INCOSE Washington Metro Area (WMA): October Chapter Meeting
INCOSE Washington Metro Area (WMA): October Chapter Meeting
Date: Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 PM EST
Register Here!
This month, in addition to our normal chapter business, we'll be hearing from a special guest, Dr. Paul Wach from the Virginia Tech National Security Institute.
Agenda:
- 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm Chapter Business Meeting
- 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Dr. Paul Wach "Socio-technical Transformation: Two sides of a coin"
Abstract: While the technological implications of transformation come down to scientific rules with definite, measurable, and consistent outcomes; the path to reaching societal outcomes is less clear and is often time ignored or given less emphasis. For example, the 2018 U.S. Department of Defense Digital Engineering (DE) Strategy outlined both technical goals and human-focused goals (i.e., societal) for achieving the digital transformation. Much of the relevant funding has focused on the technical aspects rather than the human focused aspects, such as workforce development. Furthermore, seven year later from the release of the DE Strategy, the technology landscape has changed with the release of ChatGPT and more recent agentic AI. With the new technology comes both risk and opportunity to reimagine the transformation and, perhaps, get ahead. The presentation given to the INCOSE WMA Chapter is focused briefly on historical context and provides more depth on current efforts to holistically shape and achieve the desired outcomes of the transformation.
Bio: Dr. Paul Wach is a Research Assistant Faculty with the Intelligent Systems Division of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute. He leads research and development at the intersect of systems engineering, digital transformation, and AI. Dr. Wach’s most recent focus is on agentic AI frameworks that combine systems engineering and domain knowledge sets to enhance human capability. Other notable recent work includes recognition from his peers in the form of a best paper award for his work in providing empirical evidence for verification and validation (V&V) of AI generated systems engineering artifacts. The research is currently being applied to the naval, air, space, energy, manufacturing, and education domains in efforts that are poised to expedite and reimagine the digital transformation. Dr. Wach’s pedagogical portfolio includes a course on digital engineering in the Grado Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the undergraduate and graduate levels, digital engineering curricula development for the Defense Acquisition University, and various systems engineering related executive courses. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, his previous experience is with The Aerospace Corp., Department of Energy, two national labs, and the medical industry. He received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, and Ph.D. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Register Here!