Taylan G. Topcu
Assistant Professor
207 Durham Hall
1145 Perry Street
Blacksburg VA, 24061
1145 Perry Street
Blacksburg VA, 24061
Short Bio:
Taylan’s research integrates systems engineering, microeconomics, and data-science to study socio-technical measurement issues in the context of complex systems design. He is interested in two overarching themes: architecture theory and management of safety-critical systems. He specializes in conducting mixed-methods research with a strong empirical grounding, often leveraging government & industry partners such as NASA, INFRABEL (the Belgian National Railroad Company) and MITRE for the research setting and refinement of his theoretical insights.
At Virginia Tech, he serves as the Director of the Systems Engineering Master’s Degree and the Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Mission Engineering
Research Areas:
Main Area: Management & Systems Engineering
- Systems Engineering
- Socio-technical Systems
- Management of Safety-Critical Systems
- Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency
- Modularity
- Ph.D. Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech (2020)
- M.Sc. Systems Engineering, University of Alabama in Huntsville (2015)
- B.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, Middle East Technical University (2009)
- Assistant Professor, Department Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2022 – Present
- Postdoctoral Scientist, Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, the George Washington University, 2020 – 2022
- Systems Engineer, Tactical Missile Systems Division, Roketsan Missile Industries, Turkey, 2010-2014
- ISE 5834/49XX – Decision Analysis for Engineers
- ISE 5204 Systems Engineering Capstone Project
- Dharmarajan, A.C.*, Topcu, T.G., Szajnfarber, Z., and Panchal J., (2025) ”A Form‑Agnostic Generative Model for Novel Design Solutions from Non‑Traditional Solvers” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design.
- Topcu, T.G., Hussain, M.*, Ofsa, M.* and Wach, P. (2025) ”Trust at Your Own Peril: A Mixed Methods Exploration of the Ability of Large Language Models to Generate Expert‑Like Systems Engineering Artifacts and a Characterization of Failure Modes” Systems Engineering, 28(5), 583–604.
- Xames, M.D.*, and Topcu, T.G. (2025) ”How Can Digital Twins Support the Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability of Healthcare Systems: A Systematic Review Focused on the Triple‑Bottom‑Line Perspective” IEEE Access, vol. 13, pp. 64390‑64411.
- Topcu, T.G. and Szajnfarber, Z. (2025) ”Navigating the Golden Triangle: The Need to Jointly Consider Modularization and Interface Choices When Making Performance, Cost, and Schedule Tradeoffs for Complex System Development” Systems Engineering, 28(3), 310‑324.
- Gadi, V.S.*, Topcu, T.G., Szajnfarber, and Z., Panchal J., (2025) “A Method for Extraction of Heuristics for Solver‑Aware Systems Architecting (SASA): A Reinforcement Learning Approach” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 147(2), 021704.
- Wach, P., Topcu, T.G., Jung, S., Sandman, B.*, Kulkarni, A. and Salado, A. (2025) ”A Systematic Literature Review on the Mathematical Underpinning of Model‑Based Systems Engineering” Systems Engineering, 28(1), 134‑153.
- Szajnfarber, Z., Topcu, T.G., and Lifshitz‑Assaf, H. (2022) “Towards a Solver‑Aware Systems Architecting Framework: Leveraging Experts, Specialists and the Crowd to Design Innovative Complex Systems”, Design Science
- Topcu, T.G., Mukherjee, S., Hennig, A., and Szajnfarber, Z. (2021) “The Dark Side of Modularity: How Decomposing Problems can Increase System Complexity” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design
- Hennig, A., Topcu, T.G., and Szajnfarber, Z. (2021) “So You Think Your System Is Complex?: Why and How Existing Complexity Measures Rarely Agree” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design
- Topcu, T.G., Triantis, K., Malak, R., and Collopy, P. (2020) “An Interdisciplinary Strategy to Advance Systems Engineering Theory: The Case of Abstraction and Elaboration” Systems Engineering
- Topcu, T.G., Triantis, K., and Roets B. (2019) “Estimation of the Workload Boundary in Socio‑Technical Infrastructure Management Systems: The Case of Belgian Railroads” European Journal of Operational Research
- Topcu, T.G. and Mesmer B.L. (2018) “Incorporating End‑User Models and Associated Uncertainties to Investigate Multiple Stakeholder Preferences in System Design” Research in Engineering Design
- Member, Design Society
- Member, International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE)
- Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Member, The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)