SEAri at MIT

Seeking to advance the theories, methods, and effective practice of systems engineering applied to complex socio-technical systems through collaborative research...

Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative (SEAri) brings together a set of sponsored research projects and a consortium of systems engineering leaders from industry, government, and academia. SEAri is uniquely positioned within the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a new kind of interdisciplinary academic unit that spans most departments within the School of Engineering, as well as the School of Science, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and the Sloan School of Management. This setting offers a robust research and learning environment for advancing systems engineering to meet the contemporary challenges of complex socio-technical systems. SEAri has strategic relationships with several educational and research programs at MIT, including the MIT System Design & Management Program (SDM) and the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) Research Program at MIT.

Application domains include: Aerospace, Transportation, Infrastructure

  • Example projects in system architecture and selection: space systems, UAV swarms, urban and high speed rail

Methods include: Engineering Analysis, Decision Analysis, Economics, Operations Research, Social Science Methods

Research also addresses characterizing systems engineering as it is applied in practice, and how it can be improved in the future

  • Example projects include: systems thinking in individuals and teams, leading indicators for project cost and success