Foreword

Engineering activities are based on the development of new Knowledge (Scientia), new 'made things' (Techné), and/or new ways of working and doing (Praxis). Scientia, Techné, and Praxis are three important dimensions of a comprehensive conception of Engineering as a whole. Engineering, as Scientia, is mostly developed in academia; as Techné, is practiced in industry generating technological innovations; and as Praxis, is carried out in technical and non-technical organizations, supporting managerial activities and technical procedures, via methodical and methodological design and implementation. This is why Engineering provides one of the most solid academic and professional substrata for bridging among universities, industries and governments.

Publications and conferences related to Engineering are usually oriented to one of its three dimensions. While this is an adequate thing to do when disciplinary focus is sought, it does not represent Engineering as a whole and it misses the very important synergic relationships among the three kinds of engineering activities mentioned above. This is why a group of scholars, professionals, and consultants, in the field of engineering, considered the possibility of organizing a conference where presentations would not be reduced to one specific Engineering dimension, but would foster the participation of academics, practitioners, and managers in the three dimensions of Engineering, in the same conference, so they can synergistically interact with each other. A consequence of this purpose is the organization of The 7^th International Multi-Conference on Engineering and Technological Innovation: IMETI 2014, where submissions were accepted for the presentation of:

• New knowledge (Engineering as scientia);
• New products and services, i.e. technological innovations (Engineering as techné);
• New technical and managerial methods and methodologies (Engineering as praxis);
• New meta-engineering (Engineering of Engineering activities) knowledge, innovations, and methodologies.

IMETI 2014 was organized and sponsored by the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS, www.iiis.org), member of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). The IIIS is a multi-disciplinary organization for inter-disciplinary communication and integration, which includes about 4500 members. Consequently, a main purpose of the IIIS is to foster knowledge integration processes, interdisciplinary communication, and integration of academic activities. Based on 1) the transdisciplinarity of the systemic approach and its emphasis on relationships and integrating processes, and 2) the multi-disciplinary support of cybernetics’ and informatics’ concepts, notions, theories, technologies, and tools, the IIIS has been organizing multi-disciplinary conferences as a platform for fostering inter-disciplinary communication and knowledge integration processes.

Multi-disciplinary conferences are organized by the IIIS as support for both intra- and inter-disciplinary communication. Processes of intra-disciplinary communication are mainly achieved via traditional paper presentations in corresponding disciplines, while conversational sessions, regarding trans- and inter-disciplinary topics, are among the means used for inter-disciplinary communication. Intra- and inter-disciplinary communications might generate co-regulative cybernetic loops, via negative feedback, and synergic relationships, via positive feedback loops, in which both kinds of communications could increase their respective effectiveness. Figure 1 shows at least two cybernetic loops if intra- and inter-disciplinary are adequately related. A necessary condition for the effectiveness of Inter-disciplinary communication is an adequate level of variety regarding the participating disciplines. Analogical thinking and learning processes of disciplinarians depend on it; which in turn are potential sources of the creative tension required for cross-fertilization among disciplines and the generations of new hypothesis. An extended presentation regarding this issue can be found at www.iiis.org/MainPupose.

IMETI 2014 was organized jointly with other multi-disciplinary events with the purpose of providing a communicational forum to researchers, engineers, practitioners, developers, consultants, and end-users of computerized, communications, and/or control systems and technologies in the private and the public sectors. This multi-disciplinary forum provides the opportunity to share experience and knowledge by facilitating discussions on current and future research and innovation. Participants can explore the implications of relationships between new developments and their applications to organizations and society at-large. One of the primary objectives of IMETI 2014, and its collocated events, is to promote and encourage interdisciplinary cross-fertilization and knowledge communication. This might foster systemic thinking and practice, including the analogical thinking that characterizes the Systems Approach, which is, in most cases, the required path to logical thinking, scientific hypothesis formulation, and new design and innovation in engineering.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I extend our heartfelt thanks to:

1. the 125 members of the Program Committees from 35 countries;
2. the 224 additional reviewers, from 48 countries, for their double-blind peer reviews; and
3. the 82 reviewers, from 32 countries, for their efforts in making the non-blind peer reviews. (Some reviewers supported both: non-blind and double-blind reviewing for different submissions)

A total of 605 reviews made by 306 reviewers (who made at least one review) contributed to the quality achieved in IMETI 2014. This means an average of 9.92 reviews per submission (61 submissions were received). Each registered author had access, via the conference web site, to the reviews that recommended the acceptance of their respective submissions. Each registered author could also get information about: 1) the average of the reviewers evaluations according to 8 criteria, and the average of a global evaluation of his/her submission; and 2) the comments and the constructive feedback made by the reviewers, who recommended the acceptance of his/her submission, so the author would be able to improve the final version of the paper.

In the organizational process of IMETI 2014 (including the events organized in its context) about 61 papers/abstracts were submitted. These pre-conference proceedings include about 27 papers, from 18 countries, that were accepted for presentation. We extend our thanks to the invited sessions organizers for collecting, reviewing, and selecting the papers that will be presented in their respective sessions. The submissions were reviewed as carefully as time permitted; it is expected that most of them will probably appear in a more polished and complete form in scientific journals.

