Complexity is nothing new to systems engineers and managers. The discipline of systems engineering evolved to improve our ability to deal with scale, interdependency, and complexity in systems development. Few systems engineers would doubt that complexity is increasing every year. The rate of change, the increasing interdependence and adaptability of …

In the photo, Jeff Sili (left) answers a student’s question during a training session. A little over a year ago when I took my new position with Vitech, my wife and I talked about how to optimize space in our home for what she predicted would be two busy offices. …

“Nanosatellites are the future of space research.” So says Matthew Tetlow, president of Inovor Technologies in Adelaide, Australia. Tetlow’s company designs small satellites, called nanosatellites or microsatellites, to help conduct space research. The “CubeSat” is one such satellite, made up of multiples of 10 x 10 x 10 cm cubic …

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, …