The world is changing rapidly:

• Extreme complexity has arisen in most engineered systems
• Energy and environmental sustainability is also a systems problem
• Security is a globally complex issue
• Transportation and space applications are systems problems

In keeping with the conference theme of Bridging Industry, Government, and Academia, the INCOSE 2005 Academic Forum will feature speakers from all three realms. David D. Walden from the General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, T. Tupper Hyde from NASA, and W. Kent Fuchs from Cornell University will address the Forum on challenges and progress from their unique perspectives. The goal is to stimulate a broad-based view of challenges across a spectrum of social and technological fronts.
Security, energy, transportation, space exploration, and sustainable development are broad areas of engagement, but systems engineering is a critical intellectual tool in addressing all of the issues that arise within these areas.
An afternoon panel discussion will take up the themes from the morning keynote and forum speakers and reflect on the different ways in which academia can and should respond to these challenges.
A second theme of the Academic Forum is to share some of the exciting student/faculty projects and research that is taking place in university’s Systems Engineering programs.
A number of representatives from various universities will present systems engineering projects incorporated into their students learning.