Author: Zane Scott

Systems Work as Systems—Even When They Don’t

Systems engineers routinely treat all systems as if the principles used to design systems are created and applied by human designers. But the principles of systems design are derived from the way systems function in the natural world. This is most sharply illustrated when a system design is altered to …

COVID 19 Anxiety and the Systems Engineer

Here is a 4 minute video that conveys the main points of this blog post. As the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) looms large on the public radar screen, it consumes a greater and greater share of our attention. We tend to get swept up in the drama and emotion unfolding like …

Making the Case: An Engineer’s Guide to Advocacy

Engineers are regularly tasked with making a case for their work. Whether it is to colleagues considering design alternatives, to management deciding whether to proceed in a particular direction, or to customers choosing whether or not to invest in a solution, the engineer who has invested time and thought in …

Connection: The Theme of 21st Century Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is entering a new era. The publication Systems Engineering Vision 2025: A World in Motion, originally published in 2014 by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), called for a shift in direction to include previously uncharted territory for systems engineering. This shift recognized new realities and needs …