System Dynamics
Student Profile
Bruce Skarin '02
Major: System Dynamics
I started as ME major, but wanted to work with people more than with machines. I met with my advisor numerous times about deciding my major, until he suggested that I take the introduction to system dynamics course. After the first week, I was ready to change my major - I finally saw an opportunity to develop the skills necessary to tackle very difficult social problems.
"There is a growing market for people that can work on complex problems. System Dynamics is one of many approaches for this. Many of the positions also expect an advanced degree. Yet the skills I developed at WPI are advanced in their own right, and given a company that has some awareness of the field, my degree was very adequate. The company that I found is Aptima. Aptima is a unique research and engineering company that uses an interdisciplinary approach to providing solutions to complex socio-technical problems."
The science of unintended consequences
The mysteries of economic ups and downs. Terrorism control. Debt in developing countries. Salt marsh preservation. Cartilage mechanics and osteoarthritis. Next-generation automotive propulsion and power systems. These are examples of complex problems that face policymakers and researchers in government, public and private institutions, and industry. System Dynamics applies sophisticated computer modeling to help solve problems like these.
System Dynamics, born in the 1950s at MIT, uses computer models and simulation to analyze the collective impact of cause-effect relationships in a physical or natural system, a business, or even a social system.
To understand these systems, analysts model causal factors taking into account time delays and feedback loops: A causes B, which changes A, which worsens B or causes C. The methodology deals with multiple complex relationships over time in such applications as economic policy making, environmental resource management, scientific research, medicine, corporate leadership, and even teaching elementary or secondary math and science.
System Dynamics is unique in that it supports research and decision making in the social sciences through experimentation. A System Dynamics study can answer questions like "Why did this policy fail, and what can be done differently?" "What is the social, economic and environmental impact of adopting this new technology under these conditions, and how must the technology change as conditions change?" The analysis of a model yields new policy or process solutions.
Though WPI's preeminence in System Dynamics is widely recognized, the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies continues to expand its reach through new programs, initiatives and activities. Through global learning opportunities, exposure to visiting scholars from all over the globe, and partnerships with other institutions, students literally use the world as their laboratory.
A System Dynamics degree provides a combination of analytical skills, technical orientation, big-picture perspective and broad knowledge - all highly prized attributes in the job market and in graduate or professional programs. Since many graduates choose a career aligned with their application area, career opportunities are limitless. Professionals in all sectors have used system dynamics in ways like these:
The Millennium Institute, a private research firm, converted a cumbersome computational model used by the International Monetary Fund into a system dynamics model and merged it with its own "Threshold 21" system dynamics model. The new tool allows developing nations to make informed policy decisions. The Carter Center, under the auspices of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, has adopted a version of the model for its development work.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) hired a system dynamics specialist in the early 1990s to study the drug problem in the United States. He determined that survey data collected by the government were misleading because some respondents were lying. He was able to detect the lying because the answers to the questions did not conform to basic principles of dynamic systems. He went on to build a system dynamics model that mimicked the survey and revealed its flaws.
A telecommunications company used system dynamics to analyze the relationships between consumers' use of mobile phones and its plan choices. The company learned where to expand service and where to cut back, avoiding the problems another provider had faced when caught unprepared by unexpected demand for a new service.
A pharmaceutical company hired consultants to learn why an unusually high percentage of its drugs remained in research and development. Consultants used system dynamics to model three research and development stages. Their analysis pinpointed the changes needed to make the R&D process more efficient.
An ecology professor used system dynamics to analyze the use of tidal gates to control mosquitoes in salt marshes. He determined that, by starving the salt marshes of salt, tidal gates were not only killing the marshes but actually increasing the mosquito population.
WPI is the only university to offer an undergraduate degree in System Dynamics. About one third of the graduates of this program have to date undertaken graduate studies at the leading American universities. The remaining graduates are working in a variety of assignments including general management, consulting, and research.
For more information, see the Undergraduate Catalog for degree requirements and/or contact Prof. Saeed, Prof. Radzicki or Prof. Pavlov.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: March 17, 2008 10:45:22