You Have More Time! Cast Your Vote in the INCOSE Elections Due to a problem with mailing services, the deadline for voting has been extended to 30 December 2007. Go to the 2007 INCOSE Elections page for more information.

Announcing New and Renewing CSEPs The INCOSE Certification Program Office would like to congratulate the following individuals who have recently been recognized as Certified Systems Engineering Professionals (CSEPs): Charles Kerr (USA), Michael Mobley (USA), Su Murdoch (USA), Joshua Sparber (USA), James Sutton (USA), and Steven Walter (USA).

In addition, the following CSEPs have been recertified for an additional three years: Eileen Arnold (USA), Serge Chicoine (Canada), Terje Fossnes (Norway), Cecilia Haskins (Norway), Alan Richstein (USA), Darold Smith (USA), Kevin Topp (USA), and David Walden (USA).

For more information on INCOSE’s Certification Program, please use the following link: http://www.incose.org/educationcareers/certification/

Register for the 2008 International WorkshopThis year, the INCOSE International Workshop will be returning to Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA from 26 to 30 January, 2008. You may now register to attend and request meeting space at www.incose.org/iw2008.

Getting Ready for INCOSE International Symposium 2008 The 18^th Annual INCOSE International Symposium (IS2008) is going to be in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from 15-19 June, 2008. Submission for papers has been closed and the review process is underway by a great number of qualified reviewers. Authors will be notified of their acceptance by 8 February and then will need to get their final submissions in no later than 19 March.

This year’s theme is applying Systems Engineering principles and perspectives to improving the sustainability of our planet: balanced solutions that account for social, technological, economic, environmental, and political constraints. Prospective contributors were also encouraged to address how we can use systems, methods, processes, and tools to manage resource scarcity, prevent and repair environmental damage, ensure global safety and security, and resolve social imbalances. Traditional topics were also welcome. Additional information can be found on the conference website www.incose.org/symp2008.

So you want to be a reviewer?INCOSE members are encouraged to put their experience to the benefit of the entire Systems Engineering community by becoming technical reviewers. INCOSE and the entire SE community around the world rely on objective critical review by proficient Systems Engineers to ensure a high quality of Systems Engineering discourse. If you would like to add your name to the who’s who list of INCOSE reviewers, please contact the Associate Director for Technical review, Joe Carl INCOSE at technical.review@incose.org.

Basis for INCOSE Certification Exam to Change Starting July 2008The INCOSE certification examination is currently based on INCOSE’s Systems Engineering Handbook, version 2A and will continue to be based on this version of the handbook through June of 2008. Starting in July 2008, the examination will be based upon version 3.1 of the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook.

If you plan to take your certification exams prior to June 30, 2008, should continue to prepare with version 2A. If you are planning to take your certification exams after July 1, 2008, should prepare with version 3.1. The Systems Engineering Handbook, version 3.1, is available in both electronic download and bound paperback. See the INCOSE Store for details.

Recent INCOSE ProductsBesides the version 3.1 of the INCOSE Handbook that was recently released, were you aware that INCOSE also released the SE Leading Indicators Guide earlier this year?  What are Leading Indicators, you ask?  A leading indicator is a measure for evaluating the effectiveness of a how a specific activity is applied in a manner that provides information about impacts that are likely to affect the system performance objectives. A leading indicator may be an individual measure, or collection of measures, that are predictive of future system performance before the performance is realized. You may find more information on it at www.incose.org/ProductsPubs/products/seleadingIndicators.aspx.

Sixth Annual Conference on Systems Engineering ResearchPaper submission has closed. Papers are currently being reviewed and the accepted authors will be notified by 3 January. For information on the Conference, go to www.incose-la.org/cser2008, or write to CSER registration to receive updates on CSER 2008.

Update your membership profileDid you know that you have the ability to reset your own password,change your address, phone number and employer, and even change the e-mail addresses you want your incose.org e-mails to go to?  Did you know that you can also update your biography and even your picture?  To keep your membership information up to date, just go to www.incose.org. On the left side, select the option to View Update Member Record.

Member Sound-offAs the publicity of this discipline we call "Systems Engineering" reaches further and further from its origins in the Aerospace and Defense realm, practitioners in other sectors find that they have been practicing systems engineering under other names. A large portion of INCOSE members are these practitioners, and INCOSE has benefited from their input, and they, in turn, are helping to refine the definition of what Systems Engineering is and how it is put into practice. As messages of Systems Engineering are now arriving at the doorsteps of commercial, market-driven enterprises, is there an application in this environment? Or is the value of Systems Engineering's pedigree lost in such a rapid-development and quick-changing environment in which the customer's needs are anticipated rather than known? And will we come to a better understanding of Systems Engineering as a result of this contact?  Tell us what you think in the Discussion Forum.