Message From the Dean

Welcome to the School of Systems & Enterprises

At the School of Systems & Enterprises, our students aren’t just “students”; they’re the technical leaders of tomorrow to whom our society will turn for solutions to some of the 21st century’s most complex challenges. For more than a decade, the School of Systems & Enterprises—one of the nation’s first schools dedicated to systems science and engineering—has welcomed these future agents of change to our campus in the New York City metropolitan area to engage in rigorous study of engineering management and systems engineering. 

Our educational approach embraces balance. We proportion theory with practice to provide an application-driven learning experience that trains our technical leaders of tomorrow to solve real-world problems across industries and enterprise levels. 

To those newly joining the School of Systems & Enterprises’ academic community over the 2021-2022 academic year, welcome. In your time at “SSE,” as you will hear our school referred to in your time at Stevens, I encourage you to think about the School of Systems & Enterprises and your engagement here in the context of the past, present and future. 

Our school’s legacy traces back to its early leadership of the successful BKCASE project, a project to build a systems engineering body of knowledge (called “SEBoK”) and provide a set of guidelines for graduate curricula in systems and software engineering (GRCSE). This effort involved marshalling resources from across academia, industry and government. SSE created and delivered associated engineering management and systems engineering programs for traditional students and students in the midst of their careers. An open academic model was used to leverage the best educational resources available across academia and the best associated assets of industry and government practitioners. 

SSE has since grown to include three robust research centers: the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), a University-Affiliated Research Center of the United States Department of Defense; the Center for Complex Systems & Enterprises (CCSE); and the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC). These centers, established in 2008, 2012 and 2020, respectively, represent rich opportunities available to you for collaborative research in areas including aerospace & defense, healthcare, intelligent transportation, smart cities and urban resilience. 

At the School of Systems & Enterprises, some of you will undertake such research while some will seek out co-ops and internship with industry leaders. Irrespective of the shape that your unique path will take at our school, as you amass the technical acumen and the leadership skills that will enable you to effect transformative change as a technical leader of tomorrow, remember that you are now a part of School of Systems & Enterprises’ next generation of technical and thought leaders. 

Sincerely,
Dr. Anthony Barrese
Interim Dean, School of Systems & Enterprises