Jack Dougher, MCSD, MCAD, SECRET Security Clearance

The practice of systems engineering is experiencing fundamental change primarily driven by technological innovations, as well as a growing realization of the need to standardize and measure the maturity of an organizations engineering processes. Document and process lifecycle management are recognized as essential to the successful design, develop and sustainment of highly complex systems. Geographically distributed, multi-disciplinary teams require a collaborative environment to organize and store information, facilitate communications, optimize and drive engineering processes, and manage the flow and structure of information throughout the organization. These, and other trends, are leading organizations to search for a more widespread and effective application of systems engineering practices.

I have a strong career track record of engaging in and solving similarly complex engineering and business related challenges. As a Penn State Nuclear Engineering graduate with a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic University I have spent 22 years in the nuclear power industry performing nuclear fuels analysis and systems engineering. I have developed analytical methodologies licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to perform transient and accident analysis of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Facility resulting in a savings to the company of several millions of dollars. I have successfully argued a technical position regarding the plant testing strategy of a safety related system and mitigated a Notice of Violation (NOV) Severity Level III during an enforcement conference with the NRC. As the Manager of Nuclear Safety Systems my team of eleven systems engineers was responsible for performance monitoring & analysis and managing modifications & maintenance on assigned nuclear plant systems. My responsibilities included the monitoring and enforcement of engineering processes, chair of the Reactivity Management Committee, and plant lead for the System Performance Monitoring and Analysis Program. In this capacity I learned firsthand the motivation for the need to address the on-going systems engineering trends identified earlier.

In recent years, I have shifted my career path towards gaining an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art technological innovations that can provide the foundation and tool sets necessary to deliver a collaborative integrated engineering environment that meets the current and future needs of system engineers and their management. Much of my focus has been on the use of Microsoft SharePoint as an affordable, scalable, and extensible platform on which to build a Web-based collaborative knowledge application that provides workers access to an organization's resources, processes and knowledge base.