Dr. Thomas Irwin

Executive Director, Center for Mission Engineering
Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation
Old Dominion University

The Center for Mission Engineering (CME) is an interdisciplinary applied research center focused on advancement in designing, analyzing, integrating, and improving the ability of engineered systems to deliver desired mission effects at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Our offices are in Washington D.C. and Suffolk, Virginia. Leads the Old Dominion University, regional, and statewide effort to build an ecosystem of researchers, innovators, problem solvers, and entrepreneurs working in or with Mission Engineering to identify opportunities, accelerate development, and realize visions. The CME team will work directly with those entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers to help them develop viable business models and to connect them with the financial, intellectual, and social capital necessary to assemble the personnel, expertise, and experience necessary to make Virginia a national leader in Mission Engineering. The CME is developing transformative tools (models and simulations) to rigorously define and facilitate the practice of mission engineering. The models are the first of their kind and will advance the state of the art in mission engineering. The initial application of this strategy is a system dynamics model that can be used to simulate strategies for Defense Manufacturing Readiness and help decision-makers ensure the availability of products and services to support the warfighter in accomplishing defense missions.

Career Chronology:

• SES Deputy Director, Joint Force Integration: Joint Staff J7 Apr23-Jan24
• SES Executive Director, Joint Warfighting Development; Joint Staff J7 Nov20-Apr23
• SES Executive Director, Joint Force Development and Design Integration; Joint Staff J7 Sep18-Nov20
• SES Executive Director, Future Joint Force Development; Joint Staff J7 Sep18-Nov19
• SES Executive Director, Joint Training; Joint Staff J7 Sep14-Sep18
• SES Deputy Director, Joint Environment; Joint Staff J7 Aug11-Sep14
• SES Enterprise Director; U.S. Joint Forces Command J9; Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Oct09-Aug11
• Product Group Director, Marine Air-Ground Task Force Command and Control; Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA Jun04-Oct09
• Extensive career in the NAVSEA Warfare Centers, holding various technical and management positions for Theater Warfare Systems, Battle Force Interoperability, Aegis Combat Systems, Gunfire Control Systems, and Self Defense Missile Systems.

Education:

• Ph.D., Systems Engineering; Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA; 2018
• Master of Science, Systems Engineering Management; Naval Postgraduate School, 2009
• Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering; North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC; 1983

Workshop Demand Signals

• Clarify ME’s definition, baselining core competencies, architectures, roles, and knowledge areas.
• Document proceedings to support improved future ME precepts and practices.
• Provide an ME framework for planning, professional development and recruitment.
• Promote ME alignment among government, academic, and industry stakeholders.

By articulating ME competencies and mapping them to relevant skills and roles this Report – and its robust complement of Appendices for professional readers -- contributes to a shared understanding of ME’s role in delivering optimal mission-driven, risk-informed and interoperable capabilities for operational users. 1.1. Workshop Context, Goals and Objectives, and Structure Context ME is increasingly recognized as a critical discipline that upscales Systems Engineering (SE) practices, delivering ability to meet mission objectives with system-level capabilities , through mission-focused analysis and decision support . As missions grow more complex and multi-domain in nature, there is increased need to define the unique interdisciplinary ME competencies that distinguish it from traditional SE, whose precepts are necessary but not sufficient to handle today’s complex environment. The SERC-2018-TR-109 report on ME laid the foundation for understanding enterprise transformation through Digital Engineering (DE), System-of-Systems (SoS) modeling, and competency development.

Workshop Goals and Objectives

The ME Competency Workshop goal was to address the need for a clear, shared understanding of the roles, skills, and competencies essential to the practice of ME across the DoD, NASA, Academia, other industrial sectors, and allied partners. With increasing emphasis on delivering integrated, mission-focused and interdisciplinary capabilities, this workshop was planned to support workforce development efforts aligned with both the OSD(R&E) Mission Engineering Guide v2.0 and broader transformation initiatives in SE and acquisition: • Develop a draft interdisciplinary ME Competency Framework (see Figure I), structured to support workforce development, education, and training at novice/practitioner/expert levels of proficiency. • Define and clarify the roles involved in ME practice as they differ from or complement those in traditional SE, operational analysis, and acquisition.