Dueling Stakeholders and Dual-Hatted Systems Engineers: Engineering Challenges, Capabilities and Skills in Government Infrastructure Technology Projects

An earlier version of this work was presented at the EGOS 2008 Summer Colloquium.Engineering projects that support government enterprises face substantial challenges due to demands from diverse stakeholders and rapidly-changing technologies. In this paper, we present findings from analysis of five case studies of systems engineering projects for large government enterprises. We focus on what can be learned from systems engineers, their essential role, and their engineering practices. As they work to establish interoperability across pre-existing and new technologies - thereby evolving infrastructure - the engineers commonly face “agonistic” tensions between groups of stakeholders. Temporal pacing conflicts are especially prevalent, such as those between stakeholder groups concerned with fast-paced streams of innovation and stakeholder groups concerned with current operations. In response, many engineers are following an evolutionary approach, developing new capabilities for managing projects and individual professional skill sets. The engineers’ adaptive response can be understood as incremental modularization and re/integration of technologies and associated practices across organizational (stakeholder) boundaries. Additionally, engineers are developing new skills of influence to support these capabilities for addressing stakeholder tensions. We close by discussing implications of our findings for the management of infrastructure technology projects, emergent design and engineering of organizational infrastructure, and the changing role of systems engineers

The Changing Nature of Systems Engineering and Government Enterprises: Report from a Case Study Research Effort

In this paper, we examine the changing nature of systems engineering work and, in particular, how The MITRE Corporation is confronting the challenges of expanding its role and capabilities to deliver what it calls “Enterprise Systems Engineering” to its government clients. Systems engineers exemplify technical knowledge workers whose work is expanding beyond the traditional skills and habits of thought developed through their disciplinary training (cf., Davidz 2006). Changes in technology, systems acquisition practices, and enterprise structures are challenging systems engineers to expand their roles and capabilities to manage the boundaries among technological systems and organizations of many sizes and types (e.g., government customers, systems integrators, suppliers, end users). Systems development takes place in an ever more complex environment of inter-organizational enterprises where implementation increasingly catalyzes enterprise change and demands greatly expanded and often unrecognized roles beyond that of technical expert or project manager

Longitudinal volumetric MRI study of pituitary gland following severe traumatic brain injury

Purpose: Previous studies have suggested that the hypopituitarism following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is more prevalent than traditionally thought. The objective of this study was to characterize longitudinal MRI morphometric changes of pituitary gland in patients with severe TBI.Materials and methods: Fourteen patients who had suffered a severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Score=3 - 8) underwent MRI at three time points: Time 1 (mean=31. 5 days), Time 2 (98. 0) and Time 3 (185. 5). The pituitary gland volume was quantified by manually tracing on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. Data from TBI patients were compared to 14 age- and sex-matched uninjured controls. The relationships between pituitary volumetric measures and patient demographics, length of respiratory support and coma, and presence of intracranial hemorrhage or skull fractures were also analyzed.Results: Following TBI, the pituitary volumes were significantly greater at all three time points: Time 1: median=665mm3, range=460-830mm3, p=0. 007; Time 2: 694mm3, 467-866mm3, 0. 007; and Time 3: 655mm3, 444-795mm3, 0. 015, compared with controls (504mm3, 433-591mm3). At Time 1, pituitary volume was increased in 10 out of 14 patients. Of these, early pituitary enlargements persisted up to six months in nine patients. Pituitary enlargements were negatively correlated with GCS, but not with other variables.Conclusion: Following a severe TBI, early pituitary enlargement found in most of our patients persisted in the chronic phases. Our data suggest a potential role of MRI morphometry in early prediction of pituitary dysfunction following head trauma, but further studies including hormonal measurements are necessary for validation

Longitudinal volumetric MRI study of pituitary gland following severe traumatic brain injury

Abstract Purpose: Previous studies have suggested that the hypopituitarism following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is more prevalent than traditionally thought. Conclusion: Following a severe TBI, early pituitary enlargement found in most of our patients persisted in the chronic phases. Our data suggest a potential role of MRI morphometry in early prediction of pituitary dysfunction following head trauma, but further studies including hormonal measurements are necessary for validation

15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference

Program and materials from the 15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE on March 10-11, 1995

The Changing Nature of Systems Engineering and Government Enterprises: Report from a Case Study Research Effort

In this paper, we examine the changing nature of systems engineering work and, in particular, how The MITRE Corporation is confronting the challenges of expanding its role and capabilities to deliver what it calls “Enterprise Systems Engineering” to its government clients. Systems engineers exemplify technical knowledge workers whose work is expanding beyond the traditional skills and habits of thought developed through their disciplinary training (cf., Davidz 2006). Changes in technology, systems acquisition practices, and enterprise structures are challenging systems engineers to expand their roles and capabilities to manage the boundaries among technological systems and organizations of many sizes and types (e.g., government customers, systems integrators, suppliers, end users). Systems development takes place in an ever more complex environment of inter-organizational enterprises where implementation increasingly catalyzes enterprise change and demands greatly expanded and often unrecognized roles beyond that of technical expert or project manager