louisiana board of regents guidelines: … · louisiana board of regents guidelines: request for...

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LOUISIANA BOARD OF REGENTS

GUIDELINES: REQUEST FOR AUTHORITY TO OFFER A NEW PROGRAM*

SUBMIT FIVE (5) COPIES AND (1) DISK (WORKPERFECT OR WORD)

Name of Institution Submitting Proposal University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Specific Degree to be Awarded Upon Completion Ph.D. in Systems Engineering

CIP Taxonomy (From Program Classification Structure) 14.2701

Date to be initiated January 2012

Name of Department or Academic Subdivision

Responsible for the Program College of Engineering

Name, Rank, and Title of Individual Primarily Dr. Mark E. Zappi, P.E.

Responsible for Administering the Program Dean of Engineering

Date Approved by Governing Board

Date Received by Louisiana Board of Regents

Academic Affairs Committee Review

Board Action (Nature of Action)**

Date of Board Action

* Information requested in these guidelines which has already been provided in the related Letter of Intent need not be presented again, unless the data given in the letter of intent has changed in the interim period between submittal of the letter and submittal of the full proposal. ** Prior to final action by the Board of Regents, no institution shall initiate or publicize a new program.

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Proposal for New Academic Program

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

June/6/2011

Introduction

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette respectfully requests that the Louisiana Board of

Regents accept this proposal for the initiation of a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering. UL Lafayette

has been laying the foundation for this program for some time and strongly believes that the

establishment of this unique program for Louisiana is timely given the strong potential of this

degree program to stimulate economic development, meet the state’s job demands, and increase

dramatically the UL Lafayette College of Engineering’s already strong enrollment and

productive research output. As required by the policies of the Louisiana Board of Regents

(LBOR), the said proposal is formally detailed below following the guidelines published on the

LBOR website.

Part I - Program Description

Title: Systems Engineering

CIP Code: 14.2701

Degree Requested: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Systems Engineering

Letter of Intent (LOI) Approvals: The University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors

unanimously approved the LOI for this program at its November 2009 meeting, while the

Louisiana Board of Regents also unanimously approved the LOI for this program during its July

2010 meeting.

Participating Departments: The following five engineering departments from the UL

Lafayette College of Engineering will jointly participate in the proposed Ph.D. in Systems

Engineering: Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Mechanical, and Petroleum

Engineering. Note that this cross-engineering departmental involvement approach follows the

highly successful approach to Systems Engineering education used at MIT (Roos, 2004).

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Nature of Program (Description): Systems Engineering is geared toward the rapid design and

development of large and complex systems (AIAA and INCOSE, 1997; Haskins, 2008). It uses

the results of engineering design approaches and management systems theory while sharing

techniques with operations research. The field owes its solutions-driven developmental approach

to software engineering, which also tackles designing complex systems. Systems Engineering,

which most credit as becoming an engineering field during WWII (Wells, et al., 2007), is also

known by some as Concurrent Engineering. The field of Systems Engineering employs a

systems approach within a wide scope that covers the analyses of goals and requirements,

economic implications, design-life consideration of the system, and the organization of project

teams from various engineering disciplines oriented toward solving highly complex problems

pertaining to both the economic and technical challenges of the total system (Haskins, 2008;

Bahill and Dean, 2009).

Systems Engineering is an engineering approach that cross-cuts the various engineering

fields and is structured to enable the realization of successful systems that are delivered on time

and within cost (Honour, 2004; Roos, 2004; INCOSE, 2011). Example systems include coastal

ecosystems, water treatment facilities, computer networks, visualization platforms, deep-water

drilling operations, highway safety systems, biofuels production facilities, robotic units,

refineries, fiber optic networks, aircraft, vehicle control systems, biomass gasification units,

management of utilities during disaster events, and power grids.

Six Sigma, developed by Motorola in the 1980's, is a problem-solving approach that has

become the standard by which many domestic and international companies are managing the

operations of their businesses (Pyzdek and Keller, 2009). The Six Sigma method is an organized

problem-solving approach used to ensure that the real problem is addressed via a comprehensive,

total systems evaluation, and that a robust methods-derived solution is designed. Systems

Engineering generally follows a Six Sigma approach by focusing its development efforts on

defining the problem and the required system flexibility early in the developmental stage,

assessing and documenting user requirements, then progressing to the synthesis of an optimized

solution (design) coupled with system validation (Bahill, 2009). The Systems Engineering

approach generally encompasses issues relating to the complete problem, often viewed as

design-life issues, such as system implementation, operation, costs, design life performance,

personnel implications, side-stream disposal, and systems cost-benefit maturation.

Systems Engineering integrates all the specialty and sub-specialty groups of engineering

disciplines into a team whose efforts result in a structured development process that proceeds

from concept to production to operation (Haskins, 2008; Bahill and Dean, 2009). Systems

Engineering holistically considers human factors, economics, and technical needs of technology

users with the goal of providing a quality product that fully meets the user’s needs. In fact,

former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin during a lecture he gave at Purdue University

(Griffin, 2007) stated that that the majority of today’s engineering programs do not include

enough design and project commercialization aspects into their programs. He highlighted

System Engineering education in the US as one educational area that appears to be addressing

the needs of industry and government by focusing on user needs.

John Armstrong, former VP at IBM, well states his views on the current state of

engineering Ph.D.’s by saying that today’s engineering Ph.D. graduates “are ill-prepared to

venture outside of their specialty to explore jobs in development, manufacturing, and technical

management”. All of these missed job opportunities that he details are commonly found in

Louisiana and the region.

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The formal US Department of Education’s CIP Definition for Systems Engineering (CIP

14.2701) is included below to provide further definition and clarification of our intended

program:

“A program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific

principles to the design, development and operational evaluation of total systems

solutions to a wide variety of engineering problems, including the integration of

human, physical, energy, communications, management, and information

requirements as needed, and the application of requisite analytical methods to

specific situations.”

Degree Educational Objectives: The overarching objective of this initiative is to educate

Systems Engineers within Louisiana that are specially trained to address the complexities of

large engineering systems, such as deep-water drilling, power grids, automotive design and

manufacturing, hospital intensive care systems, coastal engineering, algae to fuels/chemical

production facilities, supercomputing interconnected grids, missile defense weapons, internet

protection systems, and spacecraft design. All of these are excellent examples of engineering

systems and, as a matter of fact, all fall into the categories currently targeted by the Louisiana's

Department of Economic Development’s Blue Ocean Strategy (which is an economic

development blueprint being lead by the Governor’s Economic Development Initiative). Each

Blue Ocean sector – digital media, renewable energy, specialty healthcare, advanced

transportation, pharmaceuticals, water management, next-generation oil and gas – will require a

competitive, knowledge-based, and technical professional workforce that the proposed System

Engineering PhD program represents. Hence, the proposed Ph.D. program has a very strong

economic development aspect to its inception and implementation.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCES – formerly the

Division of Science Resource Statistics [SRS]) of the National Science Foundation is tasked with

the assessment and evaluation of trends regarding science and engineering career dynamics. In

their recent report entitled Characteristics of Doctorial Scientists and Engineers in the United

States (NCES, 2009), the NCES reports that only 28.4% of Engineering Ph.D. holders held jobs

in academia. The majority of the jobs were identified as “Private For Profit” Industries at 55.4%.

The remaining employment positions were primarily distributed between government and non-

profit entities. Hence, with over 70% of today's Engineering Ph.D. graduates being employed in

industry or government, our emphasis will be to train graduates of the proposed Systems

Engineering Ph.D. to have a strong appeal to this significant and growing occupational sector -

as opposed to focusing more on careers in academics (as is the case with many traditional Ph.D.

degree programs). The National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public

Policy (1995) states that a key job market for recent STEM Ph.D. graduates is with industry and

that the graduate education entities generating these degrees should provide programs more in-

line with industry needs. Wallgren and Haglund (2004) describe the dramatic changes in Ph.D.

training in Europe which is becoming much more geared toward systems approaches and less

oriented toward single disciplines. These reports clearly substantiate the design premise used by

UL Lafayette in the organization of the Systems Engineering program – provide an educational

experience that is well aligned with industry needs with regard to problem solving and product

development.

The College of Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has designed a

program that is directly targeted toward placing the graduates in current and future Louisiana

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industries. However, from the perspective of a graduate from this proposed program, the

designed program will have tremendous appeal to other regions in the US and across the globe.

The degree will also have a strong appeal to other colleges of engineering for these graduates as

future faculty members given the fast growing popularity of this degree. Numerous current and

recently graduated domestic students (mainly from Louisiana) from the UL Lafayette

Engineering program have come forward and expressed interest in the proposed program

indicating that an extraordinary high level of interest for this type of degree program will exist

with domestic students (which is a great need for not only Louisiana, but the entire US as well).

Curriculum and Course Offerings: Hoch (2009) describes two types of educational focuses

with regard to Systems Engineering Programs in the US: (1) Systems Engineering Centric

Curricula (built around Systems Theory) and (2) Domain Centric Systems Engineering Curricula

(built around traditional discipline domains with inserted Systems Engineering theory). Based

on our study of multiple programs, our goal for designing the Systems Engineering Program at

UL Lafayette was to integrate the two Hoch categories into a combined format that provides the

major benefits of both approaches. Hence, the program will be composed of a General SE

Program Core curriculum and a Specialization Core component curriculum.

The Systems Engineering Ph.D. student at UL Lafayette will take a minimum of 24 hours

from the General SE Program Core and 21 hours from the Specialty Core from their selected

area (home department: either Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Computer, Mechanical, or

Petroleum Engineering); yielding a total of 45 hours of coursework (non-dissertation hours).

The Specialization Core content will be designed by the student’s graduate advisory committee

in consultation with the student and major professor. The courses identified below are presented

as both a listing of required courses and in the overall curriculum:

General SE Program Core (eight courses totaling 24 hours)

The following represent the General Program Core courses (additionally, as required, the last

semester each current course was taught is listed as well):

1. Project Management (3 hours) - last taught Fall 2010 – Description: Principles of

engineering management applicable to project development and implementation. Includes topics

such as systems theory and concepts, organizational structure, project planning, scheduling,

staffing, budgeting, and control of engineering projects.

2. Engineering Statistics (3 hours) - last taught Fall 2010 – Description: Basic concepts of

random variation in engineering projects, planning experiments and analyzing the resulting data.

3. Six Sigma (3 hours)* - modification of a course last taught Spring 2010 – Description: A

study of the lean six sigma philosophy, six sigma tools, and the six sigma infrastructure within

the organization.

4. Linear and Non-Linear Programming (3 hours)* - new course adapted from an existing

course (MCHE 583) to be taught by a current faculty member (Dr. Terry Chambers,

Mechanical Engineering) – Description: Techniques for optimizing linear and non-linear

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models of engineering systems. Deterministic and stochastic techniques; continuous and discrete

variables and functions; constrained and unconstrained problems.

5. Graduate Mathematics or Science Elective (3 hours) - over 10 often-offered courses at UL

Lafayette are acceptable to meet this requirement - A full suite of these courses were offered

during the Fall 2010

6. Systems Engineering I (3 hours) - last taught Fall 2010 – Description: General analytical

concepts used in the modeling and analysis of engineering systems, including system

requirements, cost modeling and life cycle analysis.

7. Systems Engineering II (3 hours) - last taught Spring 2011 – Description: Design and

integration of engineering systems, including structured and object-oriented analysis techniques.

Life cycle issues and tools. Team-based preliminary system design project.

8. Non-Emphasis Graduate Engineering Elective (3 hours) - the student must take one course

from another engineering department outside of his/her specialization – more than eight

appropriate courses are frequently taught within the five departments each semester.

Specialization Core (at least 21 hours): Seven courses (21 hours) must be taken from a student’s

home department and/or key specialty classes offered by the Colleges of Engineering and

Science. Note that over 30 graduate courses are currently offered at least once every 3 years in

each of the five participating engineering departments at UL Lafayette. As with the General

Core component, there is not a specific sequence of courses required by each department for

meeting the Specialization Core. This structure provides significant opportunity for the student

to meet the requirements of System Engineering training from the humanistic factors, economics,

and project management perspectives, while at the same time allowing an appreciable level of

specialization and customization to meet individual learning needs. This "mix" of program

content represents the essence of a Systems Engineer.

