Recently, I was involved in a discussion about when it is that a project transitions from systems engineering to detailed engineering. My answer was, “It depends.” One of my mentors suggested that a specific design level encompasses between three and five levels of decomposition. From experience, I tend to agree, …

If you have been reading about systems engineering and the latest trends in the industry, you have no doubt come across the terms “PLM” and “digital thread.” These two phrases are overloaded terms and have slightly different meanings depending on your experience and your personal perspective in system development, production …

As the systems engineering community moves well into the first two decades of the 21st century, one of our biggest challenges is how we will extend the reach of systems engineering. Our own vision, A World in Motion, Systems Engineering Vision 2025 (INCOSE 2014), challenges us to move “well beyond …

A few weeks ago while I was talking with a longtime colleague, we found ourselves discussing model-based-systems engineering terms. The conversation centered on exactly what needs to be defined up front in any project to avoid misunderstandings. It would be beneficial if every group beginning a project had this discussion, and …