Using Simulation to Understand Complex Physical and Non-physical Systems
Corey Lofdahl, BAE Systems, Burlington, Massachusetts
January 26, 2007
Abstract
The term "complex system" is often used but seldom defined. This talk explores the application of "system dynamics" simulation—which explicitly represents system complexity in terms of nonlinear, stock-flow, and feedback causal relationships—to aid the understanding of systems that span the boundary between physical, natural systems and non-physical, social systems. System dynamics simulation will be introduced and explored in terms of three examples: the first on trade and global environment, the second on nation building, and the third on information system design.
Biography
Dr. Corey Lofdahl is a principal engineer at BAE Systems in Burlington, Massachusetts and an instructor at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He is the author of Environmental Impacts of Global Trade: A systems study (MIT Press, 2002). He holds degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and international relations from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Brown University, and MIT.