NOTE: "*" denotes a new course to be offered

Dissertation Research Hours (15 hours): A comprehensive dissertation that summarizes all

aspects of the research performed by the candidate will be required. To accomplish this, a

minimum of 15 dissertation hours must be completed. To enhance the experience of the

candidate and to address the intent of a strong appeal to industry, each committee will include an

industry member to provide a strong industrial perspective (this committee member will not

serve as a voting member, but as an advisor from an industry perspective throughout the entire

process). To further entrench the learning of current state-of-the-art product development

methodology, the dissertation research to be performed by the candidates must follow a

generalized Six Sigma format. In this case, the DMADV (define, measure, analyze, develop, and

verify) approach will be utilized instead of the traditional DMAIC (define, measure, analyze,

improve, and control) approach used typically with most Six Sigma applications. Both

approaches are well described by Pyzdek and Keller (2009). The potential for granting the

graduates from the program a "Green Belt" in Six Sigma from the college is under investigation

by the college. Additionally, each dissertation must have a significant "Commercialization"

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chapter that details how the discoveries and associated technology developments may be brought

into the engineering marketplace. It is strongly believed that the approach of the dissertation will

greatly enhance the appeal of the graduate from the proposed program to industry. It is further

believed that the graduates from the proposed program could provide a solid foundation to

recruit new companies into the region. This dissertation structure will more likely facilitate

industry support and funding than would the more narrow, basic research generally performed in

many engineering Ph.D. programs in the US.

Dissertation Proposal Defense: Prior to the initiation of the student’s dissertation study, a verbal

defense (via PowerpointTM) of the proposed dissertation topic will be made to the student’s

graduate committee. This proposal and defense will lay out the research hypotheses, goals,

methods, and expected results. An acceptance of the proposal by the major professor and a

majority vote of the graduate committee are required.

Program Exams (2 exams): Two exams will be required. The first will be a comprehensive

exam which will be administered after all required courses are completed. This exam will focus

on the student's use of the content obtained from the courses taken within the program and how it

is used to structure a research proposal, implementation plans, and commercialization concept.

The comprehensive exam will require a written component that presents a research proposal on a

topic not closely aligned with the student’s dissertation topic. This written proposal will require

the student to prepare his/her proposal following the current National Science Foundation (NSF)

proposal format. A second component of the comprehensive exam will be a verbal presentation

of the proposal to the graduate committee. The topic of the comprehensive exam must be agreed

upon by the student’s graduate committee prior to the initiation of the exam. The student will be

granted one semester to prepare the exam materials and the defense (both component tests

administered the following semester). The student must work independently and not utilize

advice from faculty (they can utilize advice from student colleagues). Both components are

pass/fail with a majority vote of the graduate committee on the outcomes required. The student

will be allowed two attempts at each component.

The second exam will be a dissertation defense administered after the dissertation is

completed and reviewed by the student's dissertation committee. With this exam, a thorough

review of the dissertation by the graduate committee along with a stand-up defense is required.

This exam will follow a traditional dissertation defense structure used with the majority of

engineering Ph.D. programs.

Leadership Development: The UL Lafayette College of Engineering has designed and

implemented a leadership development program entitled "Designing Leaders" that is offered

once a year during the Spring Semester (the current program is two years old). Leadership is

often listed as a key targeted characteristic for Systems Engineers (Hastings, 2004; INCOSE,

2011). Therefore, since our envisioned Systems Engineering graduates from the proposed

program must have leadership skills, it is planned to require that all students in the Systems

Engineering Ph.D. program enroll in and successfully complete Designing Leaders program

prior to graduation.

Cooperative (COOP) Education Opportunities: Given the strong industry-related design of

the proposed program, it is highly anticipated that students will have excellent opportunities to

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participate in unique COOP experiences while enrolled. However, at this time, participation in

the COOP program will not be a requirement. Recent discussions with numerous Louisiana

companies and governmental agencies (US Army Corps of Engineers and Lafayette Utilities

System) indicate that these groups are willing to offer COOP opportunities for the students in the

future. This aspect will continue to be explored as the program matures.

Systems Engineering Ph.D. Program Advisory Board: An advisory board composed of six

industry and university experts with direct knowledge of Systems Engineers will be created. It is

targeted that four members will be from industry and two from other colleges of engineering

offering a similar degree program. This board will provide guidance to the college to ensure the

program remains current and optimized to maximize industry interest. This board will meet at

least once a year to review all aspects of the program as a means of ensuring the program is

current and germane to meeting the needs of the targeted employment sectors.

University of Louisiana System Approval: This proposal is submitted to the University of

Louisiana System for staff review and system action. When approved, this section will be

appropriately amended to reflect approval and documentation presenting this support will be

added as an additional appendix to this proposal prior to forwarding it to the Louisiana Board of

Regents.

Part II – Need

History of Systems Engineering at UL Lafayette: UL Lafayette has never had a Systems

Engineering Ph.D. program. Until the mid-1980’s, a MS in Engineering Systems was offered at

UL Lafayette with specialties within each of its five engineering departments. This program

focused on how each discipline contributed toward an engineering component of a system using

a very traditional MS approach to both the research and academic aspects of the program. Later,

UL Lafayette changed from this approach to a more traditional department-associated specialty

MS format. In April 2011, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System and

the Louisiana Board of Regents approved the consolidation of the five engineering masters

programs into one M.S. in Engineering. Until recently (2007), the UL Lafayette College of

Engineering did have an Engineering and Technology Management MS Program that featured

some of the educational and developmental aspects of a Systems Engineering Program. This

highly productive program was voluntarily phased out as UL Lafayette’s College of Engineering

optimized and reorganized the curriculum content of each of its MS programs to feature

characteristics of the Systems Engineering field in preparation for the formal request to initiate

this proposed Ph.D. program. In contrast to the philosophy of having some engineering graduate

students pursuing project management skills via a stand-alone Engineering and Technology MS

program), the new Ph.D. program will not only embed project management skills development

into all of the college’s graduate programs, it will integrate the other aspects of the Systems

Engineering field into the total educational experience (research approach, graduate committees,

etc.).

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Similar Programs In Louisiana: Five Louisiana universities – UL Lafayette, LSU, Louisiana

Tech, UNO, and Tulane -- currently offer Ph.D.’s within the engineering field. None of the

programs, however, targets the same occupational sector or utilize the same CIP Code. A brief

overview of the existing programs in Louisiana is provided below:

UL Lafayette offers a highly specialized Ph.D. in Computer Engineering through its

Center for Advanced Computer Systems (CACS).

In the case of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge (LSU-BR), the offerings are

strong, traditional programs which offer specific discipline degrees (for example, a Ph.D.

in Chemical Engineering as opposed to a Ph.D. in Engineering).

Louisiana Tech University (La Tech) and University of New Orleans (UNO) both offer

programs that are very closely aligned with the sciences, yielding strong degrees that

provide the graduate with robust engineering and science skills. Both of these Ph.D.

programs are “umbrella” programs in which multiple departments may participate but

which award a single formal degree in a specific discipline of engineering.

Tulane has eliminated most of their engineering programs and only offers specialized

Ph.D. degrees in the chemical and biochemical disciplines.

It is interesting to note that the former Tulane programs were productive; hence, the State

of Louisiana has actually lost a key asset in terms of the production of engineering Ph.D.’s.

Unfortunately for Louisiana, it is the Engineering Ph.D. that provides a critical developmental

foundation for stimulating regional economic development. None of the Ph.D. programs

discussed above is a Systems Engineering Program. The problem-solving approach embraced by

the Systems Engineering field is unique and strongly oriented toward design/development rather

than basic research, providing an important new capability for Louisiana.

It is envisioned that a collaborative synergy will develop between the proposed Systems

Engineering Ph.D. and the current engineering Ph.D. programs within the state that can be used

to jointly compete for additional external federal R&D dollars while increasing economic

development. The collaboration expected to develop between the proposed program and existing

programs is viewed as a great benefit to the state and a scenario of high potential, particularly

given the process developmental transition that the two types of engineering Ph.D. degrees will

then offer the state in terms of tracking technology development from basic highly focused

research through to a systems oriented development path and later commercialization.

Data from the recent American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Colleges of

Engineering Database (ASEE Website, 2011) indicates that all of the Ph.D. programs in

Louisiana are highly productive in terms of numbers of students and the ratio of graduates per

million dollars of R&D funds expended. Additionally, enrollment in Louisiana’s programs, like

most of the other programs in the US, is primarily composed of foreign national students; hence,

there will not be competition for a very limited pool of students. The need to maintain a high

quality pool of student applicants with a healthy yield is recognized. UL Lafayette is confident

that growing this new program is very obtainable with the resulting research and graduates

serving as a great benefit to Louisiana. Engineering doctoral programs are highly valuable to a

state because today’s global technology field is dependent on these programs to foster innovation

and to support regional developmental needs that are critical to economic development. The

intellectual and research facilities fostered by engineering Ph.D. programs are recognized as

critical to growing Louisiana’s economic base. It is also interesting to note that a recent NSF

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study found the "stay-rate" for foreign nationals receiving STEM Ph.D. degrees at US

institutions was over 70% after 10 years thus indicating that these graduates hailing from other

counties do remain as productive members of the US industrial work force (NSF, 2008).

Based on a review of ASEE data (ASEE, 2011) from over 25 US colleges of engineering,

most of them located in the Southeastern US, it was noted that UL Lafayette was the only

university with an engineering faculty over 40 not to have a Ph.D. program (UL Lafayette

tenure-track faculty numbers are currently 55 with three positions to be filled in Fall 2011).

Another observation noted based on this review is that numerous other colleges of engineering in

the US with 1) less or similar faculty numbers than UL Lafayette’s College of Engineering, 2)

lower or similar Carnegie classifications, and 3) similar or less R&D productivity are supporting

very successful engineering Ph.D. programs – examples include University of Alabama at

Huntsville, Ole Miss, Lamar University, University of Memphis, Montana State University,

Tennessee Tech, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Southern Illinois University, and Morgan

State University.

State, Regional, and National Need: The majority of current engineering Ph.D. programs

within the US are oriented toward basic research, which is often supported by the infusion of

science into the research paradigm. Most of these programs are oriented toward specializations

related to the various research groups housed within departments. As strong as these programs

are with regard to advancing science and engineering theory, they do not foster the concept of

approaching more applied problems via a holistic, design-based solutions oriented approach,

similar to the Six Sigma problem solving paradigm. As a result, Systems Engineering has

evolved as an exciting new engineering field within the United States and the world that is much

more oriented toward product development and design (Johnson et al., 2007; Griffin, 2007).

The proposed Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at UL Lafayette will orient Ph.D.-level

research toward design-based problem solving. It is envisioned that this new degree program

will greatly increase the level of multi-disciplinary learning and research interaction among the

faculty and graduate students. By design, the proposed Systems Engineering Program will

include a greater level of industry-interaction than is found in most engineering Ph.D. programs.

The infusion of management principles, coupled with significant industry input and the

solutions-oriented research of the proposed Ph.D. degree, will provide the framework for an

exciting new educational program for the State of Louisiana. With the NSF reporting that ~70%

of today’s graduating Engineering Ph.D.’s are employed by industry or the government (NCSES,

2009), it is believed that the proposed Systems Engineering Ph.D. program will produce

graduates who will have a much stronger appeal to industries hiring engineering Ph.D. graduates

than graduates with Ph.D.s from a more traditional engineering program. This new resource will

provide a much-needed addition to the developing technology-based professional labor pool

found within Louisiana. It is believed that this type of program would be much more appealing

to domestic students (particularly, Louisiana students) who have shunned entry into Engineering

Ph.D. programs due to their interest in pursuing industry jobs rather than academic positions.

Engineering Employment Outlook: It is noteworthy to mention that the outlook for

employment of engineers in general is very good (US Bureau of Labor, 2011). Many industries

and agencies are scrambling to hire entry-level engineering staff from an unfortunately

decreasing pool (Griffin, 2007). The numbers of engineers graduating from US universities are

level at best with some databases showing a decline (Johnson et al., 2004; NSF, 2008). From the

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perspective of Ph.D. holders from science and engineering, the employment opportunity growth

rate is growing faster for industry-related jobs over academic positions (NSF, 2008). In spite of

the decline in students entering engineering and science, NSF reports that the rate of employment

for those sectors are substantially greater than the rate expected for the overall US workforce –

the NSF concludes that the increase in technology innovation is a key driving force to this

growth. Globally, the dramatic success of technology development clusters in India and China

support this theory. Many experts believe that the US needs a better trained engineering

workforce with a greater innovative and entrepreneurial spirit to effectively compete within

today’s global technology development ecosystem (Augustine, 2009). The NSF also reports that

the number of engineering Ph.D.’s awarded in the US almost doubled between 1999 and 2007;

yet, the jobless rate for these personnel are well below the national average. Poremba (2009)

reports that experts on engineering career placement state that the M.S. and Ph.D. engineering

degrees give the holders of these degrees increased career choices and opportunities.

