While industry is working out the details of model-based systems engineering implementation, I am going to discuss the most basic concept in systems engineering: The System. The word system creates a difficulty since the word can refer to a system of any degree of complexity, be it an eco-system, an …

Commonwealth: May it please the Court, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The defendant in this case, Commonwealth v. Systems Engineer, stands charged with the modelslaughter of the system model. The deceased model in this case is not an ancillary or limited representation of some aspect of the system, but …

Part I of this series of posts speaks to the first two of the five steps to improving systems engineering: shape your process to converge on a design solution; and maintain a systems perspective throughout your design process. Part II of this series speaks to the third step: shape your …

Mark Simons once found himself sitting in a circle at his then 8-year-old daughter’s yoga class. Participants went around and introduced themselves, explaining what they did for a living. Realizing that no one in the room would be likely to know about systems engineering, Simons thought quickly about how to …