June 24, 2007 — Epstein ISE doctoral candidate Jo Ann Lane has received the 2007 International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Foundation/Stevens Doctoral Award for promising research in Systems Engineering and Integration.  The award funds systems engineering students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy. This award carries with it a stipend of $5,000.  The award was presented to her at the INCOSE International Symposium held in San Diego, California from 24-28 June 2007.

Ms. Lane has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a Masters degree in Computer Science from San Diego State University.  Her advisors are Prof. Barry Boehm and Prof. Stan Settles, with whom she works as a research assistant in the USC Center for Systems and Software Engineering (CSSE). Her doctoral guidance committee also includes Epstein ISE Prof. George Friedman, Dr. Azad Madni, and Marshall School of Business Prof. Paul Adler.

Ms. Lane's dissertation research focuses on understanding the differences between traditional systems engineering and systems of systems engineering with respect to cost model development. She entered the doctoral program in the Epstein ISE Department in the Spring of 2005 and entered candidacy for the doctorate in the Spring of 2007. She plans to defend her doctoral dissertation in the Spring of 2008.

The selection criteria for the INCOSE Foundation/Stevens Doctoral Award include an appropriate description of the student’s research and research approach, how the student’s research will advance both the body of knowledge and the state of practice within the domain to systems engineering and integration, and the recommendations of two faculty members.  The Epstein ISE Department and the USC Center for Systems and Software Engineering congratulate Jo Ann Lane.