Industry Support of Proposed Program: The concept of establishing a Systems Engineering

Ph.D. at UL Lafayette has been well received by the many industries contacted over the course

of program design. Appendix A presents letters of support for the program along with potential

interests in the graduates of the program. Note that a good mix of both regional and national

industries is represented along with both large and small companies. In short, clearly the support

of industry is there as witnessed upon review of the included letters.

College-Level Advisory Boards' Support: The departments within the UL Lafayette College

of Engineering all have departmental advisory boards that provide for industry input into the

overall content of their respective operations. These groups meet twice a year with the spring

meeting being a joint meeting where all of these advisory boards meet at UL Lafayette on the

same day to provide "cross-fertilization" of ideas and to discuss college-level issues. At the 2009

Joint Meeting, over 75 of these board members from all six of the college's departments

unanimously voted to strongly suggest to the university that a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering

should be pursued immediately and that in their collective opinion this degree offering would be

a very strong program for the university and a key asset for the State of Louisiana. These

industry representatives hail from over 25 different companies with the vast majority being

Louisiana companies. Mr. E. Ray DesOrmeaux was elected by the six boards to draft a strong

letter of support for the initiation of a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at UL Lafayette. The letter

is presented as Appendix B of this proposal.

Implications to Regional Economic Development: In a well-designed study by Hill and

Lendel (2007), they conclude that doctoral programs in the bio-life sciences and engineering

clearly have a direct positive impact on the economic development within a region housing such

programs. The States of Oklahoma and Kansas have both recently acknowledged shortages of

engineers and the negative impact that the shortage will have on growing their economies

(Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, 2008; WIBW TV Report, 2008). Canada recently claimed

that their investments and growth in engineering and science positions have helped stabilize their

economy and touted recent investments in R&D capacity at universities as a key growth initiator

(Watts, 2009).

The State of Texas funded the Perryman Group of Waco Texas to evaluate the impact of

increasing the pool of graduating engineers and computer science graduates on business activity

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in Texas (Perryman Group, 2007). Key conclusions were that (1) “Engineers and computer

sciences are critical to the future economic growth and a primary factor in capturing emerging

technology sectors,” (2) “…growth of 25% in the pool of engineering and computer science

graduates (through enrollment expansion over a 5-year period) would increase overall

employment in the state by 29,168 in 10 years and 65,628 in 15 years due to gains in capacity

and productivity of the state economy,” and (3) “Communities large and small would share in

these gains”.

During 2007, the firm, Regional Technology Strategies Inc. (a.k.a. RDS, Carrboro, NC),

was jointly contracted by the Louisiana Board of Regents, Louisiana Recovery Authority, and

Louisiana Office of Community Development to evaluate how university assets could be better

utilized to catalyze economic development in Louisiana. They concluded that Louisiana’s total

R&D university enterprise was only 21% larger than the same enterprise at the University of

Florida alone, Louisiana university R&D must be increased to appreciably impact on the state’s

economy, and there is a requirement to “significantly” increase the depth and breadth of

productive, commercialization oriented R&D talent. The R&D efforts stemming from a Systems

Engineering Ph.D. are believed by UL Lafayette to meet many of these key challenges identified

by RTS.

Coupling the Perryman and RDS data with the strong hiring of engineering Ph.D.’s in

industry and the proven increasing demand for Systems Engineers provides a supporting

foundation to UL Lafayette’s theory that the proposed program will have a significant impact on

growing Louisiana’s economy (particularly, the targeted Blue Ocean Sectors).

Appendix C presents letters of support for the proposed program from numerous regional

economic development entities with considerable experience with technology-based industries

and their respective needs. Discussions with many other companies in the region in which letters

were not requested showed the excitement and interest for the Systems Engineering Ph.D.

program at UL Lafayette and its potential positive impact on jobs creation.

Clearly, the positive implications of the Systems Engineering (and any other engineering

program for that matter) to the recruiting and retaining companies into the region are very strong.

State Needs – Louisiana is a technology state. Most of its major industrial bases are strongly

tied to engineering: for example, petroleum, chemical production, manufacturing, technical

services, and energy production. As mentioned earlier, many of the envisioned Blue Ocean

future industries for Louisiana are tied to engineering. It is interesting to note that every one of

these envisioned high-growth industrial sectors are based on the development and management

of large technologically-based systems. With Louisiana being home to many industrial

complexes and an expected growth of these facilities and supporting engineering entities, the

proposed Systems Engineering program at UL Lafayette should add a tremendous source of

future engineers more aligned with industry needs.

It is strongly believed that it is time for Louisiana to offer a Systems Engineering

program. This new offering will greatly add to industry recruiting portfolios used by economic

development authorities. The letters of support presented in Appendix A clearly show that the

jobs potential for Systems Engineering Ph.D.’s is there. In a presentation at a 2004 INCOSE

meeting, Drs. Kaufman, Rogers, and Lunsford of East Carolina University state that, “Systems

Engineering which produces a technical generalist who can formulate, solve, and implement

solutions to a wide variety of problems in a multitude of contexts. Such engineers are especially

appropriate for smaller manufacturers that need engineering expertise, but cannot afford a large

- 13 -

staff of specialists.” (INCOSE, 2011). This capability that Systems Engineering represents is

well aligned with many of the companies locating in Louisiana. More and more of these firms,

particularly in the consulting engineering industry, are hiring engineers holding the Ph.D. degree.

Dr. Zappi (Dean of UL Lafayette College of Engineering) during the period of 2004 through

2007 had two of his Ph.D. graduates from his former position at Mississippi State University

receive strong offers from Albemarle Corporation (headquartered in Baton Rouge), with one of

them taking a job in their design group (the other went into academics, but is now working with

a small start-up firm).

Another key aspect to the Systems Engineering program proposed is that developmental

efforts undertaken by the students of the program will be well-aligned with those of industrial

entities. This synergy provides the framework for the Systems Engineering program at UL

Lafayette to support industrial development efforts underway by Louisiana industries. Johnson

et al. (2004) detail an example of this valued university-industry collaboration by IBM and their

university partners. Already, the College of Engineering at UL Lafayette has established itself as

a strong developmental support entity to Louisiana industries through a variety of current

developmental agreements. These interactions will provide Louisiana industries with

tremendous capacity to compete with product development. The implementation of the Systems

Engineering Ph.D. will greatly fortify this capacity (the Ph.D. in engineering is widely accepted

as the most productive developmental degree).

A GoogleTM search was performed by the UL Lafayette College of Engineering on the

posting of Systems Engineering positions along the Houston to Mobile corridor and all of

Louisiana. This search indicated well over 20 job postings for Systems Engineers with many

other posting well fitting the skills provided by a Systems Engineer. Clearly, the jobs market is

there and clearly the need is there for Louisiana industries of today and tomorrow as well.

Regional Needs: The States of Texas, Arkansas, and Alabama have all initiated Systems

Engineering programs (Texas Tech, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of

Alabama at Huntsville, and Auburn). Regionally, the Southeastern US is home to the majority of

NASA facilities. NASA lists Systems Engineering as one of their biggest discipline hiring

challenge among all fields - not just engineering (Hoch, 2009). The same can be stated for the

Department of Defense, which also has defined Systems Engineering as one of its key discipline

shortages (Hoch, 2007) and has many facilities in the region.

The region is home to many manufacturing, consulting, and processing industries.

Almost all are working on high volumes of developmental product efforts. In fact, the Deep

South has been noted by many experts as a new key hub for technology development and

advanced manufacturing in the US. Most of these industries within the region are utilizing

optimized-design approaches to improve existing technology and for the design of new

technology systems. Six Sigma-based project management has become the norm for most of

these organizations (with more expected to adopt this paradigm over time). Hence, Systems

Engineering is very much an excellent fit for the region - as witnessed by the growth of such

offerings in institutions in our regional neighbors.

National Needs: In 2009, CNN and Money Magazine performed a survey/assessment of what

were the most promising professions in the US (CNNMoney.com, 2009). They concluded that

Systems Engineering was the "Number 1 Best Career" to enter. Maloney and Leon (2007) state

that Systems Engineering and Software Engineering are the two most critical engineering

- 14 -

discipline needs for both NASA and many associated support industries. They further state that

US industries face critical shortages in engineers for years to come with so few young people

electing to enter these fields. NASA has initiated a formal Systems Engineering recruiting and

education program with its primary mission being to increase the number of System Engineers

that can join the NASA workforce. The Department of Defense has initiated a similar effort via

its Office of Systems Engineering (Welby, 2010) which is aggressively working toward both the

recruitment of new Systems Engineers along with current workforce training. The Department

of Defense has clearly defined Systems Engineering as a key component to all aspects of the

national defense (Systems Management College, 2001; Vannucci and Barnabe, 2010; AFIT,

2011).

A clear message can be summarized based on a review of comments made during a

recent INCOSE meeting in which the following statement best summarizes the appeal of

Systems Engineering to the nation’s technology community: Engineering as a discipline can no

longer be given a problem and then retreat into itself to later offer up a technical solution.

Instead, the engineering profession must actively engage in the holistic assessment of the

problem inclusive of issues pertaining to social needs, design-life payouts, technical needs, and

R&D team optimization - all issues entrenched within the Systems Engineering field.

Program Opportunity Marketing: A supporting critical activity that is considered key to the

successful maturation of any degree program is the continued provision of a very strong jobs

market for the graduates of that program and student recruiting. Therefore, almost immediately

upon acceptance of the program by the two governing boards for UL Lafayette, an aggressive

marketing effort will be initiated to entrench UL Lafayette as a “go-to” source for solid Systems

Engineers for both industry and government agencies. Envisioned activities include 1) strong

participation in professional society meetings to highlight UL Lafayette’s program to potential

employers and students, 2) periodic meeting with numerous regional industries to ensure that

their needs are being addressed by the program and to verify that their current staffing is aware

of the program offering, 3) setting up collaborations with other US colleges of engineering

granting similar degrees (target M.S. and Ph.D. granting institutions), 4) a strong presence in

INCOSE, 5) the formation of a program advisory board as mentioned above, 6) publishing of

scholastic products in journals and industry trade magazines, 7) seek collaboration with

international colleges of engineering with similar interests in Systems Engineering, 8) meet with

government agencies, such as DoD, and NASA, to set-up potential training opportunities for

their staff, 9) set-up recruiting booths for potential students at regional jobs placement events at

regional universities, and 10) offer a series of short courses within the region. Most of these

activities are actually on-going for the current engineering programs at UL Lafayette. The

results of these efforts have been dramatic with the college experiencing a more than 30%

increase in undergraduate student populations along with an increase in the number of companies

recruiting UL Lafayette engineering and industrial technology graduates. Hence, this marketing

initiative is viewed as having great potential to facilitate the program meeting its full potential.

Implications to College Advancement: It is noteworthy to mention that a review of the

American Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) colleges database indicates that the UL

Lafayette College of Engineering (ASEE, 2011), when viewed from the perspective of its R&D

funding level peers, is clearly set aside from its peer group of engineering colleges not granting a

Ph.D. from every metric including R&D funding, faculty numbers, student numbers, Carnegie

- 15 -

classification, and degree production. The college badly needs the proposed degree program to

make that final critical step toward realizing its full potential to greatly contribute to the State of

Louisiana. Additionally, the lack of a Ph.D., program within the college has adversely impacted

the growth of its R&D funding portfolio and graduate student enrollment (albeit both have seen

tremendous growth in spite of the challenges faced with the lack of a Ph.D. offering). As was

mentioned earlier in this document, external advisory boards for the departments place the lack

of a Ph.D. program as the number one key issue challenging the further acceleration of program

growth within the college. The same can be said for the faculty of the college which often lists

the lack of a Ph.D. program has the biggest hindrance to program growth. Appendix D presents

letters of support for both the Systems Engineering Ph.D. and the value of an engineering Ph.D.

degree and associated research to both universities and regions from two noted university

presidents: Dr. Kirk Schulz, President of Kansas State University, who holds a Ph.D. in

Chemical Engineering and Dr. Bowen Loftin, President of Texas A&M, who holds a degree in

Industrial and Systems Engineering. These two presidents offer a unique perspective in that they

are national education leaders and experts on the field of engineering. Both Drs. Schulz and

Loftin have reviewed an overview of the Systems Engineering Program design as drafted by UL

Lafayette and have written the attached letters as an opinion on the value of a Ph.D. program to

an engineering college along with their thoughts on UL Lafayette’s ability to implement the

proposed program.

