Inter Agency Working Group Looks at Critical Challenges to Defense, Space, Cyber, Manufacturing, Civil and Commercial Areas

Natural disasters, creative adversaries and unforeseeable futures all pose a common threat to the engineering of large complex systems that are essential to national security, economy and quality of life.

Because these systems are far more complex and interconnected than ever before, a working group of engineering leaders from a number of U.S. government agencies has been meeting to discuss the challenges and goals in moving our Nation toward the next generation of engineering research and practice.

The Potomac Institute has served as the administrator to the group in its inaugural year, managing meetings, agendas, and documentation, while providing support and input to the discussions.  Institute Research Fellow Lois Hollan is the Institute representative on the group.

Started in May 2012, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Engineering Complex Systems is founded on the principle that projects are complex but current practices are legacy.  A handful of people from the National Science Foundation and NASA held a successful workshop in February 2012 which provided evidence that most Government, industry and academic participants agreed that the engineering community needs to better understand how to change engineering practices to meet the critical challenges of more and more complex systems. In a government-only session, the concept of an active, focused discussion among Government thought leaders was a method to leverage new concepts and efforts across the Government, rather than within specific communities.

Topics discussed by the group focus on fundamental, science and technology issues that impact government systems– defense, space, cyber, and manufacturing – as well as civil and commercial applications.  Combat vehicles, for example, connect to millions of parts rather than hundreds via sensor and communication systems.  The working group focuses on understanding what the foundational shift must be in engineering research and practice—as well as cultural adaptation in engineering environments—to accommodate the sea change upon us. Key to the outcome will be realistic methods to foster the transition of new research to practice.

Strictly a working group – with no budget or policy decisions – the IAWG meets at least quarterly, and exchanges ideas, solutions, challenges and projects, providing a venue for cross-agency collaboration. The group enriches the Government’s investment in engineering R&D by breaking down stovepiped knowledge and providing cross-pollination of new concepts.

Members include NSF, NASA, OSD, NIST, FAA, DOE, DOT and DHS, and the leaders become more attuned to challenges and potential research needs as they think about their budgets and investments, and consider cross-agency projects.

To expand the outreach of the IAWG and its ideas, the group is considering more NSF-sponsored conferences on engineering education, publishing a list of critical topics, convening focused, technical panels, continuing to publish, and engaging is speaking appearances at key Engineering symposia. The recently published IAWG Position Paper is now available from the Potomac Institute.

Since 1994, The Potomac Institute has consistently brought together the best people from business, government and academia to address the most challenging Science & Technology issues.  During those two decades, the Potomac Institute team has produced the very finest, high-value policy work provided at the most senior levels of government, meeting the highest standards of technical rigor, while acting with the highest principles of ethics and integrity.