This text provides a comprehensive introduction to applied systems analysis, emphasising engineering economics and operations research from the engineer's point of view. It incorporates techniques and concepts most often used in practice to help students and practitioners apply systems analysis successfully and productively. The topics of optimisation and evaluation are discussed with a special focus on formulating problems correctly, determining the proper analysis method to use, translating the mathematical results into improved design, and identifying optimal strategies in long-term projects.
Richard de Neufville is a Professor of Engineering Systems and of Civil and Environment Engineering at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in Cambridge next to Boston.
He is an international leader in the field of systems planning and design. He is known for his innovative applications to design across many fields particularly Airport Systems but also including transportation, aerospace, petroleum and mining industries, military systems,real estate, and large-scale infrastructure.
Active internationally, Richard has been involved in projects "on all continents except Antarctica". He has held appointments and enjoyed sabbaticals in many universities -- University of California Berkeley, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, London Graduate School of Business, École Centrale de Paris, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, and the Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon.
He likes to row his single scull in the Head of the Charles Regatta and to climb in the Rockies and Sierras.
