Jon Wade
Title: “Systems Engineering: At the Crossroads of Complexity”
Abstract: Moore’s Law and the resulting exponential increase in the capabilities of computational, networking and software based systems, coupled with the growth of distributed dynamically evolving System of Systems, increasing societal dependence, criticality of security, and ever shortening development time have often surpassed the capabilities of standard engineering processes and practices. System complexity has grown exponentially over the past half century and is believed by many to be the primary challenge of this century. Yet, complexity is often seen as a very fuzzy concept. This presentation will provide a working definition of complexity, its origins, and some methods by which it can effectively be managed.
Background: Jon Wade is a Distinguished Service Professor and Associate Dean of Research in the School of Systems and Enterprises at the Stevens Institute of Technology. His primary interests include research in the transformation of Systems Engineering and its education to address the systemic challenges of complexity, change, uncertainty and trust. Dr. Wade has an extensive background in leading research and development organizations and managing the development of Enterprise products. Previously, Dr. Wade was the Executive Vice President of Engineering at International Game Technology (IGT) where he created corporate vision, led product development, championed the development of a corporate architecture and system development practices, and managed corporate wide research and development. Before joining IGT, Dr. Wade spent 10 years at Sun Microsystems during which time he managed the development of the UltraSPARC V based Enterprise Server family and served as the Product Manager for high-performance interconnects. Prior to this, he led new system development at Thinking Machines Corporation. Dr. Wade received his SB, SM, EE and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Wade is a member of the Sigma Xi (Scientific Research), Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering), and Eta Kappa Nu (National Electrical Engineering) Honorary Societies.
