System Dynamics is a branch of applied science that studies the behavior and dynamics of complex systems using mathematical and computer modeling.

Kabashev Maksat Rakhimzhanovich, an assistant professor at KBTU Business School, conducts this course.

The course has an applied, practical direction and teaches students systems thinking. During the classes, students study real practical problems from business and everyday life. The course is based on the MIT teaching methodology and is based on the teaching material of MIT Professor Sterman.

The topic of one of the projects was the measles epidemic in the Republic of Kazakhstan. A group of students built a simplified model of the systemic dynamics of the possible threat of the measles epidemic in Kazakhstan using Vensim PLE. To build this model, we first collected disease data, case statistics, vaccination data, etc. Then we determined the main variables in the system (stocks and flows), after which we started building the model.

As a result, the main causes of a possible massive measles epidemic are low vaccination coverage, insufficient collective immunity, weak surveillance and reporting systems, displacement and population density, and insufficient public awareness.

Also during the fall semester, the students considered such problems as traffic jams in Almaty, the behavior of the real estate market in Kazakhstan, etc.

Students played the famous logistics game Beer Game and simulated the behavior of participants in the logistics chain on a computer.