Derek K. Hitchins (born 1935) is a British
systems engineer and was professor in
engineering management
Engineering management is the application of the practice of management to the practice of engineering.
Engineering management is a career that brings together the technological problem-solving ability of engineering and the organizational, admini ...
, in command & control and in
systems science at
Cranfield University at
Cranfield
Cranfield is a village and civil parish in the west of Bedfordshire, England, situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes. It had a population of 4,909 in 2001. increasing to 5,369 at the 2011 Census. The parish is in Central Bedfordshire uni ...
,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Biography
Hitchins joined the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in 1952 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 and 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 at two leading systems engineering companies as Marketing Director, Business Development Director and Technical Director. He also worked as UK Technical Director for the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
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.
Publications
Hitchins wrote several books and article.
[For an overview, se]
Hitchins CV
, Feb 2005. A selection:
* 1990. ''Conceiving Systems''. Thesis (Ph.D.) City University, 1990.
* 1992. ''Draft Guide to the Practice of System Engineering''. With John C. Boarder and Patrick D. R. Moore. Institution of Electrical Engineers.
* 1993. ''Putting Systems to Work'',
* 2000
* 2003, ''Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering and Management'', Norwood MA: Artech House.
* 2003. ''The Pyramid Builder's Handbook''
* 2003. ''The Secret Diaries of Hemiunu''
* 2007. ''Systems Engineering: A 21st Century Systems Methodology''.
Articles, a selection:
* 2003
''Systems Methodology'' paper.
* 2003
''What’s in a System-of-Systems?'' paper.
References
External links
Hitchinshomepage.
INCOSE 2007.
Feb 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchins, Derek
1935 births
Academics of Cranfield University
British non-fiction writers
Living people
Systems engineers
British systems scientists
British male writers
Male non-fiction writers