SSE Alumni Profile

PhD in Engineering Management, 2007

We are excited to feature the first in a series of Alumni Profiles from the School of Systems and Enterprises. Dr. Thomas Day is a 2007 Engineering Management Doctoral Degree recipient who has recently had his dissertation published in book form entitled Privatization and Outsourcing: A Systems Approach. This complements his previous textbook entitled Sewer Management Systems, one of the foremost texts in its field. Dr. Tom Day is a typical Systems Engineer in that his background is typically varied, interdisciplinary and involved large international projects, but he is certainly atypical in how he came to the field.

Tom Day left high school early to become a day laborer and mechanic in Philadelphia, eventually becoming one of the youngest certified Chrysler Mechanics in the early 1970s at the age of 21. Having been turned down for numerous employment positions as a result of a lack of advanced education, he decided to fulfill an early ambition to go farther in school. This led to fourteen years working nights as a truck driver completing his AAS in Marketing Management and a BS in Electrical Engineering at Widener University during the day.

His first position upon graduating was with the Philadelphia Water Department at a time when urban water and wastewater utilities were undergoing their first wave of PC-based computer monitored networking to control operations and provide maintenance and emergency support. It became clear that he would also need to complete his ME in Computer and Software Engineering at this point to facilitate this process in Philadelphia, which he also completed at Widener. Not only did he oversee the installation of the first LAN and WAN in the department (enabling employees to “email” each other!), he also oversaw the installation of the largest sewer-monitoring network in North America. This system provided accurate and real time sewer information (including real time flow and level data) in conjunction and correlated with rainfall data so storm intensity can be matched to plant loadings and potential flooding in areas of known problems. After a million gallons of sludge spilled into Penrose Ferry Road, he assisted in setting up an emergency monitoring and control system to prevent a re-occurrence, a project that was completed and fully integrated into the facilities’ main process computers within three working days. Manual readings were automated for the Custody Transfer Flow Monitoring Stations, producing the data for bills of over $30 million annually to suburban sewage customers. Also, the system was designed with the ability to alert and alarm system managers concerning operational and data problems within hours instead of weeks using remote electronic interrogation rather than a manual site visit, making the bills more continuous and accurate.

The other trend occurring across public utilities at this time was contracting and outsourcing for jobs both large and small. A systems perspective became useful in managing the hardware, software, and services of a project to evaluate the pros and cons of expanding or maintaining services internally or externally, and the computer monitoring system installed under Dr. Day’s watch was one of the first to be installed by an outside contractor in Philadelphia. During his time at the Philadelphia Water Department, he was also recognized for coordinating the most successful engineering intern program in the Department, with students from Widener, Drexel, and Rutgers participating and gaining valuable experience. He was able to publish over 30 papers and articles documenting projects managed by him at the Department. He was also formally recognized by Philadelphia City Council for his advances in water science on behalf of the Water Department.

The new millennium saw Dr. Day overseeing major utility system analysis and installations for American Water Services, formerly the fourth largest service provider of water, wastewater and biosolids operating services in North America, including projects in North Carolina, California, New York, Mexico and Canada. He also established the first Military Services division for American Water Services, providing water and wastewater operating services to the Department of Defense, reducing overall government operating costs of these facilities. Switching to manufacturing, he was able to pursue his doctorate in Engineering Management at Stevens Institute of Technology while working at Milton Roy Americas, a United Technologies subsidiary as a Product Manager for Systems, Instrumentation, and Controls Technology. In this position he interfaces with engineering, senior management, sales and marketing to develop specifications, fabricate prototypes, negotiate supply chains, set manufacturing line and training for a wide variety of fluid management and chemical handling industry needs. He as published numerous papers and articles documenting this work, providing a means of technology transfer for those in the field.

Dr. Day discovered the value of Systems Thinking within his Engineering Management thesis out of necessity, when he felt “no other academic discipline could fit all of the varieties of engineering and business into a working model to be utilized.” He credits his advisor at Stevens, Dr. Tim Kohler, Director of Academic Research, with being an incredible editor, coach and mentor who vastly improved his ability to communicate in writing to both lay and technical audiences, and Dr. John Farr, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, as being an indispensible part of a long and arduous journey to complete doctoral level work while growing in a senior level position at a major manufacturing entity. When he was making a decision to pursue either a more technical advanced degree or an MBA, he found that the Systems Engineering and Engineering Management Department at Stevens, now called the School of Systems and Enterprises, was the “perfect blend” in the middle, combining the assets of both cutting-edge and veteran perspectives on enterprise systems and operations in a hard to find combination having practical application in world business.