Systems Engineering Archive

There are almost 500 articles published in this blog - it's easy to lose track. All search options are summarized in this archive: Simple search, chronological, or in the sidebar by category, by day or by date. Have fun browsing.

Recommended, INCOSE, Knowledge
INCOSE Vision 2035
October 13, 2022
The INCOSE Systems Engineering Vision 2035 describes trends in systems engineering and how we can utilize these developments. Read now
INCOSE, events
Fun for better communication in systems engineering
October 6, 2022
Communication in systems engineering is essential to cope with the challenges posed by increasing complexity. This applies to communication within the team, as well as imparting SE knowledge (training, lectures), and exchanging ideas with others outside the daily work environment. Ideally, with a little (or a lot) of fun. In this guest article, Klaus Rödel describes how this can work. Klaus has been active in GfSE for many years and, with his team, is organizing this year's GfSE Systems Camp Rhein-Neckar in Mannheim on October 29, 2022 (registration). Additionally, his employer is hosting the one-and-a-half-day Mini-Conference "Systems Engineering Playground" for the first time, which combines fun, communication, and... Read now
Requirements, INCOSE
Review: INCOSE guide for writing requirements
September 29, 2022
The INCOSE guide for writing requirements helps with the description of complex systems. Read now
Modeling & MBSE, Tools
Automatically model requirements without anyone noticing
September 22, 2022
Requirements are classically captured in natural language, making them accessible to humans. However, they can only be processed to a limited extent by machines. This means that for many activities, a human still has to read the requirements. And again. And again. Often, highly paid engineers go through checklists, which a working student could also handle. This drives up costs and frustrates the team. And it doesn't even work reliably. Requirement models, on the other hand, enable a completely different level of automation. The problem: sensible requirement modeling is very demanding. The team must be able to handle the modeling language, be methodically skilled, and... Read now
Research, Modeling & MBSE
5 methods for quality with high complexity
September 15, 2022
Increasing complexity places high demands on quality management. This is particularly the case when quality is concerned with (functional) safety. Embedded systems belong to the class of products where this is a major challenge. One of the reasons for this is that software is one of the main drivers of complexity. A typical example would be a control unit installed in a vehicle. Prof. Peter Fromm from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences recently gave a keynote speech on this topic. The following is a summary of the most important ideas, including the top 5 methods that support quality in the face of high complexity. Read now
Requirements, Research
The advantages of controlled vocabulary in numbers
September 8, 2022
Word has long since gotten around that in systems engineering we should not just start writing. Instead, we should control the language. The vocabulary to be used is an important aspect that can be easily controlled. Recently, I came across a study that deals with exactly this topic, the effects of controlled vocabulary in requirements management. More importantly, the effects are quantified. In the following, I will first answer the question of what forms of vocabulary there are. I will then list a few interesting figures from the study that quantify the added value of controlled vocabulary. Read now
Analysis, Research, SE trends
The 10 biggest illusions in systems engineering
September 1, 2022
There are too many misconceptions in systems engineering. Here are the 10 illusions that everyone should know. Read now
Analysis, INCOSE
INCOSE in 2022: Half-year report
August 25, 2022
The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination and improvement of systems engineering. The recently published semi-annual report that presents the state of affairs of this non-profit organization. In the cover picture you can already see some interesting facts and figures, in the following some useful details about this report. Read now
Artificial intelligence, Tools
Requirement check everywhere with one click
August 18, 2022
There are now more and more tools for checking requirements - I recently mentioned the open source library Vale. As a by-product of a customer project, I have developed a simple Vale-based quality check. You can now activate it anywhere with one click via a web browser extension. It works in Confluence, Jama or Polarion. I will explain below which rules are supported and how you can use the checker. Read now
Artificial intelligence, Standards & Methods
Do we need a legal framework for safe AI?
