New Center to Study Systems Thinking in Government and Industry
by Janice Molloy
On September 18, the University of Alabama board of trustees approved a new research center at its Huntsville campus to study systems thinking in government and industry. In a statement, UAH said that the Center for Systems Studies will conduct research into "the many complex ways that technology, nature, people and society interact so that the workings of an engineered solution are more predictable and more desirable." Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will head up the center, which UAH says is the first of its kind in the U.S.
According to The Huntsville Times, Griffin, who is UAH King-McDonald Eminent Scholar and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, stated that "Small system failures might create inefficiencies and frustration for us in our daily
lives. Large system failures, however, imprint on our collective memory stories of personal tragedies and our vulnerability as a nation." Some of the examples of major system failures cited in the UAH statement include the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the space shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters.
UAH President David Williams indicated that, through the center's work, "UAHuntsville will offer both solutions and 'systems-smart graduates.'" The center will be funded through contracts and grants from government and corporate clients. Its staff will include current UAH faculty, adjunct staff from local institutions, and graduate students.
Janice Molloy is content director of Pegasus Communications and managing editor of The Systems Thinker.
photo of Three Mile Island, courtesy U.S. Department of Energy