, enterprise systems, systems of systems, net-centric set of services, and interoperability down to subsystems and configuration items with the goal of ensuring consistency and systems engineering excellence throughout the acquisition life cycle.

Purpose
While OSD and Component actions over the last four years have accomplished much to restore application of good systems engineering practices back into the way the acquisition community does business, much can still be accomplished to change root cause behaviors on these programs.  Systems engineering research will inform the current state of practice on programs, provide a means to explore and exploit concepts to enable design and development of complex systems, and underpin effective integration of program/business processes with technical management MPTs throughout the acquisition life cycle. 

Visit the SERC website (http://www.sercuarc.org) for additional information.