System Dynamics

My officemate Chintan is in the Engineering Systems Division and studies how different regulatory regimes affect technology adoption concentrating on VOIP. He models this using System Dynamics and simulates the effect of different parameters using a tool called Vensim. The basic idea in systems dynamics is that all variables can be modeled as either a stock or a flow. Stocks are the variables which can be measured in snapshots of the systems. Chintan's example was a parking lot. The parking lot itself is a resource, and how full it is can be measured by taking a snapshot. the cars are the flows that enter or leave the lot.