Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/D505461/1
Title:	A Research Proposal in Systems Engineering Addressing the Question: Are you prepared for NEC?
Principal Investigator:	Henshaw, Professor M
Other Investigators:	Andrews, Professor J Kelly, Professor T Adcock, Mr R Duffy, Professor A Chung, Professor PWH Clarkson, Professor J John, Professor P Xu, Professor J Johnson, Professor P Winch, Professor GM Raghunathan, Professor S Postlethwaite, Professor I
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	BAE Systems
Department:	Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
Organisation:	Loughborough University
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 November 2005	Ends:	30 April 2009	Value (£):	8,397,350
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Control Engineering Design Engineering Design Processes Human-Computer Interactions Safety & Reliability of Plant System on Chip
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Network Enabled Capability (NEC) is the UK MoD's response to the rapidly changing conflict environment in which its forces must operate. The armed forces must be flexible, ready and rapidly deployable, and must possess attributes that allow the application of controlled and precise force to achieve realisable effects as part of a wider scene that includes diplomatic and political aspects. The implications of this operational goal are immense and will stimulate significant organisational changes throughout the entire defence supply chain, with knock-on effects in other industrial sectors and civilian environments.MoD has noted that:NEC will influence equipment and systems across their entire lifecycle, from concept development through upgrades throughout their in service life and until their disposal or replacement.'Defence suppliers, such as BAE Systems, must develop with the changing defence requirement as capability suppliers adept at managing such capability through-life, within large dynamically connected networks of supplier-customer organisations. Thus, one may reasonably ask of all organisations operating in the defence environment:Are you prepared for NEC?This question is the subject of this research proposal. Recognising that achievement of NEC requires co-evolution across many different development areas and demands innovation throughout the supply chain, it is apparent that multidisciplinary research that includes a clear understanding of the integration issues is required. This may be attempted through development and application of systems engineering approaches to the delivery of through-life capability for NEC.The proposal petitions funding under a joint-funding agreement between BAE Systems and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for university-based research. Through a selection process that combined the EPSRC peer review procedures and relevance criteria as determined by the BAE Systems business units, a consortium that includes twelve leading UK academics (in the field of systems engineering) has been established. The academics have worked closely with specialists in BAE Systems and representatives from the business units to construct an innovative programme of research the output of which will support engagement in NEC provision and feed more generally into the development of systems engineering approachesNetwork Enabled Capability- An Introduction (MoD, version 1.1, April 2004), pg. 28.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Organisation Website:	http://www.lboro.ac.uk