This information about IMETI 2014 is summarized in the following table, along with the other collocated conferences:

Conference	# of submissions received	# of reviewers that made at least one review	# of reviews made	Average of reviews per reviewer	Average of reviews per submission	# of papers included in the proceedings	% of submissions included in the proceedings
WMSCI 2014	167	678	1052	1.55	6.30	116	69.46%
IMSCI 2014	90	324	580	1.79	6.44	48	53.33%
IMETI 2014	61	306	605	1.98	9.92	27	44.26%
CISCI 2014	120	518	1166	2.25	9.72	56	46.67%
TOTAL	438	1826	3403	1.86	7.77	247	56.39%

We are also grateful to the co-editors of these proceedings for the hard work, energy, and eagerness they displayed preparing their respective sessions. We express our intense gratitude to Professor William Lesso for his wise and opportune tutoring, for his eternal energy, integrity, and continuous support and advice as Honorary President of WMSCI 2014 and its collocated conferences, as well as for being a very caring old friend and intellectual father to many of us. We also extend our gratitude to Professor Belkis Sánchez, who brilliantly managed the organizing process. Special thanks to Dr. C. Dale Zinn, Professors Hsing-Wei Chu, Andrés Tremante, Michael Savoie, and Belkis Sánchez for chairing, or co-chairing the Program and/or the Organizing Committees of IMETI 2014 and/or the events organized in its context.

We also extend our gratitude to the following scholars, researchers, and professionals who accepted to deliver plenary workshops and/or to address the audience of the General Joint Plenary Sessions with keynote conferences.

Plenary Workshop, more details (abstracts and short bios) were included in the Conference Program booklet and at http://www.iiis.org/summer2014plenaryevents/

Professor Thomas Marlowe, Seton Hall University, USA, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Program Advisor for Computer Science, Doctor in Computer Science and Doctor in Mathematics

Dr. Susu Nousala, Aalto University, Finland, Researcher in Sustainable Design, and Research Fellow at the (Australasian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport) Faculty of Architecture- Buildi

Plenary Keynote Speakers, more details more details (abstracts and short bios) were included in the Conference Program booklet and at http://www.iiis.org/summer2014plenaryevents/

Professor Leonid Perlovsky, Harvard University and The Air Force Research Laboratory, USA

Professor Shigehiro Hashimoto, Kogakuin University, Japan, Associate to the President and Dean of Admissions Center, Doctor of Engineering and Doctor of Medicine Biomedical Engineering

Professor T. Grandon Gill, University of South Florida, USA, Director of the Doctorate of Business Administration

Dr. Jeremy Horne, President-emeritus, Southwest Area Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), USA

Dr. Karl H. Müller, Director of The Steinbeis Transfer Center New Cybernetics, Vienna, Austria and Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Professor Richard Segall, Arkansas State University, USA, Computer Information Technology

Professor Thomas Marlowe, Seton Hall University, USA, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Program Advisor for Computer Science, Doctor in Computer Science and Doctor in Mathematics

Dr. Ronald Styron, University of South Alabama, USA, Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan

Dr. Heidi Ann Hahn, Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA, Director of the Engineering Capability Development, Past President of the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Enchantment Chapter

Dr. Robert Cherinka, MITRE Corporation, USA, Senior Principal Information Systems Engineer

Mr. Joseph Prezzama, MITRE Corporation, USA, Lead Communications Engineer, leads the program in support of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)

Professor Mario Norbis, Quinnipiac University, USA, School of Business

Dr. Marta Szabo White, Georgia State University, USA, Associate Professor, Strategic Management, Director of the Robinson College of Business Honors Program, Director of Study Abroad Programs: Transition Economies and Business Mediterranean Style

Dr. Susan S. Nash, University of Oklahoma, USA, Director of Education and Professional Development, American Association of Petroleum Geologists

Dr. Matthew E. Edwards, Alabama A&M University, USA, Professor of Physics and Former Dean, School of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Russell Jay Hendel, Towson University, USA, Dept of Mathematics

Professor Tomas Zelinka, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Transportation Sciences

Dr. Fred Maymir-Ducharme, Executive Architect at IBM, USA, Defense & Space, and Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland University College (UMUC), USA

Dr. Jennifer Styron, University of South Alabama, USA, College of Nursing, Former Research Specialist and Distance Education Coordinator at The University of Southern Mississippi, USA

Associate Professor Adream Blair, University of Wisconsin, USA, College of Design, Architecture, Art and Urban Planning

Dr. Melinda Connor, Langara College- Vancouver Canada, Akamai University in Hilo Hawaii, and Science Advisor for the Spirituals for the 21st century project California State University Dominguez Hills, Former Director of Optimal Healing Research, University of Arizona, USA

Professor Sallyanne Payton, University of Michigan, USA, William W. Cook Professor of Law Emeritus, Professor of Art and Design Emerita University of Michigan Law School- Project Director

Many thanks to Drs. Dale Zinn, Sushil Archarya, Esther Zaretsky and professors Michael Savoie, Jorge Baralt, Hsing-Wei Chu, Mohammad Siddique, Andrés Tremante, Friedrich Welsch, Thierry Lefevre, José Vicente Carrasquero, Angel Oropeza, and Freddy Malpica for chairing and supporting the organization of conferences and/or special tracks in the context of, or collocated with, IMETI 2014. We also wish to thank all the authors for the quality of their papers, and the Program Committee members and the additional reviewers for their time and their contributions in the respective reviewing processes.

We extend our gratitude as well to María Sánchez, Juan Manuel Pineda, Leonisol Callaos, Dalia Sánchez, Keyla Guédez, Marcela Briceño, and Freddy Callaos for their knowledgeable effort in supporting the organizational process producing the hard copy and CD versions of the proceedings, developing and maintaining the software supporting the interactions of the authors with the reviewing process and the Organizing Committee, as well as for their support in the help desk and in the promotional process.

Professor Nagib C. Callaos, Ph. D.
IMETI 2014 General Chair
www.iiis.org/Nagib-Callaos