This course explores the frontier of advanced technology through the lens of systems engineering, equipping students to analyze, anticipate, and responsibly integrate emerging innovations across complex socio-technical ecosystems. Students will engage with over a dozen transformative technologies—including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, synthetic biology, advanced wireless networks, and space systems—while considering their systemic implications, ethical underpinnings, lifecycle integration, and historical evolution. Each technology is presented not as a standalone advancement but as an enabling component within interconnected systems that shape industries, societies, and the future of engineered environments.Grounded in systems approaches, the course emphasizes strategic foresight, ethical framing, and lifecycle adaptation. Students will assess not only the technical impacts of emerging technologies but also their broader ethical, social, and historical contexts. Through peer discussions, case studies, and cutting-edge journal reviews, learners will critically evaluate technology trajectories, identify stakeholder impacts, and examine cross-disciplinary challenges. Special attention is given to forecasting integration strategies that inform decision-making in real-world applications.The course’s final project challenges students to develop a novel system concept that synthesizes two to five of the featured advanced technologies. This project integrates scenario development, stakeholder analysis, ethical reflection, and historical grounding. By the end of the course, students will have cultivated a forward-looking systems mindset, enhanced their ability to communicate complex technological impacts, and strengthened their capacity to lead responsibly in an era of rapid technological change.
Course Prerequisite(s)
EN.645.768 System Design and Integration
Course Offerings
There are no sections currently offered, however you can view a sample syllabus from a prior section of this course.