Meet the Dean

Welcome to the School of Systems and Enterprises
at Stevens Institute of Technology

In March 2007, after a review by the Board of Trustees, Stevens Institute of Technology launched the new school of Systems and Enterprises.  In so doing, it made explicit our focus on interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary academics and research, rooted in systems thinking.  This is a bold and imaginative endeavor by the leadership of the Institute, and very much in the tradition of our founding family.

The "systems approach" to understanding problems and opportunities, and a similar holistic approach to conceiving innovative concepts and solutions is being increasingly recognized for its potential to provide breakthrough and innovative results in many domains - defense, homeland security, intelligence, nuclear weapons, communications, space systems, and business solutions.  While emphasis on the technical system is key, so is a focus on the context of this technical system within the human enterprises that develop it, operate and use it, and sustain and maintain it.  Accordingly, our academic and research focus addresses the interplay between systems and enterprises.

From our relatively modest beginnings in the spring of 2000, as a Systems Engineering and Engineering Management Department and the SDOE Program, to the launch of our new School, an underlying value that we have nurtured and sought to live up to is that of an "Open Academic Model."  This model calls on us to recognize the tension between academic rigor and practical relevance, and to blur the boundaries between academia, government and industry in our educational and research initiatives.  This principle has been a significant contributor to our success in the past, and is a key tenet of our strategy for the future. Thanks for your interest in our School, and we look forward to working and collaborating with you!

Dinesh Verma, PhD
Dean and Professor, School of Systems and Enterprises
Executive Director, Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC)