645.766.1128 - Systems Engineering Advanced Technology

Expanded Course Description

This course will include discussions on two main categories:  I) the first category comprise fundamental topics associated with the research and development of new technologies, obtaining information about new technologies, and evaluating and describing new technologies; II) the second category comprise the advanced technologies that will be discussed in this specific course.  The rapidly changing landscape of new and emerging technologies requires that the Category II topics change nearly every time this course is offered, while the Category I topics remain relatively stable.  Also, of note for this course, some of the Category II topics are specifically for RTX students and are not taught in the JHU publicly offered course.

Category I
     Conducting Online Research
     The Valuation of Science and Technology, and the Difference Between Science and Technology
     Design Thinking for Innovation
     Innovation Through Interfaces and Interconnections
     Intellectual Property
     The Laws and Ethics Associated with Developing Advanced Technologies Using the Exemplar of Lethal Autonomous Weapons

Category II (RTX-specific courses are bold-faced)
     Introduction to Anti-Tamper and Program Protection
     Generative Artificial Intelligence and Prompting for Systems Engineering Applications and Model-Based Systems Engineering
     DevOps
     Mission Engineering for Systems Engineers
     Space Technology: Beyond the Tyranny of Launch to the Cislunar Economy
     The Science and Systems Engineering of Starlink

Course Structure

The course materials are divided into modules which can be accessed by clicking Modules on the left menu. A module will have one or more sections including the overview, readings, assignments, etc. You are encouraged to preview all sections of the module before starting. You should regularly check the Calendar and Announcements for assignment due dates.

Course Topics

Course Goals

Identify and describe the impact of new and emerging technologies on new products, processes, and needs, as well as, the roles of the technical manager, program manager, and systems engineer in the development of rapidly evolving technologies.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

• Differentiate the major distinguishing characteristics of science and technology.
• Evaluate and discuss the importance of why Systems Engineers must recognize the differences between science and technology.
• Analyze and compare a sampling of advanced technologies and their implications to Systems Engineers.
• Identify and utilize techniques available to managers and system engineers to keep up with new technologies.
• Develop an ability to judge which developments are most likely to have a major impact on industry and society.
• Evaluate and explain the essential features, program management, and systems engineering aspects of technologies likely to significantly change industry and society.
• Develop an estimate of the future importance and impact of potential advanced technology applications from a systems engineer's perspective.
• Create an original, coherent, logical, professionally-cited, and technically sound paper on a new and emerging technology that fully describes its potential applications, the technical and non-technical barriers to its development, and the systems engineering mitigations that can overcome the barriers.

Textbooks

Society, Ethics and Technology, 5th Edition, Morton E. Winston, Ralph D. Edelbach, Wadsworth Publishing, 2014, ISBN-978-1-133-94355-6.

Student Coursework Requirements

• All assignments are due by the dates as highlighted in the Assignments section of Canvas.
• All external sources of information used to support students’ submitted work must be appropriately referenced.
• We will usually take either two short breaks (5-10 minutes) or one longer break (10-15 minutes) part way through each class period depending upon the specific lectures for that class.
• Regular attendance is expected. If there is an unavoidable absence (we understand that each student has a full-time job and may be required to take business trips during the semester), please discuss with (or email) the instructors prior to your absence. All class material will be posted on the JHU Canvas website.

Additional information about each Assignment is provided in the Course Introduction lecture presented during the first class.

 Class Discussions and participation (10% of Final Grade Calculation)

          Active participation during each Class Session is expected. 

 Homework Assignments (15% of Final Grade Calculation) 

         The Mid-Term Examination is an “open book, open notes” examination. The only sources you cannot use are other humans, with the exception of the instructors for this class.  Do not plagiarize.  Do not copy and paste large sections of the Web or other published material into your response:  use your own words.  Be certain to cite all sources you use.  Detailed instructions for completing the exam are provided in the exam, itself.

 Term Paper and Presentation (50% of Final Grade Calculation) 

Grading Policy

Assignments are due according to the dates in the Course Outline spreadsheet, the Calendar, and the Course Introduction lecture. Grades will usually be posted within one week after assignment due dates.

We generally do not directly grade spelling and grammar. However, violations of the rules of the English language will be noted. Consistently poor performance in either spelling or grammar is taken as an indication of poor written communication ability that may detract from your grade.

A grade of A indicates achievement of consistent excellence and distinction throughout the course—that is, conspicuous excellence in all aspects of assignments and discussion in every week.

A grade of B indicates work that meets all course requirements on a level appropriate for graduate academic work.

Grading Criteria

A+  97-100

A    93-96.9

A-   90-92.9

B+  87-89.9

B    83-86.9

B-   80-82.9

C    70-79.9

D    60-69.9

F     < 60

Course Policies

Since this is the ninth Course Syllabus you have seen since you were accepted into the JHU Systems Engineering Masters Program, you may be tempted to skip over this section.  DO NOT SKIP THIS SECTION! 

[NOTE:  there are three footnotes in this section.  Unfortunately, the AEFIS software does not support footnotes (or superscripts, subscripts, strikethrough, and other text formatting), so the superscript footnote numbers are denoted in brackets as [1], [2], and [3].]

Generative Artificial Intelligence programs (such as ChatGPT) may be used in this course if and only the following four conditions are met:

1)  It is cited in a footnote using APA Style (example given below).

2)  The prompt used for the generative AI is provided either in the text of the paper or in the footnote citing the use of generative AI (examples given below).