- 16 -

Part III – Students

Estimated Number of Enrollees and Graduates: The UL Lafayette College of Engineering

estimates that over an expected six-year initiation period, the number of students will grow from

a starting population of at least 8 in Year 1 to an estimated steady-state population in excess of

40 students by Year 7. The first graduates are expected to finish their degree requirements by

Year 5 with an estimated number of graduates in that year of five graduates. The steady-state

annual program graduation rate is expected to be approximately eight or more graduates per

year. This estimate was projected based on a very nominal per department Systems Engineering

Ph.D. student population of six. This estimate is consistent with student to faculty ratios at peer

colleges of engineering (the ratio used for this estimate is 0.5 to 1 [student to faculty] - again this

represents a conservative estimate). Additionally, Engineering-related R&D at UL Lafayette

hovers at around $10 M per year over the past three years - this represents a tremendous pool of

funding that will more than support the proposed program without the need for additional

funding.

Current Graduate Enrollment Trends of Related Graduate Programs: The UL Lafayette

College of Engineering has five MS degree programs. The enrollment statistics for these

programs in terms of student numbers are detailed below:

Deg Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

8172 ENGR, Chemical MSE 22 21 30 23 25 31

8182 ENGR, Civil MSE 14 15 17 18 21 18

8682 ENGR, Mechanical MSE 14 16 19 20 15 15

8792 ENGR, Petroleum MSE 14 18 34 41 60 54

8284 Telecommunications MSTC 24 22 35 53 45 30

TOTAL 88 92 162 164 166 148

Clearly, the UL Lafayette College of Engineering is more than capable of effectively

supporting the proposed program due to the growth of graduate program and high level of R&D

funding. Do note that the increase from 2005 to 2010 in total graduate student numbers was

done only with MS program offerings when nationally the Engineering Ph.D. is becoming the

graduate degree being emphasized – particularly with the shift from the M.S. to the Ph.D. to the

direct Ph.D. - hence, there is a strong proven potential to quickly grow a strong Systems

Engineering Ph.D. program at UL Lafayette.

The population dynamics of three aligned Ph.D. programs at UL Lafayette are presented

below as a means of indicating the capabilities of the University to effectively support these

aligned graduate programs.

- 17 -

Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall

Enrollment 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

8289 Computer Engr. PhD 38 33 32 32 35 46

8679 Mathematics PhD 30 35 33 38 41 45

8119 Env & Evol Biology PhD 44 47 49 52 51 49

Graduates 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10

8119 Env & Evol Biology PHD 2 4 8 6 4

8679 Mathematics PHD 5 5 4 4 7

8289 Computer Engr. PHD 3 5 3 4 6

The above data clearly indicate the ability and willingness of UL Lafayette to support

Ph.D. degree generation. The Ph.D. in Computer Engineering is aligned with the College of

Engineering and the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences as part of CACS (a jointly held

degree-granting R&D center). The production of Ph.D. graduates is generated from a

participating engineering faculty of 12. With an involved engineering faculty of over 50, the

proposed Systems Engineering Ph.D. should provide the framework for graduation production at

a higher level than the three current Ph.D. programs listed above. Appendix E presents a letter

from Dr. Bradd Clark, Dean of the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences at UL Lafayette,

which voices his strong support of the proposed Systems Engineering Program and its direct

value to the university as a whole.

Source of Students: Each year, UL Lafayette receives more than 200 applications for entry into

its current MS programs in engineering. Only a fraction of these applicants are accepted and

enrolled into these programs because of the limited funded positions available and the College of

Engineering avoiding admitting large numbers of graduate students without either university or

project related funding. It is believed that given the popularity of Systems Engineering and the

demand for this field within both industry and academia, there will be a surplus of applicants

pursing entry into this program. Discussions with current engineering students at UL Lafayette

indicate a very high interest in this program. Domestic engineering students, in particular, are

very interested in commercialization-based job tracks as evidenced by the dramatic increase in

development, entrepreneurial, and six sigma programs within the engineering education arena. It

is believed that a healthy mix of domestic and foreign national applicants will support the

proposed program to the extent that significant growth of the program over the years is

envisioned.

Student Support Funds: Most engineering Ph.D. programs at research active universities

support a significant proportion of their Ph.D. study population via Graduate Assistant (GA)

positions which are funded from research projects. Given this trend and the proven ability of the

faculty of the College of Engineering at UL Lafayette to generate substantial R&D funding, it is

estimated that approximately 60% of the Ph.D. students in the proposed program will be

supported via research funds, while the balance will be supported using university supported

- 18 -

Ph.D. GA positions. The UL Lafayette College of Engineering currently has 41 fully funded

graduate assistant lines and 23 tuition fee waivers. The university plans to convert 16 current

MS GA positions and 10 of the fee waivers within the College of Engineering into 10 Ph.D. GA

positions; thus, there will not be a need for increased state funding to support the proposed new

program.

Student Entrance Requirements: Admission to any graduate program at UL Lafayette

involves a thorough evaluation of student capabilities measured via a variety of metrics inclusive

of the GRE Exam (Graduate Record Exam), TOEFL (Test on English as a Foreign Language),

written essays, reference documentation, and evaluation of transcripts from previous educational

programs. Of these, only grades, TOEFL scores, and GRE results are directly measurable.

Hence, for direct admission (BS to Ph.D.) into the proposed program, the UL Lafayette College

of Engineering will require students to hold a BS in Engineering, have at least a 3.2 Cumulative

GPA for the last 70 hours of engineering coursework in their BS program, and a Success

Evaluation Score in excess of 1,150. The Success Evaluation Score (SES) is computed as

detailed below:

SEC = GRE Quantitative Score + (GRE Analytical Score x 100)

Note that the maximum GRE Q score is 800 and the maximum GRE A (often referred to

as the "Written Portion") is 6.0. All other criteria for the proposed program must follow the

graduate admission policy of the university (the requirements listed above are greater than those

for the overall university).

Non-engineering discipline students will not be allowed to directly enter the Ph.D.

program; they will be required to obtain a MS in an engineering field prior to acceptance. Post-

MS students must have at least one of their two degrees being an engineering degree and have a

MS cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. Note that students with a MS in engineering that do not

have a BS in engineering will be required to take "leveling" courses within their emphasis area

(civil, chemical, electrical, computer, mechanical, and petroleum). It is the goal of the UL

Lafayette College of Engineering that all of its graduates can successfully sit for the Professional

Engineering licensure exam (hence, the need for fully discipline-leveled graduates). The extent

of leveling courses required will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Note that each

department within the UL Lafayette College of Engineering has already established topical

leveling requirements for non-BS degreed students to enter its engineering graduate programs.

Additionally, students must maintain over the entire course of their program at least a 3.0

Cumulative GPA and will be allowed only one "C" as a final graduate course grade.

Continuing Program Assessment (Summary of Assessment Plan): The Ph.D. program in

System Engineering has been designed to support the mission of the University of Louisiana at

Lafayette and the Aims and Objectives of the College of Engineering. In addition, the College of

Engineering has developed a comprehensive closed loop assessment and measurement plan to

measure the achievement of desired program objectives and desired student learning outcomes

for the Ph.D. program in Systems Engineering.

The complete plan can be found as Appendix F. In summary, the desired program

educational objectives are: 1) to produce graduates who are academically qualified to practice in

the field of engineering and pursue licensure as a Professional Engineer and 2) to produce

- 19 -

graduates who assume positions of increasing responsibility in industry, government, and

academia. The student learning outcomes are designed to train the student while in school to be

prepared to achieve the desired program objectives over the course of their career. The

curriculum for the program has been specifically designed to insure the achievement of the

learning outcomes. The desired student learning outcomes are: 1) an ability to demonstrate

breadth of knowledge across the general field of engineering, 2) an ability to demonstrate depth

of knowledge in an area of specialization beyond the level of an M.S. degree in engineering, and

3) an ability to demonstrate competence in solving practical problems in the field of Systems

Engineering. In order to measure the achievement of the learning outcomes, three instruments

have been developed. The instruments are: 1) an oral examination of the student at the time of

the dissertation defense, 2) an evaluation of the dissertation document itself, and 3) an evaluation

of the final exams for the courses: Systems Engineering I and II. Rubrics have been developed

for each instrument, in order to insure consistency in the evaluation process. All graduating

students are assessed. At the end of each year, an Executive Committee retreat is held to

evaluate the assessment data and the assessment process itself, to determine whether any

corrective actions are necessary. Every two years, the faculty and the program’s constituents, as

represented by the External Advisory Board, will consider whether the program objectives are

still appropriate. In addition, all graduates are tracked via alumni surveys to insure that they are

achieving the desired program objectives within three to five years after graduation. Any

suggested changes to either the program or the assessment process are entered into an action item

tracking database and tracked by the Dean’s Office until complete.

Part IV – Faculty

The successful initiation of any program, regardless of scope and area of interest, is

contingent upon the quality of the people who provide the personnel foundation of that venture.

Significant planning, targeted faculty hiring, and faculty resource provision have been ongoing at

UL Lafayette over the past several years to properly position the university to provide the faculty

foundation to successfully implement the proposed program. Faculty searches have been

particularly focused on the recruiting and hiring of new faculty capable of generating substantial

external R&D funding and showing strong interest in participating and growing a Ph.D. offering

in Systems Engineering. Based on the rapid growth of engineering-related R&D funds at UL

Lafayette, this goal is partially met - still, the initiation of the Systems Engineering Ph.D.

program remains. However, the approval and implementation of this program is by far the most

important issue voiced by faculty members in the college as well as by the five departments'

advisory boards.

Involved Academic Units: The program will involve the departments of Chemical Engineering,

Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and

Petroleum Engineering. All of these units have experienced substantial growth in student

numbers and research funds over the past five years. Additionally, each of these departments has

a long and successful history of operation and each is well-known and well-respected within

their respective industries across Louisiana. These programs all offer MS programs and only

Electrical and Computer Engineering has an affiliated Ph.D. program of any sort. All five of

- 20 -

these involved programs are all fully accredited and none of them are on any "Low Performer"

list organized either the ULS or the Louisiana BOR.

Proposed Program Faculty and Institutional Oversight: All graduate programs are officially

part of the university's Graduate School which is lead by a dean (Dr. Eddie Palmer is the current

Dean of the Graduate School at UL Lafayette). Within the College of Engineering, a Program

Coordinator (Dr. Jim Lee, Mechanical Engineering) will oversee the day-to-day implementation

of the program. A committee will be organized and tasked with program oversight, policy

development, and quality assurance via the formation of an Executive Committee. Please note

that an External Advisory Committee will be formed for providing annual program reviews to

continuously interject industry input on content and implementation, advice on program

directions and for opening up increased hiring opportunities for future program graduates (more

details provided later).

Key Faculty Credentials: Two supporting sources of evidence are provided to assist with the

review of this critical program resource. The first supporting source concerning the quality and

ability of the College of Engineering’s faculty is the inclusion of abbreviated CVs of key faculty

who will be actively involved in the implementation and management of the proposed program

(see Appendix G). The second source is the very concise descriptions of the pertinent

background of both the Program Coordinator (Dr. Jim Lee) and the Executive Committee are

presented below:

Program Coordinator

Jim Lee, Ph.D. (Industrial Engineer, Mechanical Engineering)

Proposed Program Activity: Systems Engineering Ph.D. Program Coordinator

Career Professional Expertise: Project Management and Energy Systems

Academic Appointment: Professor of Mechanical Engineering (tenured) and currently the

graduate coordinator for the UL Lafayette Department of Mechanical Engineering (and formerly

the graduate coordinator for the phased-out MS in Engineering and Technology Management).

UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 1988

Other Key Appointments: Co-Director of the Industrial Assessment Center

Degrees Held: B.S. Industrial Engineering, Tunghai University, 1979; M.S. Industrial and

Management Engineering, University of Iowa, 1983; Ph.D. Industrial and Management

Engineering, University of Iowa, 1987

Background: Dr. Lee has extensive experience with the utilization of Systems Engineering

concepts for optimizing industrial operations. He is a key faculty member (Co-Director) with the

UL Lafayette Industrial Assessment Center, a group that assists Louisiana companies with the

application and development of energy saving technologies/methods. Additionally, Dr. Lee has

very successfully served as a graduate coordinator for the recently phased-out Engineering

Management program. In fact, he maintained the one of the largest MS programs within the

college while doing this within a department without an undergraduate program (no direct

feeder). Dr. Lee is also considered one of the best administrators of graduate programs on

campus based on his vision, organizational skills, and student recruiting methods.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching three courses (9 semester credit hours) yielding 288

student credit hours and 141 semester contact hours.

- 21 -

Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served on Ph.D. committees and been involved with the

design and operations of graduate programs.

Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):

1. Garrett, D. and J. Lee (2011). “Lean Construction Submittal Process – A Case Study.”

Quality Engineering. 23(1), 85-94.

2. Green, J., J. Lee and T. Kozman (2010). "Managing Lean Manufacturing in Material

Handling Operations." International Journal of Production Research. 48(10), 2975-2993.

3. Price, R., J. Lee and T. Kozman (2010). “Use of Competency-based Needs Analysis in

Developing Employee Training Program,” International Journal of Business and Public

Administration. 7(1), 117-130.4.

4. Galletti, D., J. Lee, and T. Kozman (2010). “Competitive Benchmarking for Fleet Cost

Management.” Total Quality Management& Business Excellence. 21(9), 1047-1056.

5. Olsen, C., T. Kozman, and J. Lee (2009). “Equipment Sizing and Economic Analysis for

CHP Natural Gas Liquids Recovery System.” Energy Engineering. 106(1). Dec-Jan, pp 7-23.

Program Executive Committee

Chairperson

Mark E. Zappi, Ph.D., P.E. (Bioprocess Systems Engineer, Chemical Engineering)

Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Chairman

Career Professional Expertise: Optimization of Bioprocess Systems and Environmental

Remediation Processes

Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Chemical Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Dean of Engineering and Director of Bioprocess Research Laboratory

Degrees Held: BS Civil Engineering from Southwestern Louisiana (1984); MS Chemical

Engineering from Mississippi State University (1991); and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from

Mississippi State University (1995)

Background: Dr. Zappi has been involved in the development of engineering systems for over

30 years. He has organized highly accomplished, multi-disciplinary developmental teams who

have received numerous awards for their efforts. His experience with the commercialization of

development-level processes with industrial partners will be a key aspect of ensuring the

program’s value to Louisiana industries. Dr. Zappi during his tenure at Mississippi State

University personally lead an initiative within the Department of Chemical Engineering in which

the graduate student population (at 23 when initiative started with only 3 being Ph.D. students)

was targeted to double and increase the number of domestic students (1 at the time) to over five.

Within four years under his leadership, the program was redesigned, graduate student numbers

tripled with over half being Ph.D. students (over 70). The number of domestic students also was

increased to represent more than 50% of the graduate student population.

Current Academic Loading: No courses taught in Spring 2011

Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for Ph.D. students and has also

served on Ph.D. committees - additionally, design and implemented new Ph.D. program at MSU.

- 22 -


1. Taconi, K., Zappi, M. E., French, W. T., and Brown, L. R, 2007, "Feasibility of

Methanogenic Digestion Applied to a Low pH Acetic Acid Solution,” Bioresource

Technology, V98, pp. 1576-1585.

2. Dufreche, S., Hernandez, R., French, T., Sparks, D., Zappi, M., and Alley, E., 2007,

“Extraction of Lipids from Municipal Wastewater Plant Microorganisms for Production of

Biodiesel,” J. Amer Oil Chem Soc, 84, 181-187.

3. Ford, J., French, T., Hernandez, R., Easterling, E., Zappi, M., Morrison, C., Licha, M., and

Brown, L., 2008, “Development and Comparisons of Efficient Gas-Cultivation Systems for

Anaerobic Carbon Monoxide-Utilizing Microorganisms,” Bioresource Technology, V99, pp.

638-643.

4. Subramaniam, R., Dufreche, S., Zappi, M., and Bajpai, R., 2010, “Microbial lipids from

renewable resources: production and characterization,” Industrial Microbiology &

Biotechnology. (2010), 37(12):1271-1287.

5. Wild, R., Patil, S., Popovic, M., Zappi, M., Dufreche, S., and, Bajpai, R., 2010, “Lipids from

Lipomyces starkeyi,” Food Technology and Biotechnology, (2010), 48(3):329-335.

Co-Chairperson

Terrence L. Chambers, Ph.D., PE (Mechanical Systems Engineer, Process Optimization)

Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Co-Chairperson

Career Professional Expertise: Systems Optimization

Academic Appointment: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Associate Dean of Engineering

Degrees Held: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, August 1986; Ph.D.

in Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, August 1994

Background: Dr. Chambers has worked for many years as both an academic researcher and

industrial consultant in the area of optimization of industrial processes using systems approaches.

He has also been very active with the management of engineering education programs within a

university setting as well as being active with various professional societies involved with

improving university education, including serving in various capacities with American Society

for Engineering Education (ASEE).

Current Academic Loading: No courses being taught in Spring 2011

Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for a Ph.D. student and has

served on Ph.D. committees.


1. Lui, Y., Artigue, A., Sommers, J., Chambers, T., 2011, “Theo Jansen Project in Engineering

Design Course and a Design Example,” European Journal of Engineering Education, CEEE-

2010-0068.R2.

2. Chambers, T. L., Aglawe, A., Reiners, D., White, S., Borst, C., Prachyabrued, M., Bajpayee,

A., 2010, “Real time Simulation for VR Welding Training,” Virtual Reality, Special Issue in

Manufacturing and Construction, DOI: 10.1007/s10055-010-0170-x.

3. White, S., Prachyabrued, M., Chambers, T. L., Reiners, D., Borst, C., 2010, “Low Cost

Simulated MIG Welding for Advancement in Technical Training,” Virtual Reality, Special

Issue in Manufacturing and Construction, DOI: 10.1007/s10055-010-0162-x.

- 23 -

4. Reinhardt, J. R., Chambers, T. L., “Phase Equilibrium/Flasher Problems Solved by a New

Method,” Chemical Engineering Progress, September 2008, pp 40 - 44.

5. Chambers, T. L., Teaching Engineering Analysis Using VBA for Excel,” Computers in

Education Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, April – June, 2008, pp. 71 – 81.

Members

Carolina Cruz-Neira, Ph.D. (Systems Engineer, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member

Career Professional Expertise: Design of Visualization Systems

Academic Appointment: Chaired Professor of Computer Engineering (tenured)

UL Lafayette Appointment Date: April 2006

Other Key Appointments: Chief Scientist at the Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise

Degrees Held: Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1995;

MS, Electrical and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1991; B.S., Systems

Engineering, Universidad Metropolitana at Caracas, 1987

Background: Dr. Cruz holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and has been active over her career

approaching process modeling, computations-based design, and advanced visualization

challenges using a systems-based solutions approach. She has been very successful in bridging

the gap from university research to commercialization of technology.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching one course (3 semester credit hours) yielding 18 student

credit hours and 47 semester contact hours.


served on Ph.D. committees


1. J. P. Springer, C. Neumann, D. Reiners, and C. Cruz-Neira, “An Integrated Pipeline to Create

and Experience Compelling Scenarios,” in Virtual Reality. In IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging

2011.,SPIE,2011.

2. C. Cruz-Neira, D. Reiners, and J. P. Springer, “An Affordable Surround-Screen Virtual

Reality Display,” J. Soc. Info. Display, 18(10):836–843, October 2010.

3. Cruz-Neira, C. Boudreaux, H., Bible, P., “V-Volcano: Bridging the Gap between Conceptual

and Graphical Realism in Educational Application for Volcanoes Addressing Student

Misconceptions in Earth Sciences Learning Through Virtual Reality Simulations,”

International Symposium on Visual Computing 2010.

4. D. Courter, J. P. Springer, C. Neumann, C. Cruz-Neira, and D. Reiners, “Beyond Desktop

Point and Click: Immersive Walkthrough of Aerospace Structures,” 2010 IEEE Aerospace

Conference, 2010.

5. D. Courter, C. Neumann, J. P. Springer, D. Reiners, and C. Cruz-Neira, “Integrating the DIS

Standards into a Fully-Immersive Simulation Application,” IEEE VR 2010.

Donald Hayes, Ph.D., PE (Environmental Systems Engineer, Civil Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Development of Engineered Wetland Systems and Optimization

of Dredging Operations

Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Civil Engineering (tenured)

UL Lafayette Appointment Date: January 2007

- 24 -

Other Key Appointments: Graduate Coordinator for Civil Engineering and Director of the

Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering

Degrees Held: Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, December 1990; M.S., Civil

Engineering, Mississippi State University, December 1986; B.S., Civil Engineering, Mississippi

State University, Dec. 1981

Background: Dr. Hayes has worked within numerous highly multi-discipline developmental

groups that used Systems Engineering theory to develop solutions to pressing engineering

problems, particularly related to coastal engineering. He has also been very active in the

initiation and optimization of numerous engineering graduate programs at other institutions.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching two courses (6 semester credit hours) yielding 49 student





1. Choi, Y., K. Johnson, and D. Hayes, “Pilot Scale Aerated Submerged Bio-Film (ASBF)

Reactor for Organics Removal and Nitrification at Cold Temperatures,” accepted for

publication in Water Environment Research, October 2006.

2. T. Neville Burt and Donald F. Hayes, “Framework for Research Leading to Improved

Assessment of Dredge Generated Plumes,” Terra et Aqua, Number 98, pp. 20-31, March

2005.

3. Je, C.H. and D. F. Hayes, “Development of A Two-Dimensional Analytical Model for

Predicting Toxic Sediment Plumes Due to Environmental Dredging Operations,” Journal of

Environmental Science and Health, Part A, Volume 39, Issue 8, December 2004, pages 1935

– 1947.

4. Reible, D.D., D. Hayes, C. Lue-Hing, J. Patterson, N. Bhowmik, M. Johnson, and J. Teal,

“Comparison of the Long-Term Risks of Removal and In-Situ Management of

Contaminated Sediments in the Fox River,” Journal of Soil and Sediment Contamination,

12(3):325-344.

5. America’s Wetland Task Committee, Restoring Coastal Louisiana: Enhancing the Role of

Engineering and Science in the Restoration Program, American Soc. of Civil Engineers,

2004.

Rakesh Bajpai, Ph.D., PE (Chemical Process Engineer, Chemical Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Research and Development of Bioprocess Systems

Academic Appointment: Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Director of Environmental Engineering Laboratory

Degrees Held: Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, 1976;

M.Tech. (Chemical Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, 1972; B.Sc.

(Chemical Engineering), Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur, India, 1969

Background: Dr. Bajpai has worked in the development of engineered reactor systems via

projects ranging from very basic science to the full scale design of industrial fermentation

systems. He has been active in the formation of highly multi-disciplined R&D teams including

the highly successful obtainment of external funding to support these initiatives.

- 25 -






1. “Microbial lipids from renewable resources: production and characterization.”

Subramaniam, Ramalingam; Dufreche, Stephen; Zappi, Mark; Bajpai, Rakesh. J. Ind.

Microbiol. Biotechnol. 37(12): 1271-1287, 2010.

2. “The Diversity and Molecular Modelling Analysis of B12-dependent and B12-independent

Glycerol Dehydratases.” Liu, Yuemin; Gallo, August A; Bajpai, Rakesh K; Chistoserdov,

Andrei; Nelson, Andrew; Segura, Leah; Xu. International Journal of Bioinformatics Research

and Applications, 6(5): 484-507, 2010. 3. “Lipids from Lipomyces starkeyi.” Wild, Robert; Patil, Satish; Popovic, Milan; Zappi, Mark;

Dufreche, Stephen; Bajpai, Rakesh. Food Technol. Biotechnol., 48(3): 329-335, 2010. 4. “Wastewater Treatment Processes.” D. D. Gang, R. Bajpai, and S. Banerji. Encl. Agr. Food

Biol Eng., 2nd

Ed. 1(1): 1825-1836, 2010. 5. “Relevance of Microbial Coculture Fermentations in Biotechnology,” J. Bader, E. Mast-

Gerlach, M. K. Popović, R. Bajpai, and U. Stahl. J. Appl. Microbiol., 109(2):371-387, 2010.

