Perceptions of Systems Engineering

If you have any kind of interest in systems engineering then this book is for you for the following reasons. This book asks and answers the following questions. 1.What is systems engineering? 2.Why are there different opinions on the nature of systems engineering? 3.Why does systems engineering succeed at times? 4.Why does systems engineering fail at other times? 5.Why does systems engineering seem to overlap project management and problem-solving? 6.Why do the textbooks about systems engineering cover such different topics? 7.What do systems engineers actually do in the workplace 8.Is systems engineering an undergraduate course or a postgraduate course? 9.Which come first, functions or requirements? 10.Why is there no standard definition of a system? This book identifies and explains the paradoxes and dichotomies in systems engineering. If you have an open mind this book will change the way you think about systems engineering and provide you with a set of cognitive tools that will boost your performance. If you are an educator, this book will change the content of your courses. Educational resources are provides on the author's web site at http: //therightrequirement.com/Resources. The contents of the book include: -Holistic thinking goes beyond systems thinking to provide insight as to causes of undesirability and solutions that may remedy the undesirable situations. -Separation of facts from opinions, insights, inferences and conclusions. -Systems engineering covers a broad spectrum of activities. -Systems engineers providing value. -Some systems engineers think; most follow the problem-solving process thinking through the problem, conceiving solutions and selecting the most acceptable solutions; some systems engineers just follow processes without thinking. -The principle of hierarchies. -The Standards for systems engineering are not standards for systems engineering. -Different styles of system engineering. -There are many different definitions of the words 'system', 'systems engineering', 'requirement and 'problem'. -The difference between problem formulators and problem solvers. -The different camps in systems engineering. -The paradoxes and dichotomies in systems engineering. -Research has shown there is value in systems engineering. -The increase in the degree of micromanagement in, the Standards for systems engineering. -Systems engineering is more than just applying process Standards. -There are three types of systems engineering, pure, applied and domain. -The myth of the single systems engineering process. -Five reasons for the failure of systems engineering. -MBSE is much ado about nothing new. -Three of the myths of systems engineering are, tis a single systems engineering process (1) there are Standards for systems engineering, (2) Systems of Systems are a different class of problem and (3) the need new tools and techniques for managing complexity. -The 'what's and the 'hows' of system engineering match the problem-remedy model. -A way of predicting technology availability. -A problem formulation template. -A problem classification framework. -An underpinning axiom for systems engineering; seven principles of systems engineered solutions systems. -The Nine-System Model to improve systems engineering. -The concept of direct and indirect stakeholders in addition to internal and external stakeholders. -A process for creating systems to help to manage complexity at the time the system. -CRIP Charts which provide a way to measure technical progress and identify potential problems in near real-time so as to be able to mitigate the problems before they occur. -A template to improve the quality of practitioner written Experiential Case Studies to format the practitioner papers. -A multipurpose Case Study to provide a framework for Role-Playing Case Studies in classes on systems engineering and enginee
About the Author: Joseph E. Kasser has been a practicing systems engineer for more than 40 years and an academic for about 16 years. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), an INCOSE Fellow, the author of "Holistic thinking: creating innovative solutions to complex problems", "A Framework for Understanding Systems Engineering" and "Applying Total Quality Management to Systems Engineering", and many INCOSE symposia papers. He is a recipient of NASA's Manned Space Flight Awareness Award (Silver Snoopy) for quality and technical excellence for performing and directing systems engineering and other awards. He holds a Doctor of Science in Engineering Management from The George Washington University. He is a Certified Manager and holds a Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology. He also started and served as the inaugural president of INCOSE Australia and served as a Region VI Representative to the INCOSE Member Board. He has performed and directed systems engineering in the UK, USA, Israel and Australia. He gave up his positions as a Deputy Director and DSTO Associate Research Professor at the Systems Engineering and Evaluation Centre at the University of South Australia in early 2007 to move to the UK to develop the world's first immersion course in systems engineering as a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Cranfield University. He is currently a Visiting Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore.