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Continuing Professional Development for Aerospace

D6 : Foundations of Systems Engineering

June/July 2005

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Introduction to SE

• A Systems Engineering example– The development of this module

• An exercise in requirements capture• Systems engineering, the discipline

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D6 as an application of SE

Detailed needs hard to pin down

Iterativeprocess

industryCPDA

delegates staff

Stakeholders

Split delivery

Learning about Systems Engineering

Goals?

Getting the qualification

Increasing SE Skill base

Making money

Multi-disciplinary

innovative

evaluation

System Features

Coordination

Formativefeedback

INCOSE

CMS/web site

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Iterativeprocess

Split delivery

Multi-disciplinary

innovative

evaluation

System Features

Coordination

Formativefeedback

CMS/web site

Syllabus

Teaching Staff

Venue

Support Staff

Course structure

Teaching material

Assessment

D6 Plan

Timetable

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D6 in Operation June / July 2005

Fitness

D6 Plan

Delegates

industryCPDA

delegates staff

INCOSE

Stakeholder

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The Venue

• Coffee ad lib • Lunch is a finger buffet• Dinner on Tuesday and Thursday

nights• 2 breakout rooms along the corridor• Fire drill• Anything else we should know?

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The teaching staff

• A multi-disciplinary team of staff– Chris Wallace : Software Engineer – Ian Beeson : Systems Analyst– Terry Winnington : Engineering Project

Management– Julian Webb : Aerospace Software– Andy Gillies : Requirements Engineering– Paul Head : Quality

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The course structure

Timing:+ 3 days foundations+ 2 weeks for work on first part of assignment

and reflection + you to reflect on SE practices in your workplace+ us to develop special topics based on your needs

+ 2 days consolidation, special topics+ 2 weeks – formative feedback on draft of

assignment+ 6 weeks – hand in of completed assignment

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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

09.00 - 10.45

Course Introduction and Introduction to Systems Engineering

Chris Wallace

Overview of holistic systems approaches

Ian Beeson

Lifecycle process modelsChris Wallace

Review of systems engineering in the workplace

Chris Wallace

Change and risk management

Paul Head

10.45 – 11.00

BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK

11.00 – 12.45

Issues in current engineering practice

Terry Winnington

Hard systems approaches e.g. VSM

Kevin Doyle

Requirements engineering

Andy Gillies

Challenges and opportunities for systems improvement

Trends in systems engineering

12.45 – 13.45

LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH

13.45 - 15.30

The organisational context

Ian Beeson

Soft systems approaches e.g. SSM

Kevin Doyle

Model-driven systems development

Chris Wallace

Emergent issues (1) Emergent issues (2)

15.30 – 15.45

BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK

15.45 - 17.30

Failure Analysis at NASAJulian Webb

Application of systems approaches to systems engineering

Ian Beeson

Project managementTerry WinningtonFirst assignment briefing

Systems integration Course de-briefing and assessment briefing

17.30- 18.00

Free

18.00 – 19.00

FREE EVENING DINNER FREE EVENING DINNER

19.00 - 20.30

Guest speakerGordon Woods (MOD

and INCOSE)

Guest SpeakerTBD

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D6 in Context

• ‘Foundations of Systems Engineering’ is a foundation module in a developing strand of modules which expand the Systems Engineering discipline.

• Related modules are– Requirements engineering (planned)– Project management– Aerospace Lifecycle and Cost Modelling– The Aerospace Design Process: From Concept to Compliance

• CPDA as a system-of-systems – each exists independently, but addition benefits accrue when they are integrated

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Reflection

• Prescription– What we hold to be best practice– ‘Espoused Theory’ (Argyris and Schon, 1974)

• Description– What we do in practice– ‘Theory-in-Action’

• Closing the gap

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Introductions

• Goal: to increase level of comfort in the group– Goal: to gather individual goals, requirements and constraints for

this module– Goal: to gain practical experience in requirements capture

• Process– In pairs:

• Each to interview the other to capture a couple of requirements for the D6 module: e.g.

– I want to learn about X– My employer would like me to develop skill Y

• Submit a written, attributed copy of these requirements

– In the whole group:• Introduce your partner to the group

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Systems Engineering : the Discipline

• What is Systems Engineering?• How to become a Systems Engineer?• How to improve engineering practice

through the application of Systems Engineering?

• Where is the Systems Engineering discipline going?

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What is Systems Engineering?

