Adaptable Systems Engineering and Systems, Man and Cybernetics Research and Development
Location: Grand Ballroom E-K
Time: October 7, 2026 | 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Overview
Cybernetics is a transdisciplinary study on how systems regulate themselves, communicate and control their actions using feedback loops. Adaptive systems can respond to changes in system missions and requirements, and have been widely used in different areas, especially self-adaptive systems such as autonomous (aerial) vehicles. Both of them leverage feedback loops.
This session will feature a plenary talk and a panel discussion exploring the historical connections, shared foundations, and emerging opportunities at the intersection of adaptive systems engineering and systems, man, and cybernetics research. The session will highlight common challenges and complementary approaches, while helping the audience navigate newly available methods, technologies, and future research directions.
Plenary Talk
Haifeng Zhu – Technical Director, BAE Systems. IEEE Fellow.
Bio: Dr. Haifeng Zhu is an IEEE Fellow and a renowned expert in systems engineering. He is currently a Technical Director in BAE Systems. Dr. Zhu has many years of experience mainly in aircraft systems as well as space systems, HVAC and elevator systems, and has previously worked with Boeing and United Technologies (currently RTX). His work has also been collected into the IEEE/INCOSE Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) and used in industry, including Boeing and Raytheon, etc. He served in IEEE, INCOSE and AIAA, including chair roles in major conferences and membership of editorial boards of premier journals. He is interested in advancing knowledge and technologies for humanity, and is a recipient of the IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award – the highest technical honor of United Technologies corporate research.
Panelists
Robert Kozma
Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at University of Memphis
Bio: Robert Kozma (Fellow IEEE, Fellow INNS) holds Ph.D. in Applied Physics (Delft, The Netherlands, 1992). He has held faculty positions at the University of California at Berkeley, USA; Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand; Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. He has been Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at University of Memphis since 2000, where he is the founding Director of the Center for Large-Scale Intelligent Optimization & Networks. Past affiliations include US Air Force Research Lab; NASA Jet Propulsion Lab; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratoty; Sarnoff Co., Princeton; University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has over 40 years of experience with intelligent signal processing, the design, analysis, and control of artificial and biological intelligent systems, computational neurodynamics, cognitive computing, large-scale graphs and networks, robot autonomy and navigation, and brain-computer interfaces. He authored/edited 10 book volumes, over 400 papers, and 3 patents. He has been the President of the International Neural Network Society (INNS), served on the BOG of the IEEE SMCS, BOG of INNS, the AdCom of IEEE CIS; as Editor-In-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems. He serves as INNS Editor-in-Chief and Elsevier-Co-EIC of Neural Networks. He is voting member of IEEE TAB Periodicals Committee (PerCom) and the IEEE TAB Committee of Standards (T-COS), Member-at-Large of IEEE SMC Society Board, and other positions. He received various awards, including the IEEE SMCS Meritorious Service Award, and INNS Dennis Gabor Award for outstanding applications of neural networks.
Ljiljana Trajkovic
Professor in the School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Bio: Ljiljana Trajkovic received the Dipl. Ing. degree from University of Pristina, Yugoslavia, the M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from University of California at Los Angeles. She is currently a professor in the School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Her research interests include communication networks and dynamical systems. Dr. Trajkovic served as IEEE Division X Delegate/Director, President of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, and President of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems. She is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society and was a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Circuits and System Society. She is a Fellow of the IEEE.
John Palmer
Boeing Senior Technical Fellow, Chair of Boeing Core Systems Engineering Committee
Bio: John has 40+ years’ experience in the design, analysis, verification, and operation of complex high integrity integrated hardware and software systems. As a Senior Technical Fellow in Systems Engineering at The Boeing Company, John is sought for consulting and execution of critical engineering challenges across multiple business units. John's experience includes manned spacecraft, communication and remote sensing satellites, commercial aircraft flight controls and systems integration, and mobile satellite communication networks. He has worked at the level of detailed HW/SW integration in high integrity aviation electronics, through to the level of systems of systems for globally mobile mission critical communication services. In addition to solving development problems, John's responsibilities aim at improving system engineering processes and tools, and planning for long range implications of disruptive technology.
Ray Barton
CEO, Enercon, Canada; Past President of INCOSE Canada; Co-Chair, INCOSE Adaptive/Adaptable Systems Engineering and Management WG
Bio: Ray Barton, MBA, PhD is a seasoned business profession and entrepreneur. As a Senior Systems Engineer, and enterprise architect, he has experience in telecommunications, manufacturing, and upstream Oil & Gas. He is a past president of INCOSE Canada and a current co-chair of the Adaptive and Adaptable Systems Engineering and Management Working Group. He has contributed to the organization of several conferences, and is active on several standards IEEE and ISO working groups. He is cofounder of an energy upstream Oil & Gas product and services company and was named one of the countries top business leaders in the energy sector in 2023.
Moderator
Ferat Sahin - Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology; Vice President, Human-Machine Systems, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society
Bio: Dr. Ferat Sahin is Professor and Department Head of Electrical and Microelectronics Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where he directs the Multi-Agent Bio-Robotics Laboratory and the Century Mold Collaborative Robotics Laboratory. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Virginia Tech and joined RIT in 2000.
His research focuses on human-robot collaboration, collaborative and humanoid robotics, AI-driven manufacturing, physiological and affective computing, trust in automation, machine learning, and system-of-systems engineering. His recent work explores human-aware robotic systems, multimodal estimation of human comfort and workload, augmented reality and digital twins for industrial human-robot collaboration, and human-AI and AI-AI collaboration. He has published more than 165 scholarly papers, co-authored two CRC Press books and seven book chapters, and has received and administered several externally funded research grants.
Dr. Sahin has also held numerous leadership positions within the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (SMCS), including Student Activities Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President for Finance, and Vice President for Human-Machine Systems. He has received the IEEE SMCS Outstanding Contribution Award multiple times for his service to the Society.
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