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Faculty perspective on Academic Equivalency: Steven H Dam, ESEP

Sep 25, 2022
Mrunmayi Joshi

Here is an interview with Steven H Dam, the Advisory Board Chairman for the George Mason University Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department which talks about his experience and perspective as faculty of the academic equivalency program. Happy SEPtember! 

Steven H Dam
    
This interview was done in 2022.

Q1. What is your role related to INCOSE’s Academic Equivalency?
» My role is encouraging any associated universities (many of whom use our (SPEC Innovation's) Innoslate tool) to apply for the academic equivalency.
Q2. What is one of your proudest professional achievements?
» My proudest professional achievement is development of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO) Vision Architecture. It provided the basis for many DoD architectures afterward.
Q3. What skills do you think a systems engineer should develop during their education?
» Skills to be developed by systems engineers during their education are: Requirements Analysis, Modeling and Simulation, and an in-depth understanding of all the programmatic and "illities" that make up systems engineering. A focus needs to be restore on the optimization of cost, schedule, and performance across all engineering disciplines.
Q4. What was your university’s motivation behind joining the academic equivalency program?
» I the Advisory Board Chairman for the George Mason University Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department. I was one of the advocates for GMU getting the academic equivalency.
Q5.What do you see as the benefits of the academic equivalency program for a university and a student?
» It recognizes the value of the SE degree via certification.
Q6. What methods do you use to teach SE courses effectively?
» As an Adjunct Professor, I used our Innoslate tool as a means to help students better understand all aspects of systems engineering.
Q7. How do your SE courses help students to deepen their understanding of systems engineering?
» I have taught an introductory course at the Graduate level to help students who come from other disciplines to better understand the full scope of systems engineering.
Q8. What is your advice for universities or institutes considering applying for academic equivalency?» My advice is: make sure your program teach more than just Systems Engineering Management. We need SEs with a strong Math and Physics background and exposure to other Engineering disciplines.
Q9. How can we reach out to you?
» You can reach me at : https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-dam-b105447/
Know more about Academic Equivalency here.
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