Devesh Misra, Ph.D. (Materials Engineer, Chemical Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Performance of Research on Materials Development and

Polymer Systems Development

Academic Appointment: Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Graduate Coordinator for Chemical Engineering and Director of

Center for Structural and Functional Materials

Degrees Held: Ph.D., Materials Science and Metallurgy, Cambridge University, England, UK,

1983; Certificate of Post-graduate study in Natural Sciences, Cambridge University, England,

UK, 1981; Bachelor of Technology, Metallurgical Engineering, Banaras University, India, 1980.

Background: Dr. Misra is internationally known for his developmental experience dealing with

the integration of industry needs with the research capabilities of universities. He has also led

the UL Lafayette Chemical Engineering MS program into a position as one of the Top 10 most

productive Chemical Engineering MS programs within the US. He has established himself

within Louisiana as a key integrator of multi-disciplined expertise to formulate highly successful

R&D teams.



Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served on Ph.D. committees.


1. Shah J.S., Venkatsurya P.C., Thein-Han W.W., Pesacreta, T.C., Misra R.D.K., “The role of

nanocrystalline titania coating on nanostructured austenitic stainless steel in enhancing

osteoblasts functions for regeneration of tissue,” Materials Science and Engineering C, 31, p.

458 (2011).

2. Maganti N., Venkatsurya P.C., Thein-Han W.W., Pesacreta, T.C., Misra R.D.K., “Structure-

process property relationship of biomimetic chitosan-based nanocomposite scaffolds for

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/J%20Bader

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/E%20Mast-Gerlach

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/E%20Mast-Gerlach

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/M%20K%20Popovi%C4%87

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/R%20Bajpai

http://www.nextbio.com/b/search/author/U%20Stahl

- 26 -

tissue engineering: Biological, physic-chemical and mechanical functions,” Advanced

Engineering Materials, 13, p. 108 (2011).

3. Yang, Y., Chen, Y., Yuan, Q., and Misra, R.D.K., “Structure-property relationship in impact

modified nanoclay-reinforced polypropylene,” Materials Science and Engineering A, 528, p.

1857 (2011).

4. Shah, J.S., Girase, B., Thein-Han W.W., and Misra, R.D.K., “Stimulated Cellular Response

of Novel Hybrid Network Structure Elastomers with Inorganic Short Chain Cross-links for

Soft Tissue Reconstruction,” Advanced Engineering Materials, 13, p. 41 (2011).

5. Jia, Z., and Misra, R.D.K., “Simulated temperature dependence of exchange-coupled

FeRh/FePt bilayer: Relevance in magnetic field recording media,” Materials Technology:

Advanced Performance Materials, 25, p.307 (2010).

Dr. Boyun Guo (Petroleum Systems Engineer, Petroleum Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Development of Petroleum Production Systems

Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Petroleum Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Graduate Coordinator for Petroleum Engineering

Degrees Held: Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering, New Mexico Tech, USA, 1992; MS in

Petroleum Engineering, Montana Tech, USA, 1988; BS in Petroleum Engineering, Daqing

Petroleum Institute, P.R. China, 1982

Background: Dr. Guo is internationally known for his research of petroleum production systems

including reservoir engineering and production facility optimization. His work spans from basic

research involving the use of computer visualization of complex systems to the optimization of

production well units. He has authored numerous books in these subject areas. He has been key

in the growth of the MS in Petroleum Engineering from less than 10 students to over 60 in just

four years.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching 3 courses (9 semester credit hours) yielding 270 student


Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served on Ph.D. committees along with being involved on

the design of Petroleum Engineering Ph.D. programs overseas.


1. Guo, B.: “Corrections to Horizontal Drainhole Productivity Equations for Wellbore Friction

Effect,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 70, 3-4, January 2010, pp 344-

349.

2. Guo, B., Yu, X., and Khoshgahdam, M.: “A Simple and Accurate Mathematical Model for

Predicting Productivity of Multifractured Horizontal Wells,” SPE Reservoir Evaluation &

Engineering Journal (December 2009). Vol. 12, No. 6.

3. Guo, B., Ling, K., and Ghalambor, A.: “A Rigorous Composite-IPR Model for Multilateral

Wells,” SPE Drilling & Completion Journal (June 2008).

4. Fang, Q, Guo, B., and Ghalambor, A.: “Formation of Underwater Cuttings Piles in Offshore

Drilling,” SPE Drilling & Completion Journal (March 2008).

5. Guo, B., Al-bemani, A.S. and Ghalambor, A.: “Improvement in Sachdeva’s Multiphase

Choke Flow Model Using Field Data,” Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology (May

2007).

- 27 -

Dr. Ehab Meselhe (Hydrologic Engineer, Civil Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Optimization and Modeling of Hydrology Systems

Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Civil Engineering (tenured)


Other Key Appointments: Director for the Center for Louisiana Inland Water Studies

Degrees Held: Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, May 1994; The University of

Iowa, Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, Iowa City, Iowa; M.S. in Civil and Environmental

Engineering, December 1991; The University of Iowa, Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research,

Iowa City, Iowa; B.S. in Civil Engineering, June 1987 Zagazig University, Cairo, Egypt

Background: Dr. Meselhe is an expert on the optimization of large hydrologic systems, such as

riverine systems and their respective impacts of surrounding regions. He is a note expert for the

US Army Corps of Engineers having served on numerous advisory committees and PI on

numerous grants from the agency. Dr. Meselhe's graduate students are in high demand due to

their solid training in both theory and commercialization aspects of the field. His current R&D

activities include visualization of river flow systems, optimization of river models, and impacts

of fresh water diversion into the Gulf of Mexico.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching one course (3 semester credit hours) yielding 30 student


Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a co-major professor for Ph.D. students in

computer engineering and has served on Ph.D. committees


1. Kheiashy K., McCorquodale, J, Georgiou, I, and Meselhe, E. (2010) “Three Dimensional

Hydrodynamic Modeling Over Bed Forms in Open Channels.” International Journal of

Sediment Research, Science Direct, Elsevier, 25 (2010) 431-440.

2. Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Robert R. Twilley, Stephen E. Davis, III, Daniel L. Childers, Marc

Simard, Randolph Chambers, Rudolf Jaffe, Joseph N. Boyer, David T. Rudnick, Keqi Zhang,

Edward Casta˜neda-Moya, Sharon Ewe, Ren´e M. Price, Carlos Coronado-Molina, Michael

Ross, Thomas J. Smith, III, Beatrice Michot, Ehab Meselhe, William Nuttle, Tiffany Troxler,

and Gregory B. Noe (2010) “The Role of the Everglades Mangrove Ecotone Region (EMER)

in Regulating Nutrient Cycling and Wetland Productivity in South Florida.” Critical Reviews

in Environmental Science and Technology, 41(S1):1–37, 2010.

3. Allison, M. A, Meselhe, E. A. (2010) “The use of large water and sediment diversions in the

lower Mississippi River (Louisiana) for coastal restoration.” Journal of Hydrology 387 346-

360.

4. Meselhe, E. A., Waldon, M. G., Arceneaux, J. C. (2010) “Water budget model for a remnant

northern Everglades wetland.” Journal of Hydraulic Research, Vol. 48.

5. Rego, J., Meselhe E.A., Stronach J., and Habib E. (2010) “Numerical Modeling of the

Mississippi-Atchafalaya Rivers’ Sediment Transport and Fate: Considerations for Diversion

Scenarios.” Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 26.

Dr. Sally McInerny (Acoustics Engineer, Mechanical Engineering)


Career Professional Expertise: Optimization of Engineered Materials

Academic Appointment: Professor of Mechanical Engineering (tenured)


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Other Key Appointments: Department Head of Mechanical Engineering

Degrees Held: Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, UCLA, March 1987 (Major in Acoustics /

Aeroacoustics, minors in Fluids and Applied Mathematics.); M.S. in Engineering, UCLA, June

1984; B.S.M.E. in Mechanical Engineering, CSULB, December 1979

Background: Dr. McInerny focuses her R&D efforts on the optimization of materials systems

from both an acoustics and vibration standpoint. Inclusive of this area are fatiguing,

optimization of system design, and modeling of engineered units. She has been active in the

design and management of engineering education units for several years. Dr. McInerny has

consulted with numerous industrial entities as a means of technical outreach and service.

Current Academic Loading: Teaching two courses (6 semester credit hours) yielding 102

student credit hours and 94 semester contact hours.




1. Zhu, J., Haque, A., and McInerny, S.A., “Monitoring Fatigue Damage Progression in Spot

Welds Using Band-Limited High Frequency Energy,” Materials Evaluation, ASNT, Sept.

2009.

2. Gao, X., McInerny, S.A., and Kavanaugh, S., “Development of a Correlation for System

Efficiency of a Variable Speed Pumping System,” ASHRAE Transactions, Jan. 2008.

3. Sun, Q., McInerny, S.A., and Hardman, W.J., “Detection of a Helicopter Input Pinion

Bearing Fault Using Interstitial Envelope Analysis,” International Journal of Vibration and

Acoustics, vol. 11, no. 3, Sept. 2006.

4. McInerny, S.A, and Olcmen, S. M., “High Intensity Rocket Noise: Atmospheric Absorption

and Characterization,” J. Acoust. Soc. Of America, vol. 117, no. 2, pp. 578-591, 2005.

5. Yi, D., and McInerny, S., “Basic Vibration Signal Processing for Bearing Fault Detection,”

IEEE Transactions on Education, v 46, n 1, pp. 149-156, February 2003.

Participating Faculty: The proposed Ph.D. program will be directly supported by over 50

tenure-track and research faculty from five departments (Chemical, Civil, Electrical/Computer,

Mechanical, and Petroleum Engineering). These faculty have published at an annualized rate of

over 80 peer-reviewed publications per year over the past five years and have directly been

involved in the graduation of over 100 graduate students during this same period.

As stated above, engineering R&D projects at UL Lafayette are in excess of $12M of

involved standing research grants that may be used to support the proposed program.

Engineering related R&D at UL Lafayette has consistently exceeded $10M per year over the past

four years. It is noteworthy to mention that these statistics describing faculty performance at UL

Lafayette's College of Engineering that are related to graduate education and R&D productivity

are impressive for engineering colleges already having a Ph.D. programs, much less for one with

only MS programs - such as the case with the UL Lafayette College of Engineering.

Summary of the Capabilities of the Overall UL Lafayette Engineering Faculty: The faculty

of the UL Lafayette College of Engineering already has significant experience with both the

initiation and implementation of advanced engineering graduate programs, such as the proposed

new Ph.D. program. Many of the faculty have served as major professors and/or committee

members for engineering Ph.D. students at other institutions. The faculty of the College of

- 29 -

Engineering at UL Lafayette is primed for the initiation and long-term growth of the proposed

program.

From a research program perspective, the faculty of UL Lafayette’s College of

Engineering has significant experience with the performance of high-quality research supported

by external funding. The steady, proven funding stream of external dollars is viewed as an

additional avenue to support the stipends of the students pursuing the proposed Systems

Engineering Ph.D.

It is important to note that the proposed program is viewed as a critical component in

facilitating the further growth of the already healthy R&D program for the college. Several

faculty have expressed disappointment and frustration when they were informed that

participation in developing projects and, even worse, the actual funding of R&D projects was

denied due to the fact that their engineering program did not offer a Ph.D. option. The proposed

new Ph.D. program will add an important stimulus for the further growth of the UL Lafayette

Engineering Program.

Current College Statistics: The UL Lafayette College of Engineering currently has 49 tenure

track faculty (40 are part of the graduate faculty) and 10 research faculty that will be involved in

the implementation of the proposed new program through roles such as major professor,

committee membership, courses offered, research implementation, and funding of graduate

assistantships via generated external funding. In the Fall 2010 semester, the UL Lafayette

College of Engineering had 1,647 undergraduate students and 161 graduate students enrolled

within its programs. These figures represent a 33:1 undergraduate student to faculty ratio and a

graduate student to supporting faculty ratio of 3:1. Note that these student population figures

represent a greater than 25% increase in both undergraduate and graduate student numbers over

the past five years. In 2010, the UL Lafayette College of Engineering reported to the American

Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) that over $10M of engineering-related research was

performed at UL Lafayette during that year. Currently, the faculty within college are directly

involved in standing, externally funded research grants in excess of $12M. Clearly, the college

has shown tremendous potential to very successfully support the proposed program through its

consistent growth and highly productive faculty. With the proven performance of the faculty and

the college's solid current research funding base, the college should easily meet the envisioned

productivity goals for this proposed program.

