The award is given at the conference for the paper that makes the most outstanding research contribution to the field of systems engineering.

Systems and industrial engineering students Matthew Dabkowski, Jose Estrada and Ben Reidy won the award for their paper, Network Science Enabled Cost Estimation in Support of Model-Based Systems Engineering.

Model-Based Systems Engineering, or MBSE, is a research area of Ricardo Valerdi, associate professor in the UA department of systems and industrial engineering, who nominated the students for the award.

The award-winning paper proposed a method to quantify how changes in system design affect costs, which requires a deep understanding of both systems engineering and cost modeling.

As systems become larger, more expensive, and more complex -- think of a space satellite or a Boeing Dreamliner -- it becomes increasingly difficult to calculate how design changes affect the overall cost of the project, and engineers need ever more sophisticated tools to track system costs, schedules and performance.

This is where Valerdi's research, and the students' innovative paper, comes in. "We are applying social network analysis techniques to the design process," Valerdi said. "This means an engineer or designer can add or modify subsystems with a greater degree of certainty about their cost and efficiency."

That's social network analysis as in human networks. "Matt [Dabkowski] took Ron Breiger's class on social network analysis and is applying those techniques to model-based design," Valerdi said. "It's a beautiful merger of social science and engineering."

Valerdi said MBSE can answer questions such as: What is the cost impact of adding more features? Which are my highest value capabilities in terms of cost-per-functionality (which Valerdi translated as "bang for the buck)? And what are the cost impacts of delaying, reducing or eliminating certain features?

Valerdi cited a real-world example from his work with the U.S. Navy. "This approach can help estimate the cost impact of introducing a new technical feature, such as increasing an aircraft's flight range from 1,500 to 2,000 miles without refueling," Valerdi said. "Modifying this feature doesn't just increase the size of the fuel tank, it could potentially change the structural properties of the airplane, landing gear configuration, and so on. An increase of 500 miles of flight range could result in an astronomical cost impact that might not be worthwhile."

Valerdi was recently given a $120,000 research grant by the Department of Defense Acquisition Research Program, which is managed by the U.S. Navy, to continue the work described in the conference paper.

The three authors of the paper represent the three degrees offered by the systems and industrial engineering department: Estrada is a senior earning a bachelor's degree, Reidy is a master's student, and Dabkowski is studying for his PhD.

Dabkowski's background as an Army officer was invaluable, Valerdi said, in quickly understanding the research issues and bringing together contractors, tool vendors, and government users to explore solutions to the problem.

"This project is in its early stages," Valerdi said. "But it has the potential to have a significant impact on the methodological side -- by advancing our understanding of MBSE, network science, and cost estimation -- and on the practical side, by transitioning the research to government projects that are interested in better understanding the cost implications of design changes.

In addition to its potential, noted Valerdi, "This research project also demonstrates how students at all levels -- bachelor's, master's and doctoral -- can contribute to a research project to produce world-class research results."