Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering
Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, The George Washington University
About
Zoe Szajnfarber is a Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE) and of International Affairs at the George Washington University and the inaugural Director of Strategic Initiatives for GW Engineering. Dr. Szajnfarber is the Chief Scientist of the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), a DoD University Affiliated Research Center that coordinates a network of more than 25 Universities. She is also the Chair of the Council of Engineering Systems Universities (CESUN). Dr. Szajnfarber joined GW in 2011 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 2016 and full professor in 2020. She most recently served as the Chair of the EMSE department from 2020-2023.
Dr. Szajnfarber is the PI and co-Director of the Designing Trustworthy AI Systems (DTAIS) NSF Research Traineeship, and a faculty leader of the broader GW Trustworthy AI Institute. Her core research is on the design and development of complex socio-technical systems, primarily in the aerospace and defense sectors. Her work is deeply empirical and considers both the organization and technical system architectures to “design in” an ability to achieve performance goals across extended and highly uncertain operational lifetimes. Recent projects examine the nature and function of scientific and technical expertise in the design process, particularly when considering open innovation and AI-enabled systems. Her interdisciplinary work has been supported by multiple federal agencies and foundations and has appeared in top journals spanning engineering, management, and policy.
Dr. Szajnfarber places a strong emphasis on education and regularly integrates her research and teaching. She has developed and taught core courses at every level and has also led several curriculum development efforts. She regularly teaches (or taught) undergraduate foundations of engineering courses, master’s level management of technical organizations and doctoral lever research methods. As part of DTAIS she has introduced several doctoral scaffolding elements including a summer research incubator and interdisciplinary seminar.
Dr. Szajnfarber received a Ph.D. in engineering systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011. She also holds dual master’s degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Technology and Policy from MIT. Her undergraduate degree is in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. Outside of academia, she has worked on satellite and space robotics projects for government agencies and industry, in North America and Europe.
Selected Publications
Szajnfarber, Z. and Vrolijk, A. (2018). A facilitated expert‐based approach to architecting ‘openable’ complex systems. Systems Engineering, 21(1), Pages: 47–58
Szajnfarber, Z. and Gralla, E. (2017). Qualitative methods for engineering systems: Why we need them and how to use them. Systems Engineering, 20(6), Pages: 497–511
DOI
Education
PhD in Engineering Systems, MIT |
2011
SM in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, MIT | 2009
SM in Technology and Policy Program, MIT | 2009
BASc in Engineering Science (Aerospace), University of Toronto | 2006
Get In Touch
Zoe is always available for consulting, conferences and professional development training worldwide. If you want to discuss infrastructure investments, design engineering, sustainability, please reach out.