The quest for a “single source of truth” and a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) practice grounded in integrated data is underway across the systems engineering world. The goals are laudable and the work being done is important, but there are some pitfalls along the way. It is critical that, in …

During product development, engineers are called on to provide a design solution to a particular problem. We are also asked to document the journey along the way for the purpose of being able to retrace our steps when issues arise. I once had an engineer tell me that it was …

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”  Stephen Covey The move …

Systems engineers and systems architects have many architectures of which they need to be aware: there’s the architecture of the system-of-interest (or system under design), the architecture of the larger system in which the system-of-interest must operate (the context system), and the architecture of the enabling system (the enterprise or …