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Roos is new associate dean in School of Engineering

Japan Steel Industry Professor Daniel Roos of civil and environmental engineering has been named to the new position of associate dean for engineering systems. In announcing the appointment, Dean Robert Brown of the School of Engineering said the position is part of the School's increased focus on interdisciplinary systems.

"The School of Engineering is placing growing emphasis on engineering research and educational programs that integrate traditional engineering expertise with management and social science," said Dean Brown. "We often think of these features as being present in large-scale open systems that arise in industry and society. The design of transportation systems and the integration of engineering product design with manufacturing and marketing are two examples of open systems at this interface.

"The position of the associate dean for engineering systems has been created to help add momentum and coordination to these initiatives in the School of Engineering and the Institute."

Professor Roos will take responsibility at the school level for several existing programs and research centers, as well as other programs to be created. Initially, he will oversee the Center for Innovation in Product Design; the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development (CTPID); the Center for Transportation Studies; the Industrial Performance Center; the Leaders for Manufacturing Program; the Technology and Policy Program; and the System Design and Management Program.

"Dan Roos is a wonderful faculty member to launch this position," said Dean Brown. "He brings to it a tremendous amount of first-hand research and programmatic experience working at this interface."

Professor Roos has been director of the CTPID since 1982. He is also director of the International Motor Vehicle Program, the Technology Management and Policy Program, the Cooperative Mobility Research Program, and co-chair of the MIT Commission on Industrial Relationships.

He is special assistant to the provost and assists the provost and president in negotiations with potential major industrial partners. He was also actively involved in negotiating the new multimillion-dollar MIT/Ford partnership and now serves as associate director of that project.

Professor Roos was appointed to the MIT faculty in 1966 after receiving the SB, SM and PhD in civil engineering from MIT. He is a noted expert on urban transportation who received the 1994 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing and the 1989 Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

"MIT has pioneered in developing interdisciplinary educational and research programs. This new position provides an opportunity to work with my colleagues in engineering, management and the social sciences in developing the next generation of interdisciplinary engineering systems," said Professor Roos.

He will be succeeded as CTPID director by Professor Joel Clark of materials science and engineering. Professor Clark served as acting director of the Center in 1993-94 and was formerly the Metcalfe Professor (1987-88) and the POSCO Professor of Materials Science (1988-93).

His research focuses on developing methods to analyze the competitive position of materials and processes in specific applications. In 1983 he founded the Materials Systems Laboratory. He received the BS and MS in engineering science from Florida State University, the ScD in materials science and engineering from MIT in 1972, and the SM from Sloan School in 1975. He has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1975.

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on December 10, 1997.

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