PPI SyEN FORUM Selected correspondence from readers, authors, and contributors PPI SyEN FORUM offers the opportunity for feedback and discussion on topics around systems engineering – especially those that have been (or should be) addressed in PPI SyEN. Please send your email to PPISyEN@PPI-Int.com
ASA Video Series on Systems Engineering By Robert Halligan Editor-in-Chief, PPI SyEN Managing Director, Project Performance International NASA has available online a useful video series on aspects of systems engineering. The individual video titles are: • • • • • • • • • • •
Systems Engineering and the Project Life Cycle The Central Elements of Project Management How to Use Requirements How to Conduct a Review Systems Design vs. Engineering Design The Central Role of the Systems Hierarchy The Riskiest Part of Systems Design Interfaces and Integration Concept of Operations Using Trade Studies to Make Systems Decisions Integrating Reliability, Safety, and the Other Specialties Verification - How to be Sure You Got What You Needed.
In contrast to the view reflected in the NASA videos, PPI holds the view that all engineers should be systems engineers in the sense of practicing systems engineering within the scope of their assigned responsibilities, not be a breed apart as represented in the video series. Also, unfortunately, Video 8 claims that a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and an Operational Concept Description (OCD or 4
OpsCon) are synonyms, whereas this is not so (reference PPI, ISO and INCOSE publications). For an Operational Concept Description, OCD (also called CONUSE, CONEMP, Statement of Operating Intent, Intended Use Description, etc.), the focus is a system-centric description of intended use of the subject of the OCD in terms of users and their relevant characteristics, uses with respect to each user, how the system is to be used for each use, and the expected or interned external conditions during use. A CONOPS for the same system is an operational solution description. Furthermore, the focus of Video 8 is indeed (system) Verification, but verification does not ensure that you got what you needed as claimed in the video, that is validation. The video series nevertheless contains some valuable content, which may be viewed here.
Robert What is System Dynamics? By Alwyn Smit PPI Principal Consultant and Course Presenter In the early part of my career, I had a very superficial understanding of system dynamics. It is about the fact that no system exists on an island, and in real life, it has multiple interactions with other systems that play a significant role in its emergent behavior, right?
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