645.766.1131 - Systems Engineering Advanced Technology
Systems Engineering
Fall 2026
Description
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.
Instructors
Gary Honea
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. 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
Students with Disabilities - Accommodations and Accessibility
Student Conduct 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.