• History• Top-down Definition• Bottom-up usage• Comparison with other disciplines

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History• Some kind of System engineering capability cannot be a

modern invention, witness great civil engineering projects such as the Pyramids

• Explicit SE can be traced to the development of telephone communication systems (INCOSE, 2005)

• WW2 increased complexity and urgency of systems development and SE concepts developed alongside Operations Research

• 50’s cold war systems and 60’s space race • Impact of software and communications technologies • ’00 increased cost and time-to-market pressure at the same

time as increases in scale• Major project failures continue despite advances in SE

theory

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Definitions - system

• 1. A system is a complex set of dissimilar elements or parts so connected or related as to form an organic whole.

2 The whole is greater in some sense than the sum of the parts, that is the system has properties beyond those of the parts. Indeed the purpose of building systems is to gain those properties. (Eberhardt Rechtin,1991)

• A collection of components organised to accomplish a specific function or set of functions (IEEE STD 610.12)

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Definitions - system• An integrated set of elements that accomplish a defined

objective. These elements include products (hardware, software, firmware), processes, people, information, techniques, facilities, services and other support elements (INCOSE,2004)

• Examples:– Hardware / Software

• A380– Products / People

• A380 + staff + passengers in flight– Products / Organisations

• A380 + ground systems (ATC..)– Services

• Aviation fuelling system– Processes

• The A380 realization system at Airbus (Martin)• Systems Engineering process defined by ISO 13288• Organisational learning and process improvement

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Definitions : engineering

• engineer: one who designs or makes or puts to practical use, engines or machinery of any type, including electrical; one who designs or constructs public works.. engineering: the art or profession of an engineer. (Chambers,1978)

• The application of scientific principles to practical ends (Kossiakoff and Sweet, 2003)

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Definitions : Systems Engineering

• Systems Engineering is an organised method for decomposing a large problem into a series of smaller, hierarchically arranged problems and the integration of the solutions to these smaller problems into a solution for the large problem. (Grady, 1993)

• An interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems..(INCOSE,2004)

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3 Types of SE• SYSTEMS Engineering

– Holistic (D6)– Discovery (Sheard)– External : the system in its context – Validation : building the right system– System understanding, Problem identification, solution finding, change

processes

• systems ENGINEERING– Systematic (D6)– Program SE (Sheard)– Internal : coordination of systems development– Verification : building the system right

• systems engineering– approach (Sheard) – what every engineer should do– good practice : requirements before solution; customer-focus; multi-factor trade

studies..

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SYSTEMS engineering

• Emphasis on– the nature of systems in general

• General systems theory• Systems Thinking

– socio-technical systems– the system in its operational context– problem identification and negotiation– emergent (holistic) properties of systems– system architecture

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systems ENGINEERING

• Emphasis on – Life cycle processes and their integration– Project and resource management– Trade studies, evaluation of alternative solutions

though computer simulation and cost analysis– Multi-factor design optimisation – Tracking of changes in requirements through life cycle

stages– Management of multiple stakeholder interests – Knowledge and data management– Cutting out steps in the life cycle though automation

and model-driven development (CAD/CAM)

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systems engineering

• ‘Common sense’ joined-up thinking – Identify the problem before selecting a

solution– Occam’s razor

• “entities should not be multiplied without necessity”

– Linear cause-effect analysis– Feedback loops– Pareto law – 80/20

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Systems Engineering Roles

• SE Roles (Sheard, 1996)– Requirements Owner– Systems Designer– Systems Analyst– Validation/Verification Engineer– Logistics/Operations Engineer– Glue among subsystems– Customer Interface– Technical Manager– Information Manager– Process Engineer– Coordinator– (as defined by job ads e.g. MCSE)

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Comparison with other disciplines

• Core engineering disciplines– Mechanical– Electrical– Civil– Software– Information Systems– …

• Project Management• Business Management• Quality

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Software and information engineering

• Important in three ways:– as increasingly important components in mechanical systems –

due to the complexity and customisation possible with software – as enabling technologies in the engineering process

• for managing and communicating engineering data and documentation

• for simulation and computation in solution analysis• for complex transformation – from design to machining instructions,

from model to code

– as a source of new approaches to systems engineering• spiral and iterative process models• new approaches to requirements analysis such as Use cases,

scenarios• modelling languages – UML, SySML, XML

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Becoming a Systems Engineer

• Books and journals• Professional bodies

– INCOSE: (4,800 in 2003)• National and International Conferences

– Standards organisations (ISO, BS)– Domain specific

• Royal Aeronautical Society• IEE• IEEE ..

• Experience– The role of failure

• ‘Walk the talk’