3)  The entire generative AI response is provided in an Appendix of the paper.  Use a separate Appendix for each generative AI use.

4)  Students must include in an Appendix for the first use of generative AI per paper a short reflection (three to five sentences) on its use and how it impacted their understanding of the material.  For example, did they acquire an idea or imaginative thought that they probably would not have gotten the “old-fashioned way” (by reading articles about the topic, for example)?  Did they find everything in the response accurate and/or useful; were all references cited genuine and not “hallucinatory”?  How much estimated time did they save by using generative AI?

Generally, the generative AI response will be paraphrased and not quoted directly except for short phrases (see example below); the same generative AI response can be used more than once in a paper to discuss different aspects of the response.

The following narrative is an excerpt from an article written by Tim McAdoo, last updated on May 23, 2024, titled “How to Cite ChatGPT” published in the online journal, APA Monthly (a subscription to this online journal is free).[1]  The only changes made to this excerpt are related to the examples that use “in-text” citations, rather than footnotes; that is, any footnotes in the excerpt below were in-text citations converted to footnotes.  Also, there are times when the article states something like: “you may also.”  In some cases, at the end of that sentence there may be [NOTE:  this is not an option in this course].

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                   Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text [or footnote], provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications, with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

Example:

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth.”[2]

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an Appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated [NOTE:  this is not an option in this course, students will place the entire response in an Appendix]. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create Appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out [every time they are used] in the body of your APA Style paper.

Example:

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors.”[3]

....

                                     Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

[1] McAdoo, T. (last updated: 2024, February 23), 2024. How to Cite ChatGPT. Retrieved July 18, 2024.  From https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

[2] OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. From https://chat.openai.com/chat

[3] Ibid., see Appendix A for the full transcript.

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The last paragraph is especially important.  You should always ask ChatGPT for references and verify that they are genuine and use them whether you paraphrase the ChatGPT response or directly quote the response.

When and how often you may use generative AI for each assignment is given below.

Three proposed Term Paper Topics:  generative AI may not be used.
Term Paper Outline:  generative AI may not be used.
Homework Assignment 1:  generative AI may not be used.
Homework Assignment 2:  generative AI may used once.
Homework Assignment 3:  generative AI may used twice.
Mid-Term Examination:  generative AI may not be used.
Term Paper:  generative AI may used three times.

Academic Policies

Deadlines for Adding, Dropping and Withdrawing from Courses

Students may add a course up to one week after the start of the term for that particular course. Students may drop courses according to the drop deadlines outlined in the EP academic calendar (https://ep.jhu.edu/student-services/academic-calendar/). Between the 6th week of the class and prior to the final withdrawal deadline, a student may withdraw from a course with a W on their academic record. A record of the course will remain on the academic record with a W appearing in the grade column to indicate that the student registered and withdrew from the course.

Academic Misconduct Policy

All students are required to read, know, and comply with the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) / Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) Procedures for Handling Allegations of Misconduct by Full-Time and Part-Time Graduate Students.

This policy prohibits academic misconduct, including but not limited to the following: cheating or facilitating cheating; plagiarism; reuse of assignments; unauthorized collaboration; alteration of graded assignments; and unfair competition. Course materials (old assignments, texts, or examinations, etc.) should not be shared unless authorized by the course instructor. Any questions related to this policy should be directed to EP’s academic integrity officer at ep-academic-integrity@jhu.edu.

Students with Disabilities - Accommodations and Accessibility

Johns Hopkins University values diversity and inclusion. We are committed to providing welcoming, equitable, and accessible educational experiences for all students. Students with disabilities (including those with psychological conditions, medical conditions and temporary disabilities) can request accommodations for this course by providing an Accommodation Letter issued by Student Disability Services (SDS). Please request accommodations for this course as early as possible to provide time for effective communication and arrangements.

For further information or to start the process of requesting accommodations, please contact Student Disability Services at Engineering for Professionals, ep-disability-svcs@jhu.edu.

Student Conduct Code

The fundamental purpose of the JHU regulation of student conduct is to promote and to protect the health, safety, welfare, property, and rights of all members of the University community as well as to promote the orderly operation of the University and to safeguard its property and facilities. As members of the University community, students accept certain responsibilities which support the educational mission and create an environment in which all students are afforded the same opportunity to succeed academically. 

For a full description of the code please visit the following website: https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/policies-guidelines/student-code/

Classroom Climate

JHU is committed to creating a classroom environment that values the diversity of experiences and perspectives that all students bring. Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Fostering an inclusive climate is important. Research and experience show that students who interact with peers who are different from themselves learn new things and experience tangible educational outcomes. At no time in this learning process should someone be singled out or treated unequally on the basis of any seen or unseen part of their identity. 
 
If you have concerns in this course about harassment, discrimination, or any unequal treatment, or if you seek accommodations or resources, please reach out to the course instructor directly. Reporting will never impact your course grade. You may also share concerns with your program chair, the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, or the Office of Institutional Equity. In handling reports, people will protect your privacy as much as possible, but faculty and staff are required to officially report information for some cases (e.g. sexual harassment).

Course Auditing

When a student enrolls in an EP course with “audit” status, the student must reach an understanding with the instructor as to what is required to earn the “audit.” If the student does not meet those expectations, the instructor must notify the EP Registration Team [EP-Registration@exchange.johnshopkins.edu] in order for the student to be retroactively dropped or withdrawn from the course (depending on when the "audit" was requested and in accordance with EP registration deadlines). All lecture content will remain accessible to auditing students, but access to all other course material is left to the discretion of the instructor.