The Systems Research Center (SRC) at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., is a new forum for fundamental research and education in systems engineering. Established by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in 1985, the SRC is developing advances in design methods and software systems that innovatively address the challenges of productivity and competitiveness facing American industry. At the same time, the Center is training a new generation of systems engineers in an environment that is designed to both expand intellectual frontiers and achieve important reaearch objectives.