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.

OMG, events
SysML v2 Plenum: Putting pressure in the right places
December 7, 2023
Version 2 of the Systems Modeling Language (SysML v2) is currently generating a lot of activity. The standard was recently adopted and manufacturers are working on tools. Many in the systems engineering community are now asking themselves the following questions: Is SysML v2 a game changer? Will everything simply continue as before? Or will the standard even die out, as users will stick with v1 and tool manufacturers will only tentatively support the new standard? Eight experts discussed these questions and more at the plenary session on SysML v2 at TdSE. Panelists were (from left to right in the picture) Daniel Siegl, Benjamin Baust, Jesko Lamm, Christoph Fischer, Bernhard Kaiser,... Read now
Education, Industry
Systems Engineers: From engineer to multi-talent
November 30, 2023
Those readers who have 20 or more years of professional experience can certainly understand my perception: In my youth, I had a high level of respect for engineers. Their knowledge and ability to master technology was reserved for only a few. And required a long apprenticeship. That has changed: Technology is now accessible to everyone. Universities offer their courses online and 3D printers make it possible to create components at low prices. No-code platforms make it easier than ever to get started with programming, and there are training videos and online courses for almost every technology, allowing us to produce impressive results within days or hours. The career of the... Read now
INCOSE, events
TdSE Keynote by Nico Michels: It doesn't work without systems engineering!
November 23, 2023
The keynote speech at this year's Systems Engineering Day (TdSE) was given by Nico Michels. He is responsible for the Digital Enterprise & Academics division at Siemens Digital Industries Software. The topic: Sustainability for companies and the role of systems engineering. He provided important impulses to help decision-makers understand the importance of systems engineering for sustainability. Almost in passing, he mentioned that IBM and Siemens are now working closely together and that Siemens has added the modeling tool Rhapsody to its tool portfolio as a reseller. Read now
Modeling & MBSE, Organizations
4 Criticisms of SysML 2: Please use with caution
November 16, 2023
Michael Pierce from TSP has written an essay with his colleague Bruce Cameron in which he criticizes SysML. On the one hand, it is worth reading for organizations that are considering the strategic use of SysML. Because many of the points are quite valid. On the other hand, I don't find all the criticisms justified, at least not without qualifying them further. Nevertheless, this criticism helps us to make informed decisions about SysML and MBSE. Read now
Automotive, Germany
Layoffs at Cariad: What went wrong?
November 9, 2023
2023: VW subsidiary Cariad carries out redundancies. What went wrong and what must the Group do to save the situation? Read now
Requirements, Research
Using ontologies in requirements management: A meta-study
November 2, 2023
This paper by Diego Dermeval on ontologies shows different approaches to their use in requirements management. Read now
Artificial intelligence, events
TdSE lecture: AI as a mediator between humans and system models
October 26, 2023
In his presentation at TdSE 2023, Michael Jastram will show how AI can act as an intermediary between humans and system models. Read now
INCOSE, events
Exciting events: The November of Systems Engineering
October 19, 2023
This November, the Society for Systems Engineering (GfSE) is organizing two interesting events. Reason enough to briefly report on them: The systems.camp Nord will take place in Hamburg on 11.11.2023 and the Tag des Systems Engineering (TdSE) on 15-17.11.2023 in Würzburg. I will be giving a presentation and a tutorial at TdSE. Read now
Analysis, Tools
Big ALM vision: PTC buys Pure Systems
October 12, 2023
PTC seems to be on a shopping spree at the moment: After the acquisition of Codebeamer made headlines last year, it is now Pure Systems' turn. PTC has thus added a product for variant management for ALM to its portfolio, and one that scales. What does this mean for the tool market for the development of complex products? Here is an analysis and a bit of speculation. Read now
Eclipse, Open Source
Eclipse tools for systems engineering in 2023
October 5, 2023
The Eclipse Foundation is a non-profit organization that is primarily known as an open source development environment for Java programming. However, Eclipse is a platform on which many systems engineering tools are based. A few years ago (2020), the Foundation established a separate, non-profit organization in Europe to better serve the needs of the continent. What has happened since then? And above all: What projects are there at Eclipse that are of interest to systems engineers? Here are the latest developments. Read now
Agility, Industry
Getting major projects right: 5 recommendations for organizations of all kinds (Part 2)
September 28, 2023
Last week (Part 1), I presented the research findings of Atif Ansar and Bent Flyvbjerg from the University of Oxford. The authors argue and prove that Grand Challenges can be implemented more efficiently with a platform strategy than through one-off projects. What would a paper be without concrete recommendations? First of all, the authors confirm what was already clear at the beginning: platform projects are faster, better, cheaper and less risky than conventional large-scale projects. More importantly, the authors prove that their findings are transferable to other industries. In the following, I present the authors' recommendations, which are equally applicable to private companies, corporations, public authorities and governments. Read now
Agility, Air/space travel
Implementing major projects correctly: Why a platform strategy delivers better results (Part 1)
September 21, 2023
What do the iPod/iPhone app store and the National Program for Information Technology (NPfIT) have in common? The first was an infrastructure project by Apple, the second by the UK National Health Service (NHS). Both projects were about building a digital ecosystem. Although both major projects had similar levels of resources (money, staff), only one was a success. While Apple now has an app store with more than 2 million apps and generates billions in revenue, NPfIT has delivered less than ten apps, with a massive budget overrun (from £2.3 to £12.4 billion). This article is not about comparing public and private projects.... Read now
Open Source, Tools
Practical tip: Textual requirements with PlantUML
September 14, 2023
In many teams, textual specifications are still used instead of modeling. I still see this frequently, even in the context of very technical requirements. For example, I still often see embedded systems where state machines are described in text. These are situations in which a picture can say more than 1000 words. But IT or team management doesn't always play along. Here is a tip on how the open source tool PlantUML can help here. Read now
Artificial intelligence, Tools
The success of Copilot: How gitHub and OpenAI work together
September 7, 2023
The acquisition of gitHub by Microsoft and their investment in OpenAI was a strategic decision and made Copilot possible. Read now
Agility, Air/space travel
Feasibility study is out, MVP is in!
August 31, 2023
Feasibility studies are widely used in systems engineering. A better alternative is the use of MVP. Read now
People, Standards & Methods
Scaling with service-oriented architectures (SOA)
August 24, 2023
In today's fast-paced world of software development, flexibility, scalability and reusability are of the utmost importance. This is where service-oriented architecture (SOA) comes into play. SOA allows us to provide encapsulated services with clearly defined, „RESTful“ interfaces. SOA has many features that enable scalability and robustness. One of the most famous heads of SOA in Germany was Stefan Tilkov, who died far too young on August 10, 2023. This article is intended to pay tribute to Stefan's achievements in this field. Read now
Education, People
Guiding principle 5: The journey is the reward
August 17, 2023
This is the 6th part, which deals with the fifth guiding principle: The goal is important, but the way there is more important. Read now
Education, People
Guiding principle 4: Be agile and get started
August 10, 2023
The 5th guiding principle for engineers to achieve success and fulfillment in their careers is: Just do it, be agile, but do it right. Read now
Education, People
Guiding principle 3: Lead correctly: Yourself and others
August 3, 2023
Today it's all about the third guiding principle, to lead properly. This is the 4th part of the series of guiding principles for engineers. Read now
Education, People
Guiding principle 2: Be really good at work
July 27, 2023
This is the 3rd part of the series on Guiding Principles for Engineers, which deals with the second guiding principle, be good at work. Read now