Alice Squires - My Pioneers of Systems Engineering ( Post #10 )

Introduction

I know Alice personally for many years at INCOSE , and have had the privilege of working and collaborating closely with her within the editorial team of the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge and the Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering. Meeting her was a dream come true, because when I was persuing my PhD I had studied her research papers and her doctoral thesis in great detail. I have no words to describe her as a systems engineer, I would say that she is exceptional, but even better as a human being.

Alice's Bio

Dr. Alice Squires has over thirty three years of technical and leadership experience. Prior to joining Washington State University in the Fall 2014 as a full-time faculty, Alice served as Manager of Systems Engineering at Aurora Flight Sciences, ?Senior Researcher for the nationwide University Affiliated Research Center in Systems Engineering, Online Technical Director for the School of Systems and Enterprises (SSE) at Stevens Institute of Technology, Senior Systems Engineer consultant to Lockheed Martin, IBM, and EDO Ceramics, Senior Engineering Manager at GD, Senior Engineering Manager at LM, and Advisory Engineer/Scientist at IBM.

She has taught graduate courses in Systems Engineering, project management, leadership, performance management and systems architecture. Alice was a contributing author and editor to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge and the Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering. She is certified by PMI as a Project Management Professional, and by INCOSE as an Expert Systems Systems Engineering Professional.

Graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science of Electrical Engineering (BSEE) at University of Maryland in 1984 and Summa cum Laude with Recognition with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at George Mason University in 1996. She earned a PhD degree at Stevens Institute of Technology in 2011 in Systems Engineering and intelligent / adaptive online learning systems. She is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASEE), and a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), INCOSE, and the Project Management Institute (PMI). She founded a group that advocates for women leaders in Systems Engineering.

Alice Source of Inspiration

Based on the perceived value of Systems Engineering and the drastic shortfall of systems engineers, companies are increasingly choosing to incorporate remote online Systems Engineering education into their training budget. This increase is taking place through several different types of course offerings:

a) Blended learning where part of the course is remote online (both students and instructor) and part of the course is face-to-face.

b) Multi-mode delivery where some of the students in the course are local (in the same room) with the instructor and some of the students are remote and online during class sessions.

c) Local delivery, but where one or more of the instructors of the course are remote (not in the same room) as the students in the course.

d) Completely remote online courses. In many cases, even when the course is completely face-to-face, course content is provided online.

Dr. Squires is a true pioneer in researching online Systems Engineering education to provide the mechanisms by which we can gain a true understanding of both the potential and the limits of remote online Systems Engineering education in meeting the educational needs of the workforce and identify those specific methods that are improving the effectiveness of course content delivery in building student competency in Systems Engineering , an important step in the maturation of systems engineers.

In pursuit of her desire to make a difference in the world, Dr. Alice Squires founded the Empowering Women Leaders in Systems Engineering (EWLSE) within the International Council on Systems Engineering ( INCOSE) professional society. This group of close to 200 members is comprised of men and women who advocate for women in support of a future where women and men are equally represented as Systems Engineering leaders.

These are some of the most important strategic objectives of EWLSE :

• To lead the global effort to empower women as leaders in systems engineering through and beyond INCOSE.
• To create an open culture for all who seek to be systems engineers.
• To establish systems engineering as a field where women belong
• To inspire women to choose a career in systems engineering.

Thank you Dr. Alice Squires

Thank you Alice for being one of the pioneers that has influenced my understanding of Systems Engineering.

All Systems Engineering practitioners are indebted to Dr. Alice Squires for her leadership and for making us understand that the practice of Systems Engineering can impact on the world.

I want to end with these words from Alice, which touched my inner self, and with which I totally agree "... Having a systems view and focusing on the longer term are an essential part of who you are. You will make an impact on the world and it will be awesome..... Your systems view is contagious and will provide a framework and mindset to help others learn.... You will find that you can apply your approach to leading and managing organizations, projects, and teams , all systems in their own right..."