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 …

Chapter 4 of the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook (4th ed.) provides a thorough discussion of “Technical Processes for the System Lifecycle.” The first two technical processes are (i) business or mission analysis and (ii) stakeholder needs and requirement definition. Each of these processes leverages engagement of system designers with business …

Communication is the sine qua non of culture and collaboration. Despite its importance, it is often done reflexively with little conscious thought. Humans tend to use language loosely and in the company of a large number of assumptions about what others may understand. But, the task of language is to …

Several times a year, my wife and I pack up the truck with beehives, enormous pieces of honeycomb, apiarist’s tools and a white jumpsuit complete with veils and hats, and head to our local school. There, I do a beekeeping class for hundreds of elementary age kids ranging from 4 …