Systems Engineering - Fundamentals

Today’s complex systems present difficult challenges to develop. From military systems to aircraft to environmental and electronic control systems, development teams must face the challenges with an arsenal of proven methods. Individual systems are more complex, and systems operate in much closer relationship, requiring a system-of-systems approach to the overall design.

This two-day workshop presents the fundamentals of a systems engineering approach to solving complex problems. It covers the underlying attitudes as well as the process definitions that make up systems engineering. The model presented is a research-proven combination of the best existing standards.

Participants in this workshop practice the processes on a realistic system development.

Follow this link for a short course overview video

• Working in any sort of system development
• Project leader or key member in a product development team
• Looking for practical methods to use today

1. Systems Engineering Model — An underlying process model that ties together all the concepts and methods. System thinking attitudes. Overview of the systems engineering processes. Incremental, concurrent processes and process loops for iteration. Technical and management aspects.
2. Where Do Requirements Come From? — Requirements as the primary method of measurement and control for systems development. Three steps to translate an undefined need into requirements; determining the system purpose/mission from an operational view; how to measure system quality, analyzing missions and environments; requirements types; defining functions and requirements.
3. Where Does a Solution Come From? — Designing a system using the best methods known today. What is an architecture? System architecting processes; defining alternative concepts; alternate sources for solutions; how to allocate requirements to the system components; how to develop, analyze, and test alternatives; how to trade off results and make decisions. Establishing an allocated baseline, and getting from the system design to the system. Systems engineering during ongoing operation.
4. Ensuring System Quality — Building in quality during the development, and then checking it frequently. The relationship between systems engineering and systems testing. Technical analysis as a system tool. Verification at multiple levels: architecture, design, product. Validation at multiple levels; requirements, operations design, product.
5. Systems Engineering Management — How to successfully manage the technical aspects of the system development; planning the technical processes; assessing and controlling the technical processes, with corrective actions; use of risk management, configuration management, interface management to guide the technical development.
6. Systems Engineering Concepts of Leadership — How to guide and motivate technical teams; technical teamwork and leadership; virtual, collaborative teams; design reviews; technical performance measurement.
7. Summary — Review of the important points of the workshop. Interactive discussion of participant experiences that add to the material

William “Bill” Fournier is Principal Acquisition Systems Engineering with over 40 years of experience. Mr. Fournier taught DoD Systems Engineering full time for over three years at DSMC/DAU as a Professor of Engineering Management. Mr. Fournier has taught Systems Engineering at least part time for more than the last 30 years. Mr. Fournier holds an MBA 1984 and BS Industrial Engineering / Operations Research 1979 and is DOORS trained. He is a certified ESEP, CSEP, CSEP DoD Acquisition, LSS GB and XPMP. He is a contributor to DAU/DSMC, a defense contractor internal Systems Engineering Courses and Process, and INCOSE publications. Currently, He Is currently working to support national security systems.

Glen Francisco (CSEP, PMP) received his Engineering Bachelor’s degree Aero/Astro Engineering from RPI (Troy NY) in ‘75, Engineering MS Aero/Astro Engineering from MIT (Cambridge MA) in ‘76 and MBA Information & Business Technology from FIT (Melbourne FL) in ‘86. Mr. Francisco’s professional work career began in 1976 working for McDonnell Aircraft Company (Boeing) in St. Louis as a GN&C Engineer, in 1980 for Martin Marietta (Lockheed) in Orlando as a Systems Engineer and then in 1995 for TI DSEG in Dallas as a Systems Project Engineer. Mr. Francisco then worked for Raytheon SAS & NCS from 1999 – 2005, L-3 Communications from 2005 – 2008 in Dallas TX as a Systems Project Manager and then from 2008 – 2013 at DRS in Dallas as a Senior Project Engineering Director. Mr. Francisco worked for Knight Enterprises in Titusville FL from 2013 – 2018 as Director of Programs with Program Management Office and Senior Leadership responsibilities. Glen currently works for BAE Systems in Austin TX as Systems Engineering Chief responsible for managing an EO/IR team.

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