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On November 24, 2008, more than eighty representatives from the Department of Defense (DoD), other systems engineering and defense-related industries, the SERC leadership and collaborators, gathered at the Stevens Institute of Technology campus in Hoboken, NJ, to celebrate the inauguration of the nation’s first University Affiliated Research Center focused on Systems Engineering Research (SERC).

The ceremony marked the tremendous amount of work leading up to the award of the multi-year grant, a process spearheaded by lead researchers from Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, Air Force Institute of Technology, Auburn University, Carnegie Mellon University, Fraunhofer Center at the University of Maryland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of California - San Diego, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, University of Virginia, and Wayne State University.

The ceremony included presentations by The Honorable Dr. James Finley, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology), Mr. Kelly Miller, Chief Systems Engineer, National Security Agency (NSA), Dr. William Rees, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Laboratories and Basic Sciences), Mr. Gordon Kranz, Director of Systems and Software Engineering, DoD, and Mr. Patrick Hale, President, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

A common thread throughout the speaker’s presentations was the impact of the University Affiliated Research Center award in facilitating critical research in systems engineering to improve both acquisitions and process capabilities, as well as the need to reinvigorate systems engineering education both in early institutional and advanced professional arenas.

To download a copy of the Inauguration Ceremony program, click here.

To view news broadcast of event, click here.