Number of New Faculty Needed: The proposed program is one that fits well with the direction

that the Engineering College at UL Lafayette has been moving toward for many years.

However, most of these shifts in program direction were done using the framework of existing

programs via the re-structuring of existing programs. During an intensive self-study over the

past two years, it became apparent that UL Lafayette has positioned itself very nicely to

implement a Systems Engineering Program without the need for additional faculty. With the

phasing out of the Engineering and Technology Management MS, elimination of undergraduate

tracks (identified later), recent optimization of the programmatic aspects of the current MS

programs within the college, and the building of stronger multi-disciplined teaching and research

teams, the college has organized itself into an entity primed to implement this exciting new

program using existing resources. Hence, no new faculty will have to be hired to very

successfully implement the program.

- 30 -

Part V – Library and Other Informational Resources

Library Resources: The library at UL Lafayette represents a strong university-grade library

highly capable of supporting the activities of a comprehensive research university; inclusive of

the proposed program. The library has over 1 million bound volumes, over 2 million microform

units, and over 6,000 subscription journals. The UL Lafayette library collects numerous print

and non-print informational and cultural items which add to the research and educational support

capacity of the library. Book collections in germane areas for Systems Engineering include

31,837 engineering books, 54,671 biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science books, and

71,479 business development books. The facilities within the library include numerous high-

volume student computing stations, networked systems, and various meeting support areas.

Most of its collection and holdings are accessible on-line. Additionally, education support

facilities and equipment are available within the Instructional Materials Center. A highly trained

and professional staff is maintained to ensure that the needs of the institution and region are more

than fully met.

The UL Lafayette library is a member of Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET)

which further entrenches its ability to support high-level academic endeavors. The library is a

member of the regional library organization, Lyrasis, which provides nationwide networked

cataloging and other professional services. Additionally, the library subscribes to several

electronic databases via the internet including Web of Science, Engineering Village, and

Scifinder Scholar.

Total annual library expenditures over the past two years at the UL Lafayette in support

of engineering and other related areas exceed $500K per year. This places these annual

investments on par with the libraries at peer institutions offering multiple engineering Ph.D.

programs. Additionally, the library already supports numerous highly related Ph.D. programs at

UL Lafayette, such as computer engineering, mathematics, and biology. In summary, the current

facilities of the UL Lafayette library are more than adequate to support the proposed program

without the need for special expansion of resources to support the proposed program. Hence, no

additional funds are requested for supporting the library needs associated with the proposed

degree program.

It is noteworthy to mention that several other Louisiana universities do have supporting

capabilities to compliment the UL Lafayette library with additional, complimentary resources

(such as LSU-BR, LaTech, and UNO). A formal and active exchange program has been in place

for some time between the libraries at these institutions and others in Louisiana.

Other Informational Resources: Several informational resources are already in-place at UL

Lafayette to support the proposed program. The faculty has access to several RFP informational

computer programs, such a monthly newsletter released by the UL Lafayette Research Office

and Grants.gov, that allow UL Lafayette faculty to continue to grow their R&D programs. A

wireless internet system is in-place within the College of Engineering’s facilities along with

numerous hard-wire access points making easy access to the internet for the proposed infusion of

Ph.D. students. The departments within the college have numerous work stations to fully

support the computational needs of the increased number of new graduate students. The College

of Engineering has its own IT Coordinator who oversees the IT support framework for the

college, while the university maintains a highly trained staff to provide this level of support to

http://www.lyrasis.org/

- 31 -

the entire university. Each department within the UL Lafayette College of Engineering has its

own full-time technician who provides critical technical support with IT and other research

equipment. In closing, the facilities that are in-place and will be available to support the new

Ph.D. students from the proposed program are more than adequate to accomplish this goal.

Hence, no new expenditures for IT-related resources are requested for initiation of the proposed

program.

Part VI – Facilities and Equipment

Laboratories: The College of Engineering at UL Lafayette has tremendous facilities for

supporting the proposed program. Each of the five departments involved in the degree program

has at least 10,000 square feet of laboratory space dedicated to research (many of them have

significantly more). These facilities have been the beneficiary of recent and substantial

university and college-level investments in terms of improving infrastructure resulting in

laboratories of the highest quality.

The college serves as home to numerous high profile R&D entities that will serve as

strong support entities to the new program. These entities are envisioned to provide excellent

sources of graduate student support while at the same time greatly benefiting from the

establishment of the proposed program. Examples include:

Bioprocessing Research Laboratory

Center for Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Systems

Center for Louisiana Inland Water Studies

Center for Telecommunications Studies

Center for Structural and Functional Materials

Corrosion Research Center

Environmental Engineering Laboratory

Cleco Alternative Energy Facility (Crowley, LA)

Industrial Assessment Center

An additional key point with regard to available facilities is the many university-level

research centers and institutes where the faculty of the UL Lafayette College of Engineering is

highly active via roles as formal affiliates and/or collaborators. Examples include:

Center for Business and Information Technology

Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology

Energy Institute

Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering

Louisiana Accelerator Center

Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise

Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana

National Incident Management System and Advanced Technologies Institute

New Iberia Research Center

Small Business Development Center

University Research Park

- 32 -

Equipment: The University, working in concert with the UL Lafayette College of Engineering,

has invested several million dollars over the past years toward the purchase and installation of

research equipment. These investments were made to increase the competitiveness of the

engineering faculty while also positioning the college to ultimately move forward with the

establishment of a Systems Engineering program.

Student Offices and Support: Over the past three years, the College of Engineering has

secured significant office space to support the new Systems Engineering Ph.D. program.

Currently the college has capacity to house over 30 new students between the two primary

buildings occupied by the UL Lafayette College of Engineering. Additional space is being

secured and this new space reconfigured to support even more students. Each Engineering

Department at UL Lafayette has a full-time technician and office staff to provide additional

support to the students. Also, the departments have all set-up formal Graduate Advisory

Committees (GACs) to facilitate the smooth operation of the current MS degree and

implementation of the new Systems Engineering program. The GACs evaluate potential

candidates and oversee the operation of the graduate programs in each department. The

chairperson for each GAC is the departmental graduate coordinators.

Summary: The laboratories and equipment located at the UL Lafayette College of Engineering

are considered high caliber and are more than capable of supporting the proposed program of

study. Additionally, classroom, laboratory, and office facilities are also in place to house the

expected increase in graduate students. Hence, no additional funds are requested to initiate the

proposed program.

Part VII – Administration

Participating Academic Units for the Proposed Program: The Graduate College at UL

Lafayette will administer the proposed program (as with all other graduate programs at UL

Lafayette) with the College of Engineering being the academic implementation unit for the

degree. The proposed Ph.D. Program (Systems Engineering) will be an engineering Ph.D.

degree that is designed to be multi-disciplinary in scope; hence, students from the following

departments will be eligible for entry into the proposed program: Civil Engineering, Chemical

Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Petroleum

Engineering. In terms of faculty involvement, and not the awarding of the proposed degree, it is

planned that UL Lafayette faculty hailing from other academic units, particularly the B. I.

Moody II College of Business Administration and the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences,

will participate as collaborators via graduate student committee membership, course offerings,

and joint R&D initiatives.

Administration Plan for Proposed Program: The proposed Systems Engineering Ph.D. will

be administered through the UL Lafayette College of Engineering under the direction of the

College of Graduate Studies at UL Lafayette (as is the case with all of the graduate programs at

UL Lafayette). No change in college administration is planned for implementing the proposed

degree program, other than appointing a Program Coordinator at the college level (Dr. Jim Lee -

Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UL Lafayette, who is currently the graduate coordinator

- 33 -

for Mechanical Engineering and was the former graduate coordinator for the highly successful

MS in Engineering and Technology Management). At the college-level, the Dean of

Engineering is ultimately responsible for the program.

The Program Coordinator, who will report to the Dean of Engineering, will be appointed

to oversee the initiation and long-term operation of the program. An External Program Advisory

Panel will be organized to provide direct input toward program content and direction. It is

planned that this panel will be composed primarily of industrial professionals from companies

having knowledge concerning Systems Engineering. The balance of the panel membership will

be selected academic leaders heavily involved with Systems Engineering education. This panel

will meet a minimum of once a year. Organizing the panel meeting and the direct reporting of

results will fall under the responsibilities of the Program Coordinator. The Program Coordinator

will implement and oversee the program via direct interaction with the Graduate Program

Coordinators from each of the five participating academic units. These five coordinators will

compose the Graduate Coordinators Council that will formalize the interaction between the

departments and the college. The Council will meet twice a semester to ensure the effective

operation of the program and that a high level of interaction between the departments is

maintained.

Accreditation: The proposed Ph.D. in Systems Engineering does not have an associated

accrediting agency.

Consultants: No formal consultants were used to design the proposed program due to the high

level of experience among the program design team with initiating similar programs. However,

numerous academic and industry contacts were used to design the proposed programs via site

visits, various communications, and formal advisory board meetings.

Do note that under direction of the LBOR, a consultant has been identified and a request

to the LBOR for accepting this consultant has been made by UL Lafayette. Contingent upon

acceptance, the consultant will be contracted with to review this proposal and additional

information on the college and university so that the key factors for program evaluation as

required by the LBOR can be addressed and a summary report provided by the consultant to the

LBOR. The consultant will also be asked to provide comments on issues/factors that can be

incorporated with program implementation to ensure that a high quality program is provided.

Related Fields at UL Lafayette: Given the nature of the proposed Ph.D. in Systems

Engineering which integrates engineering with science and business, both the Colleges of

Business and Sciences at UL Lafayette are viewed as complimentary and supporting entities

toward the implementation of the proposed degree program. UL Lafayette has numerous

departments that are viewed as strongly complimentary to the proposed degree program

including biology, chemistry, physics, geology, marketing, accounting, and management - all of

which already have strong interactions with the UL Lafayette College of Engineering. There

were no improvements needed at these complimentary units when they were assessed during the

design of the proposed program because all of them are of high quality with strong international

reputations and research orientations.

- 34 -

Part VIII – Costs

Long-Term Preparation for Potentially Implementing the Proposed Degree: Since 2005,

the UL Lafayette College of Engineering has been positioning itself to initiate the proposed

Ph.D. program through curricular redesign, workload optimization, greatly increasing R&D

support through external funding sources, building strong ties to industries, alignments with

courses offered by other colleges, and benchmarking visits to other colleges of engineering

offering internationally recognized Ph.D. degrees in Systems Engineering (MIT and George

Mason). Example activities of note include:

1. Elimination of the highly successful MS in Engineering and Technology Management within

the College of Engineering.

2. Combining of five engineering MS degrees into one MS in Engineering – this has greatly

freed up resources allowing for the smooth implementation of the new Systems Engineering

Program without the need for new faculty or funding.

3. Elimination and phasing out of several formal degree tracks to free up faculty and laboratory

resources, including a BS in Computer Aided Design (CAD) in Mechanical Engineering

(now offer one BS in Mechanical Engineering), a MS in Telecom Policy in Electrical and

Computer Engineering (now offer just a MS in Telecom), and a BS in Computer Engineering

and Telecom in Electrical and Computer Engineering (replaced with a BS in Electrical

Engineering).

4. Design and implementation of a college-level MS course core including project management,

engineering statistics, a mathematics elective, and the requirement of at least one shared

course offered in each engineering department – which reduces course loading needed to

support the graduate program while better positioning the college toward implementation of a

Systems Engineering program culture (increased integration between the various engineering

disciplines).

5. Reduction in the total number of graduate courses offered by focusing on fundamental

courses that appropriately appeal to more students than do highly specialized courses – this

will also reduce course loading needed to support graduate programs without reducing

quality.

6. Dramatically increasing graduate education enrollment within the College of Engineering

through increased recruitment and the successful obtainment of high levels of external R&D

funding.

