Derek Hitchins

Derek Hitchins (1935) is a British systems engineer and was professor in engineering management, in command & control and in systems science at Cranfield University at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.

Biography

Derek joined the Royal Air Force in 1951 as an apprentice and retired as a wing commander in 1973 to join industry. From 1975 to 1976 he worked as the system design manager of the Tornado ADV aviation company as technical coordinator for UKAIR CCIS. From 1975 to 1979 he was head of Integrated sciences in a grammar school, teaching physics, integrated science, mathematics, electronics, biology and astronomy to advanced level, with music, gymnastics and athletics as additional subjects.

In 1980 he returned to industry and held posts two leading systems engineering companies as Marketing Director, Business Development Director and Technical Director. he also worked as UK Technical Director for the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS) project in Brussels before becoming an academic in 1988.

In 1988 he became professor in Engineering Management at City University, London. From 1990 to 1994 he held the British Aerospace Chairs in Systems Science and in Command and Control, Cranfield University at RMCS Shrivenham. After his retirement in 1994 he continued as a part-time consultant, teacher, visiting professor and international lecturer.

He was the inaugural president of the UK Chapter of INCOSE, and also the inaugural chairman of the Institution of Electrical Engineers’ (IEE’s) Professional Group on Systems Engineering. For many years he was an independent member of the UK Defence Scientific Advisory Board.

Work

His current research is into system thinking, system requirements, social psychology & anthropology, Egyptology, command & control, system design and world-class systems engineering.

Systems engineering

Hitchins systems engineering interests are:

• To establish systems engineering as the dominant paradigm for managing complexity in industry
• To propagate a multi-layer view of systems engineering comprising product, project, business, industry and socio-economic levels
• So to widen interest in and practice of systems engineering to the benefit of UK industry

Systems engineering to Hitchins is "the Art and Science of creating effective systems, using whole system, whole life principles". He sees Operations research as "the Art and Science of creating optimal solution systems to complex issues and problems".

System of Systems

A system according to Hitchins is "an open set of complementary, interacting parts with properties, capabilities and behaviours of the whole set emerging both from the parts and from their interactions."

A system on a higher level can contain other systems. So the term “system of systems” could apply at any level. Or, conversely, at any level we care to choose we can perceive systems, contained subsystems and containing super-systems.

Systems methodology

Systems methodology has been the subject of the Hitchins’s ongoing research for over 20 years. In "Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering and Management" in 2003 he presents a science-based systems methodology, and applies it to solve problems in subjects as diverse as aerospace, policing and international social reconstruction.

Systems modelling

He is a member of a select, international team developing advanced methods of modeling and predicting the behavior of large-scale systems, including socioeconomic systems, conflicts, etc.

Publications

Hitchins wrote several books and article. A selection:

• 1993, Putting Systems to Work,
• Getting to Grips with Complexity".
• Guide to the Proper Practice of Systems Engineering,"
• 2003, Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering and Management, Norwood MA: Artech House.
• The Pyramid Builder's Bandbook
• The Secret Diaries of Hemiunu

Articles, a selection:

• 2003, Systems Methodology, paper.
• 2003, What’s in a System-of-Systems?, paper.

External links

• Hitchins homepage.
• Derek Hitchins, INCOSE 2007.
• Hitchins CV, Feb 2005.