FORMULATION OF METHODS TO ADDRESS GRAND CHALLENGES IN NAVAL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATION
Abstract
Students supported under this grant will be assembled into design teams; each of which will tackle a separate grand challenge problem that is of current significance to the Navy. Students will be assembled into teams comprised of 3-5 students, depending upon class size and available grand challenge topics. Each team will work on problem definition, investigate potential solutions, and evaluate those solutions. In doing so the intent is for the students to gain valuable knowledge of naval systems, while at the same time learning the tools and methods needed for tackling complex problems in a team environment. It is anticipated that the students involved in this work will continue to focus on naval systems design throughout the remainder of their graduate studies, and that upon graduation; these students will emerge as the nation’s next generation of naval experts. The grand challenge problems will span a wide range of topics including: concept development, technology evaluation, uncertainty assessment, strategic decision making, systems-of-systems modeling, and simulation. This research will be pursued in parallel to class learning. In their first year of graduate studies, the students will take a class that teaches state-of-the-art systems design and decision making techniques. The grand challenge problems will provide the real-world examples on which the methods learned in class can be applied. Each team will be guided by a member of the research faculty, who will serve as the link between the students and ONR. At the end of each year of work, the students will deliver a final presentation to Navy personnel who can give the students relevant feedback. Grand Challenge Projects are one of the primary teaching and learning mechanism for first year students at ASDL, and are modeled after DARPA s Grand Challenges. In the ASDL Grand Challenges, incoming graduate students are divided into teams of five to ten students, and each team is given a broad, open-ended problem to address. In addition to the graduate students, there are often undergraduate team members who participate in the Grand Challenges for course credit. The projects are conducted over the course of two academic semesters, concluding with a final presentation to ASDL s External Advisory Board. The scope of topics for these challenges are current and relevant to the aerospace and defense industry, and are inspired by government and industry needs. In order to complete these challenges, students must become fluent in their problem area, learn what techniques and methods are available to assist them in solving their problem, determine the data and scope of modeling which is required, develop any necessary modeling and simulation, perform data analysis, and create a dynamic and flexible visualization environment to present results and support analysis, trade-offs, and decision making. Students must become experts in problem formulation, technical analysis, and reporting findings. From these Grand Challenges, students learn many needed skills that are not typically taught in a classroom, such as good research practices, how to address a new problem are with which one may be unfamiliar, how to manage time on a large scale research project, how to effectively communicate results, and many others. The goal of these projects is to create a useful technical outcome while also developing the next generation of engineers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512059
Entities
People
- Dimitri Marvis
Organizations
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy