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 …

When engineers speak about model-based systems engineering, or MBSE, the term “model” is used in many ways. Unfortunately, this only creates confusion between systems engineers, modeling and simulation engineers, and detail engineers. We all use models, so does this mean we’re now model-based? No. Remember that MBSE was devised as …

There are a number of efforts afoot to come up with a systems metamodel for model-based systems engineering. The necessity for such a metamodel is gaining recognition in the system design world. At its heart, a systems metamodel is a map for guiding system designers from what we know to …

In my blog post last month, Understanding Your System, I discussed the importance of the system context and system decomposition when defining the physical design of a system. This month I would like to additionally emphasize the role of functional analysis to define the functional design and explain how MBSE …