A New Era for Systems Engineering and Technical Management at EPP
April 12th, 2006
Dr. Kenneth Potocki has been named Program Chair for the Systems Engineering and Technical Management programs for Johns Hopkins Engineering and Applied Science Programs for Professionals (EPP), effective April 1, 2006. "I am very pleased that Ken has agreed to serve as the new Program Chair" says Allan Bjerkaas, Associate Dean for EPP. "He brings much experience and enthusiasm into his leadership role and I look forward to the programs' continued success under his leadership." Currently serving as Programs Manager for NASA's "Living With a Star Program" at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Dr. Potocki is a long-time EPP faculty member in addition to serving on the Systems Engineering and Technical Management program committees for EPP.
Succeeding the late Dr. Kossiakoff in this role, Dr. Potocki will oversee the direction of these two cornerstone engineering programs, which he participated in developing with Dr. Kossiakoff beginning in the early 1980s. With a background in physics and a career that spans more than 35 years at APL in both technical and managerial roles, Dr. Potocki brings a wealth of experience in technical management. He also brings a love of teaching. "The faculty involved in these programs are doing so because they love teaching and they love the interaction with students - I know that's why I've been doing this for three decades now," says Potocki.
Dr. Potocki sees a growing demand for systems engineering due to the cost-effectiveness of approaching problem solving using broad, systems-wide solutions. "The application of systems engineering is unbounded," says Potocki. Equally applicable in industry and government, the need for engineers with systems expertise continues to grow along with the complexity of large-scale projects.
In thinking about the future of the Systems Engineering Program at EPP, Dr. Potocki would like to increase the course offerings, and attract people from other fields into the program. In addition, discussions are underway with colleagues at the Whiting School of Engineering to offer elective undergraduate courses in systems engineering for students on the Homewood campus. Perhaps most importantly, he plans to expand the geographic reach of the program by offering courses online in the near future.
In the same way, Dr. Potocki has plans for the Technical Management Program, where the curriculum is more focused on the development of management and leadership skills in technical programs and organizations. "This summer the faculty and I will start a review of the curriculum to see how we can evolve the program to keep it current with students needs," says Potocki.
With the realization that the learning environment is just as important as the curriculum, Dr. Potocki would also like to infuse both programs with the enthusiasm that he carries for both learning and having fun in the classroom. "I'm trying to instill a culture of making education fun and rewarding for all involved, students and faculty," says Potocki. "If an instructor is having fun in class, then the students are going to be more engaged - it's contagious, and it creates a good learning environment."