One thing I have learned in my career as a systems engineer is I still have aha moments. And when students of mine have aha moments, I am equally gratified. I recently taught a class on model-based systems engineering that includes hands-on MBSE exercises in a tool environment. In the …

I graduated from Temple University in 1987, and was married later that summer. So yes, I’m an old guy—before anyone feels the urge to point that out. Early in my career as a systems engineer, I worked in a highly classified environment. The facility rules didn’t allow people to bring …

As all systems engineers know, successful systems engineering requires modeling every aspect of a system and using every capability of our MBSE tools. Anything short of that is a failure, right? Wrong! Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) takes traditional, very often Microsoft Office-documented, systems engineering to the next level. But there …

Is there a systems engineering silver bullet? In Part I of this two-part series, I described the criticality of high-quality tools and processes but cautioned that they are not a guarantee of success. They are not a silver bullet. Engineers must still apply engineering rigor for projects to be successful. …