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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.
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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)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 2005
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 -
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 1998
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.
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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.
Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for Ph.D. students and has also
served on Ph.D. committees
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
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
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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
credit hours and 94 semester contact hours.
Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for Ph.D. students and has also
served on Ph.D. committees
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
Career Professional Expertise: Research and Development of Bioprocess Systems
Academic Appointment: Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering (tenured)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: January 2007
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.
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Current Academic Loading: Teaching two courses (6 semester credit hours) yielding 90 student
credit hours and 94 semester contact hours.
Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for Ph.D. students and has also
served on Ph.D. committees
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
Career Professional Expertise: Performance of Research on Materials Development and
Polymer Systems Development
Academic Appointment: Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering (tenured)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: January 2001
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.
Current Academic Loading: Teaching two courses (6 semester credit hours) yielding 90 student
credit hours and 94 semester contact hours.
Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served on Ph.D. committees.
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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
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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)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
Career Professional Expertise: Development of Petroleum Production Systems
Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Petroleum Engineering (tenured)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 2000
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
credit hours and 141 semester contact hours.
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.
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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).
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Dr. Ehab Meselhe (Hydrologic Engineer, Civil Engineering)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
Career Professional Expertise: Optimization and Modeling of Hydrology Systems
Academic Appointment: Named Professor of Civil Engineering (tenured)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 1998
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
credit hours and 47 semester contact hours.
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
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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)
Proposed Program Activity: Executive Committee Member
Career Professional Expertise: Optimization of Engineered Materials
Academic Appointment: Professor of Mechanical Engineering (tenured)
UL Lafayette Appointment Date: August 2010
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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.
Experience with Ph.D. Students: Has served as a major professor for Ph.D. students and has also
served on Ph.D. committees
Example Publications (Peer-Reviewed Archival Journals):
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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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).
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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)