Enchantment Meeting Speaker: Heidi Hahn, Developing Competence in the SE Professional Competencies

Jun 08, 2022 4:45 PM - Jun 08, 2022 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time

Abstract: In 2018, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) introduced a set of competencies for systems engineers in a framework structure that gives guidance as to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors important to systems engineering effectiveness at each of five “levels” of competence. These levels range from awareness to expert. There are five categories of competencies:

• Core Competencies that underpin both engineering and systems engineering
• Technical Competencies that are associated with the systems engineering technical processes
• Professional Competencies that reflect behaviors established within the human resources domain
• Systems Engineering Management Competencies that relate to managing and controlling systems engineering activities
• Integrating Competencies that recognize that the systems engineering discipline joins its activities with those of other disciplines, including project management and quality, to create project coherence
This presentation discusses research-grounded methods for improving one’s competence in the INCOSE Professional Competencies, while recognizing that improvement strategies may not be universally applicable due to gender- and culturally-based differences in strengths and weaknesses relative to the Professional Competencies. Specifically, the presentation addresses ways that systems engineers can improve their own competence in these key areas.

Speaker: Dr. Heidi Hahn recently retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory as Senior Executive Advisor to the Associate Laboratory Director for Weapons Engineering Sciences.  She had responsibility for engineering capability development including development of processes and tools to promote engineering capability; professional development of R&D engineers and engineering technicians; and engineering capability assessment. Currently, Heidi serves as an adjunct faculty member in Engineering Management Department at New Mexico Tech teaching courses in project management and systems engineering.  She holds a Ph. D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (Human Factors Option) from Virginia Tech and is a certified Expert Systems Engineering Professional (ESEP) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Heidi is Past President of the Enchantment Chapter and has served on the chapter's Board of Directors since 2007. She also serves on INCOSE's Certification Advisory Group and the PMI/INCOSE/MIT Alliance Team.