Engineering Technology ManagementCase Studies in Leadership for Computational Scientists10:30 AM-12:30 PM
New Hampshire 1
The problem: How do you make world class researchers successful? In this minisymposium, we define success as the movement of research results into application; the realization of actual effects from research results. Current directions to solving this problem include the notion of sustaining a cycle of research, development, and operations, the integration of the three into a single team effort, and the sustained creation of 'spinoff' organizations with a mission to transform a research result into a real world application. The advantage of the RDO cycle is that a given research effort has time to mature before it is thrust into the next stage, but the disadvantage is that research can flounder. An integrated approach has the advantage of a more rapid movement towards practical application, but the disadvantage that an integrated team tends to quickly become unbalanced. The 'spinoff' approach maintains the focus of the working group, but can cut off valuable feedback loops that would improve the quality of the resulting product. By examining a number of case studies from a number of computational science and engineering efforts at NASA, Xerox PARC, and UNISYS, the speakers will provide provide a learning opportunity for accomplished technical people who are now (or may soon) face the challenge of making technically oriented organizations successful in a broader context.
Organizer: Christopher L. KuszmaulEngineering Technology ManagementCase Studies in Leadership for Computational Scientists