August 11, 2022
It is now clear that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a major role in the coming years. Accordingly, many groups - and nations - are striving to dominate AI or play a key role in shaping it. This also includes approaches for a uniform legal framework. This brings us to the subject of compliance, an important topic for systems engineering. The following are two questions: do we need a legal framework at all, and if so, what should it look like? Elon Musk at least took a clear stance on this five years ago. Read now
Functional safety, Industry
How does a fault tree analysis (FTA) work?
August 4, 2022
Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is a tool in systems engineering that supports the assurance of functional safety. Read now
Knowledge
Medium.com: What is your opinion?
July 21, 2022
Today I have a request: I have a lot of English-language content and am considering posting it on Medium.com. Medium is a content platform that is showing up more and more frequently in search results and often has amazingly good content. Should I migrate English content to Medium? If so, please reply to this email or leave a comment on the blog! I'll explain the background to this idea below: Read now
Books, People
Beach reading for systems engineers
July 14, 2022
Summer is in the air. People in the northern hemisphere are starting to discuss vacation plans and make bold and questionable outfit choices.... Recommendations for beach reads come from everywhere. But the strangest of these lists are those aimed at the working professional. Even though "Systems Engineering with SysML/UML" by Tim Weilkiens is an excellent book, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as beach reading. But what instead? Read now
Functional safety, Knowledge
What is an FMEA?
July 7, 2022
FMEA stands for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. During development, an FMEA ensures that the reliability of the product is acceptable. As a systems engineer, the FMEA is part of our toolbox. I will describe exactly how it works below. Read now
Research, Artificial intelligence
Does AI have a consciousness? Google engineer against Douglas Hofstadter
June 30, 2022
Google has published another AI model that suggests consciousness: LaMDA. The abbreviation stands for "Language Model for Dialogue Applications". This model is making a lot of noise, as a Google engineer claims that the model has sentience. My healthy skepticism is shared by Douglas Hofstadter, who has published several books on the subject of AI that are well worth reading. In the following, I try to put the brakes on the hype and analyze the discussion in context. Read now
Requirements, Modeling & MBSE
ISO 29148 and MBSE: Field report by Geoff Shuebrook
June 23, 2022
ISO 29148 should be familiar to anyone who deals with requirements. Geoff Shuebrook shared how this fits in with MBSE in an INCOSE webinar this week. The core idea is property-based requirements. Geoff also shows how this concept can be implemented in Cameo (MagicDraw). Below is a summary of this exciting idea and the link to the video and further materials. Read now
Research, Tools
Requirements with Vale "linten"
June 16, 2022
Programmers know what „lintering“ is: to put it bluntly, it is the tidying up and maintenance of software code. More precisely, it is static code analysis: a linter recommends deleting unused variables, for example. Vale is a linter that helps authors of texts to maintain them. And Vale can also be used to line requirements. My interest in Vale is no coincidence: my goal is to have Vale integrated into Semiant, the quality assistant I developed, by the end of June 2022 and to release the free version. If you would like to know more, you can register for the Semiant webinar on 29... Read now
Education, Sample
Writing better requirements with EARS
June 9, 2022
The EARS text templates for requirements are quick to learn and so lightweight that acceptance is high. Read now
Functional safety, Industry
When are "tamper-proof" components useful?
June 2, 2022
„Tamper-proof“ components are nothing new. Back in the 90s, many owners of inkjet printers felt offended when manufacturers began equipping cartridges with chips that prevented refilling. Today, iPhone owners are annoyed by warning messages about a potentially faulty battery. At the same time, however, we now carry out our banking transactions on our smartphones without a care in the world. We can only do this because digitally signed software components guarantee the integrity of the device (hopefully!). These are just two examples from the consumer sector. The topic is at least as important (and controversial) in commercial applications, such as spare parts. This is an important interface issue, with... Read now
Automotive, Case study
Frank Houdek: Requirements management at Mercedes-Benz
May 26, 2022
Frank Houdek provides an insight into the developments at a major automotive group and quantifies them with hard numbers. Read now