As the newly appointed program chair for the systems engineering and technical management programs in the Whiting School\u2019s Engineering Programs for Professionals (EPP), Kenneth Potocki sees the value of taking a big picture approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cSystems engineering has become a widely appreciated discipline with the recognition that we need to provide effective solutions to the entire problem and not to some subset of the problem,\u201d says Potocki, who has served on the faculty of the Whiting School for more than 30 years. \u201cA systems engineer looks at what the solution needs to be, as opposed to a narrower view of particular details within the system. This is especially important as engineering projects continue to increase in their complexity, combining a diverse number of engineering fields within one project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Potocki should know. Until September, he was the Applied Physics Laboratory\u2019s (APL) programs manager for the multimillion-dollar Living With a Star (LWS) program. As part of the NASA project, APL is developing two satellites known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, which will study how the sun interacts with Earth\u2019s radiation belts.<\/p>\n
Potocki believes that the cost-effectiveness of taking a systems-wide approach is one reason for the growing demand for systems engineers in both government and industry. It\u2019s also why he\u2019s such a proponent of the field.<\/p>\n
EPP currently offers a master\u2019s degree, graduate certificate, and advanced certificate for post-master\u2019s study in systems engineering, with a total enrollment of 473 students. Since systems engineering is an experience-based subject, the program makes use of practicing professional systems engineers, primarily from APL, as instructors.<\/p>\n
Looking toward the future, Potocki aims to increase course offerings, recruit students from other fields into the program, and extend the geographic reach of the program by offering courses online. \u201cThere are a lot of people who could benefit from the systems engineering discipline,\u201d says Potocki, who will continue teaching at EPP. \u201cThe application of what we can do is unbounded.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the newly appointed program chair for the systems engineering and technical management programs in the Whiting School\u2019s Engineering Programs for Professionals (EPP), Kenneth Potocki sees the value of taking a big picture approach. \u201cSystems engineering has become a widely appreciated discipline with the recognition that we need to provide effective solutions to the entire…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-development","issue-winter-2007"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n