MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series
Dov Dori, Lecturer, Engineering Systems Division, MIT, and Harry Lebensfeld Chair in Industrial Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Date: February 9, 2015
About the Presentation
Conceptual modeling began informally. As human beings evolved and began to make sense of the world, many constructed mental models of themselves as agents in a hostile environment. These models enabled them to make predictions and test hypotheses about behaviors that might increase their survival rate.
Similarly, engineers today develop mental models of the systems they design, and scientists construct such models to understand, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Conceptual models are both visual-graphical and verbal-textual, but almost always implicit and informal. Object-Process Methodology (OPM), recently approved as ISO 19450, is both an explicit conceptual modeling language and a paradigm for approaching systems modeling. OPM is bimodal. It represents the same model both graphically, in a single kind of diagram, and textually, in a subset of English—thus communicating to both sides of the brain.
This webinar will introduce the principles of OPM and demonstrate the value of OPM-based conceptual modeling in a variety of engineering and science domains. During this session, Professor Dov Dori will:
- define and exemplify conceptual modeling and its benefits in various disciplines;
- introduce OPM as a formal modeling language that is agile, lightweight, compact, and easy to learn;
- show how OPM has benefited engineers and scientists in various disciplines; and
- present a vision for the future role of conceptual modeling in improving endeavors across science and engineering.
A Q&A will follow the presentation. We invite you to join us.
About the Speaker
Dov Dori has been affiliated with MIT’s Engineering Systems Division intermittently since 2000. He is the Harry Lebensfeld Chair in industrial engineering and head of the Enterprise System Modeling Laboratory within the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at Technion—Israel Institute of Technology.
Dori’s research interests include model-based systems engineering, conceptual modeling of complex systems, systems architecture and design, software and systems engineering, and systems biology. He invented and developed Object-Process Methodology (the ISO 19450 Standard), has authored more than 300 publications, and has mentored more than 50 graduate students.
Dori previously served as associate editor of IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence and is currently associate editor of Systems Engineering, a publication of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). He is a fellow of INCOSE and of the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He is also a member of the Omega Alpha Association, the international honor society for systems engineering, and a senior member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the Association for Computing Machinery. Learn more about Dori here.
About the Series
The MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.