7. The UL Lafayette College of Engineering has also been shifting graduate course offerings

toward evening classes to increase the appeal of its graduate programs, such as a Ph.D. in

Systems Engineering, to part-time, working professional within the region.

Optimization of Graduate Programs: Since 2007, the college has been working toward the

goal of initiating a strong Systems Engineering Ph.D. program through the reorganizing and

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consolidation of programs and associated offerings. These efforts were undertaken to provide

the foundation for the initiation of the Systems Engineering Program without the requirement for

additional funding. Examples of program optimization efforts include:

1. The College of Engineering at UL Lafayette is has consolidated its five engineering MS

offerings into one MS in Engineering.

2. Establishing a common graduate admissions format to streamline recruiting and acceptance.

3. Requiring college-level core course requirement that encompasses 50% of the required MS

courses.

4. Establishing numerous shared courses between the five engineering departments.

5. The requirement of a college-wide science-based core within the graduate programs.

NOTE: In particular, the "integration" of the five MS degrees into the one MS in Engineering

has allowed UL Lafayette to offer the proposed Ph.D. program using the realigned resources.

Anticipated State Funding Costs: No increase in state support is needed or requested. The

proposed program has been in design for some time and a series of college-level program

consolidations and optimizations has resulted in the College of Engineering being in a position to

initiate and maintain the program without a request for additional state support.

Anticipated University Costs: Over the past three years the College has gone through an

intensive self-assessment and optimization of its current graduate programs to bring them into

full alignment with the proposed program. Other than 25% release time for the College Program

Coordinator, the UL Lafayette College of Engineering does not expect nor request additional

funding to initiate the program from either the university or the State of Louisiana.

The college currently utilizes a total funding support from the university at the $6.8M per

year level which covers administrative, faculty and staff labor, laboratory and classroom support,

college advancement, and travel (has been a somewhat static figure over the past three years due

to state funding shortfalls). The current funding levels are in-place to fully support the proposed

program without an increase in funding. It is estimated that approximately 10% of these funds or

approximately $700K per year will be used to support the proposed program. These funds will

be used to support classes, laboratories, and travel; however, it should be noted that engineering

graduate programs utilize common classes (shared classes) for supporting both MS and Ph.D.

programs. A modest increase in courses offered (approximately 2 per semester across the

college) is required to fully support the implementation of the proposed program. Note that the

optimization and resulting reduction in graduate courses currently offered which was

implemented in Spring 2010 will more than cover these new courses without the need for

additional funding from the university or state. The bulk of the college-level funding goes toward

department support (the college also has an Industrial Technology program - yielding a total of

six departments).

The UL Lafayette College of Engineering currently has 41 fully funded graduate assistant

lines and 23 tuition fee waivers. These positions are funded at a level of approximately $425K

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per year. The university plans to convert 16 current MS GA positions and 10 of the fee waivers

within the College of Engineering into 10 Ph.D. GA positions; thus, there will not be a need for

increased state funding to support the proposed new program. Each of the five participating

departments will be allocated two GA positions toward the proposed program.

Most of the on-going engineering-related research at UL Lafayette has been supported

over the past three years by over $10M per year in external support from various federal, state,

and industry sponsors. It is estimated that well over $750K per year will be available to support

the students of the proposed program. These figures are not uncommon for engineering

programs with reasonably active externally supported R&D programs - in fact, the presented

figure of $750K is conservatively low for the level of student support that should be derived

from funding of this level. With that stated, these "soft" funds were not included in the college's

plans for implementation; however, they do exist and should easily result in exceeding projected

program growth by at least 30% over the first five years.

Finally, the College of Engineering currently has approximately $500K in UL Lafayette

Foundation accounts that may be used for program enhancements as needed. These funds will

be utilized to address program enhancements such as computer purchases and graduate student

recruiting incentives.

Anticipated Departmental Costs: The five participating engineering departments have been

operating on a flat budget over the past two fiscal years. These budgets are detailed below:

Chemical Engineering - $1,155,491/year

Civil Engineering - $1,187,793/year

Electrical and Computer Engineering - $1,288,761/year

Mechanical Engineering - $1,613,228/year

Petroleum Engineering - $929,844/year

Given the significant program optimization which has occurred over the past five years

within the college and its departments, these funds are more than adequate to successfully

implement the proposed program. It is planned that approximately 10% of these current funds

will be directly used to support the proposed program initiation via faculty time, course

offerings, staff support, travel, and laboratory up-keep.

Louisiana Board of Regents New Program Budget Form: As required by the LBOR,

Appendix H presents the Budget Form for the Systems Engineering Ph.D. program at UL

Lafayette. From the form, for the first three years of implementation, no new state funds are

requested nor will additional funding from the university budget be utilized. After three years

into the program, a minimal ramping of additional funding from the university is shown. This

addition of university funds will occur if the anticipated strong student enrollment growth is

realized. The funds will be used to support the addition of new additional faculty. However,

anticipated revenue growth generated from the additional students will offset this modest funding

increase. Note that at no time, now or in the future, are there plans for new funds to be requested

by UL Lafayette from the LBOR or the University of Louisiana System to support the program.

It is noteworthy to mention that several donations are being secured to provide additional

support toward student recruiting and student professional development. Additionally, other

donations are being secured to further enhance the laboratories and support facilities to even

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further improve the overall program. Strong support from regional industries has facilitated a

very eager donor base to provide support of the program through giving initiatives.

Part IX: Summary

In summary, the proposed System Engineering Ph.D. program is one that the UL

Lafayette College of Engineering has been designing over the course of the past several years to

greatly complement the existing engineering Ph.D. programs within the State of Louisiana, to

provide a strong catalyst for increased economic development, and to be implemented without

the requirement of increased budgeting requirements. In short, it is envisioned that the proposed

new program will be an asset to the overall engineering education potential for the state while

allowing UL Lafayette to reach new heights from both a research program and economic

development perspective.

Part X: References

AIAA and INCOSE (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and International

Council on Systems Engineering, respectively), 1997, Systems Engineering: A Way of Thinking,

A Way of Doing Business, and Enabling Organized Transition from Need to Product,

downloaded from INCOSE Website in May, 2011, (Website address: http://www.incose.org).

AFIT – Air Force Institute of Technology, Agency Website Information, http://www.afit.edu/cse

American Society of Engineering Educators, 2011, Engineering Profiles and Statistics Databook:

On-line Profiles, Viewed on ASEE Website, (Website address: http://www.asee.org).

Augustine, N., 2009, “Re-Engineering Engineering,” pages 48 and 49, Prism Magazine,

February Issue.

Bahill, T., 2009, What is Systems Engineering: A Consensus of the INCOSE Fellows,” INCOSE

Working Document (Created SPG01 and Revised 04, 06, and 09), INCOSE Website (Website

address: http://www.incose.org).

Bahill, T. and Dean, F., 2009, “What is Systems Engineering? A Consensus of Senior Systems

Engineers,” INCOSE Website (Website address: http://www.incose.org).

Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010 – 2011 Edition, Bureau

of Labor Statistics, Washington DC (Website: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm).

CNN and Money Magazine, 2009, “Best Jobs in America,” CNNMoney.com 11/27/2009 Issue,

CNNMoney.com website (address: http://money.cnn.com).

http://www.incose.org/

http://www.asee.org/



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Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (National Academies), 1995, Reshaping

the Graduate of Scientists and Engineers, A Report to the National Academies, National

Academy Press, Washington DC.

Griffin, M., 2007, Lecture given at the Boeing Lecture Series, Purdue University, March 28,

2007, Lecture was published in SpaceRef, March 30, 2007.

Haskins, C., 2008, “Using Systems Engineering to Address Socio-Technical Global Challenges,”

Presentation made at the 2008 Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), April 4 -5,

2008, Los Angeles, CA.

Hastings, D., 2004, “The Future of Engineering Systems: Development of Engineering Leaders,”

Engineering Systems Monograph, MIT-ENGR Systems Division, March 29 – 31, 2004, MIT.

Hill, E. and Lendel, I., 2007, The Impact of the Reputation of Bio-Life and Engineering Doctoral

Programs in Regional Economic Development,” Economic Development Quarterly, V21, SAGE

Journals On-Line.

Hoch, P., 2009, The State of Graduate Systems Engineering Education, Presentation Made to

INCOSE Chesapeake Chapter, Baltimore Maryland, Nov/18/09.

Honour, E., 2004, Understanding the Value of Systems Engineering, Presentation Made at the

2004 INCOSE Symposium entitled “Systems Engineering: Managing Complexity and Change,”

Las Vegas, NV.

INCOSE – International Council on Systems Engineering, 2011, Careers in Systems Engineering

Website Section, INCOSE Website (Website address: http://www.incose.org).

Johnson, D., Bohmann, L., Mattila, K., Sutherland, J., Onder, N., and Sorby, S., 2007, “Meeting

the Needs of Industry: Service Systems Engineering Curriculum,” Presented at the 2007

Decision Science Institute Mini-Conference, May 24 – 26, Pittsburgh, PA.

Maloney, P. and Leon, M., 2007, “The State of the National Security Space Workforce,”

Crosslink Magazine, Spring 2007 Issue.

NCSES (NSF), 2009, Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States,

NSF Report No. 09-317, Washington DC.

NSF, 2008, Science and Engineering Indicators, Report NSF 08–02, National Science

Foundation, Washington DC.

Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, 2008, “Bill to Address Shortage of Engineers Passes Out of

House Subcommittee,” OAC News Release dated 2/19/2008.


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Perryman Group, 2007, The Potential Impact of an Initiative to Increase the Pool of Engineering

and Computer Science Graduates on Business Activity in Texas, Powerpoint presentation made

to the State of Texas by the Perryman Group, Waco, TX.

Poremba, S., 2009, “Advanced Engineering Degrees Give Grads More Control Over Their

Careers,” Diversity Careers in Engineering and Information Technology, Winter09/Spring10

Issue.

Pyzdek, T. and Keller, P., 2009, The Six Sigma Handbook, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York,

NY. (ISBN 0071623388)

RDS, 2007, The Louisiana Innovation Alliance: Draft Operating Plan for an Organization to

Foster University Technology Development and Commercialization in Louisiana,” Presentation

made to the LBOR on 10/11/07, Baton Rouge, LA.

Roos, D., 2004, “Engineering Systems at MIT – The Development of The Engineering Systems

Division,” Engineering Systems Monograph, MIT-ENGR Systems Division, March 29 – 31,

2004, MIT.

Systems Management College, 2001, Systems Engineering Fundamentals, Prepared by Defense

Acquisition University Press, Ft. Belvoir, VA, DoD.

Wallgrun, L. and Hagglund, L., 2004, “The Industry Doctoral Student – An Educational

Challenge for Academia and Industry,” paper published in the book, Creative Knowledge

Environments, edited by Hemlin, Allwood, and Martin, E. Edgar Publishing.

Watts, G., 2009, “Science and Technology Keys to Recession-Proof Canada,” NBBusiness

Journal.com., July 25th

, 2009 Issue, viewed in 2010 (address: nbbusinessjournal.com).

WIBW-TV, 2008, News Story – “Engineering Shortage in Kansas,” Aired Sept. 21, 2008.

Welby, S., 2010, “DoD Systems Engineering,” Presentation Made at DAU South Conference,

2/18/10.

Wells, B., Sanchez, A;., and Attridge, J., 2007, “Systems Engineering the US Education

System,” Raytheon Company Publication (Waltham, MA), Reprinted for INCOSE.

Vannucci, S. and Barnabe, D., 2010, “Advancing Systems Engineering Practice within the

Department of Defense: Overview of DoD’s Newest University Affiliated Research Center

(UARC), Presented at the NDIA Annual Systems Engineering Conference, 4/13/10 through

4/15/10, San Diego, CA.

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Part XI: Appendices

NOTE: Supporting information is presented in the following appendices.

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APPENDIX A

Industry Support Letters

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APPENDIX B

College Advisory Boards’ Letter of Support

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APPENDIX C

Letters of Support from Regional Economic Development Entities

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APPENDIX D

Letter from Dr. Kirk Schulz, President of Kansas State University

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APPENDIX E

Letter of Support from Dr. Bradd Clark, Dean of the Ray P. Authement College of Science

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APPENDIX F

Assessment Plan for Systems Engineering Program (UL Lafayette)

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APPENDIX G

Abbreviated CVs for Program Director and Executive Committee Members

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APPENDIX H

New Funding Budget Form (LBOR Required Form)

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