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Lecture 1 - Intro To Systems Engineering

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15 views18 pages

Lecture 1 - Intro To Systems Engineering

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Lecture 1 – Introduction to Systems

Engineering

1
Engineering Survival 101
• This is a course in systems engineering
• It is also a course that will describe
many of the practices that are standard
in engineering design “in the real world”
• This class will provide you with a
“survival kit” of concepts and terms that
you will need to function in a modern
engineering setting
• It will put you significantly ahead of your
contemporaries who will be struggling
to learn this terminology and way of
thinking “on the job”
• Students with work experience will find
out how many of the tools they use
came into being and how to make many
of them work

2
What is a system ?
• group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified
whole
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• A system is an assemblage of inter-related elements comprising a
unified whole. From the Latin and Greek, the term "system" meant to
combine, to set up, to place together. A sub-system is a system which
is part of another system.A system typically consists of components
(or elements) which are connected together in order to facilitate the
flow of information, matter or energy. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System
• A collection of components organized to accomplish a specific
function or set of functions. [IEEE STD 610.12]
www.ichnet.org/glossary.htm
• A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements or
parts that function together as a whole to accomplish a goal.
www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/scitech/2001/resources/glossary.html
• A combination of interacting or interdependent components,
assembled to carry out one or more functions.
www.inspect1.com/ashi/glossary.html
• A combination of several components or pieces of equipment
integrated to perform a specific function.
thequalityportal.com/glossary/s.htm
3
What is the system ?

• Consider a commercial airliner. What is the system to be


engineered ?
– The avionics (communications, navigation and flight
controls and displays electronics)
– The entire airplane
– The airplane in the air traffic control system
– The airplane in the entire air transportation system
(airports, maintenance, other transportation systems)
• They are all systems to be engineered
• Generally, most systems exist as part of a larger system
• Generally we consider systems engineering to be at the highest
level that accomplishes the function of interest

4
•Airplane as a system

•Airport as a system

•Avionics as a system
•Air traffic control system
5
From Kossiakoff and Sweet 6
What is systems engineering ?
• Wikipedia – Systems Engineering (SE) is an
interdisciplinary approach and means for enabling
the realization and deployment of successful
systems.
• It can be viewed as the application of engineering
techniques to the engineering of systems, as well as
the application of a systems approach to
engineering efforts.
• Systems Engineering integrates other disciplines
and specialty groups into a team effort, forming a
structured development process that proceeds from
concept to production to operation and disposal.
• Systems Engineering considers both the business
and the technical needs of all customers, with the
goal of providing a quality product that meets the
user needs.
7
What is systems engineering ?
• International Committee on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)
definition

• Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and


means to enable the realization of successful systems.

• It focuses on
– defining customer needs and required functionality early
in the development cycle,
– documenting requirements,
– then proceeding with design synthesis and system
validation while considering the complete problem:
• Operations
• Cost & Schedule
• Performance
• Training & Support
• Test
• Disposal
• Manufacturing 8
What is systems engineering ?
(INCOSE definition Cont’d)

• Systems Engineering integrates all the disciplines


and specialty groups into a team effort forming a
structured development process that proceeds from
concept to production to operation.

• Systems Engineering considers both the business


and the technical needs of all customers with the
goal of providing a quality product that meets the
user needs.

9
What is systems engineering ?

• Kossiakoff and Sweet


• The function of systems engineering is to guide the
engineering of complex systems
– Guide – “to lead, manage or direct, usually based
on superior experience, in pursuing a given
course”
– Engineering – “the application of scientific
principals to practical ends”
– System - “a set of interrelated components
working together to some common objective”
– Complex - “elements that are diverse and have
intricate relationships with one another”

10
Systems Engineering and Traditional
Engineering Disciplines
• Systems Engineering is focused on the system as a whole.
– It looks at the system from the outside, at its interfaces and
interactions with other systems, as well as from the inside
– It is concerned with external factors, such as the
operational environment, as well as internal factors

• Systems Engineering bridges the traditional engineering


disciplines
– Various elements of the system cannot be engineered
independently of each other
– For example – an aircraft is not a collection of parts flying in
formation. The structure, the aerodynamics, the propulsion,
the avionics and the internal systems must all work
together

• Systems engineers must guide and coordinate the design of


individual elements to assure that the interactions are
compatible and mutually supporting of the end goal.
11
From Kossiakoff and Sweet
12
•http://www.gmu.edu/departments/seor/insert/intro/SE/introrol.html
13
The Big SE and the little se
• There are two types of systems engineering
• The little se is about the book-keeping parts of systems
engineering. Examples of se are
– Requirements decomposition and traceability
– Configuration management
– Process engineering
– Interface control
• The Big SE is about understanding the relationships and
interactions between system components and understanding
the emergent behavior and integrated performance of the entire
system. Examples of SE are
– Integrated systems modeling
– Integrated fault tree/hazard analysis
• Most training in systems engineering focuses on se
– It’s easy to teach and the products are required on most
government contracts
• This course is going to do a balance of se and SE because in
my experience, the SE is what is really important
14
Characteristics of Successful Systems
Engineers

• Enjoy learning new things and solving new problems


• Like a challenge
• Are skeptical of unproven assertions
• Are open minded to new ideas
• Have a solid background in sciences and
engineering
• Have demonstrated technical achievement in a
specialty area
• Are knowledgeable in several engineering areas
– (a jack of all trades and master of one or two)
• Pick up new ideas and information quickly
• Have good interpersonal and communications skills
• Most Important – CAN STEP BACK AND LOOK AT
THE BIG PICTURE !
15
Texts for the course

Optional Required Required

16
Reading Assignments
• Kossiakoff and Sweet, Systems Engineering Principle and Practice is
intended as a optional reference textbook
– It takes a life cycle approach to systems engineering during
systems development
– This is a classic view and useful but does not address the
problems of systems engineering in operational programs
– There will not be assigned readings or problems from this book
• Even though Johnson is about NASA and Apollo, it describes in detail
the evolution of military systems engineering practices discussing
aircraft as well as ballistic missiles
• Most mishap reports describe lack of systems engineering as a
contributing factor so it is worthwhile to understand high tech
catastrophes. Chiles book is an excellent review of the types of factors
that cause high technology catastrophes spanning a wide range of
space, aviation, energy and construction industries.
• Readings will be assigned by certain date and you will submit answers
to questions from the chapter. We will discuss the chapters in class
and there will be questions from the readings on the exams

17
Items from the course on the FE exam/PE
Exam

• Subjects to be covered that are typically


on the Fundamentals of Engineering
(FE/EIT) exam include:
– Reliability calculations
– Flowchart methodology
– Engineering probability and statistics
– Engineering Economics
– Spreadsheets for engineering calculations
– Feedback Control System Block Diagrams
and their reduction
18

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