Dear Colleague,
SyEN is an independent free newsletter containing informative reading for the technical project professional, with scores of news and other items summarizing developments in the field, including related industry, month by month. This newsletter and a newsletter archive are also available at www.ppi-int.com.
Systems engineering can be thought of as the problem-independent, and solution/technology-independent, principles and methods related to the successful engineering of systems, to meet stakeholder requirements and maximize value delivered to stakeholders in accordance with their values.
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A Quotation to Open On
Featured Article
Systems Engineering News
Featured Society - Requirements Engineering Specialist Group (RESG) of the British Computer Society (BCS)
INCOSE Technical Operations - Risk Management Working Group (RMWG)
Systems Engineering Software Tools News
Systems Engineering Books, Reports, Articles and Papers
Conferences and Meetings
Education and Academia
Some Systems Engineering-Relevant Websites
Standards and Guides
Some Definitions to Close On - Risk
PPI News
PPI Events
"Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been." - Albert Einstein
Gene Bellinger
phoenix@systemswiki.org
http://www.systemswiki.org
What better to occupy one's mind late on a sleepless night than Time Management. This is not the first time my thoughts have been captivated by Time Management. Time Management seems to be something I have pondered at length, usually when I have less than enough time to get something done.
It seems that when faced with recurring time pressure we turn to the concepts of Time Management believing that it holds the answer for an escape from our dilemma. This in fact constitutes a two part fallacy.
Lets get serious, there is no management of time in Time Management. Time is not manageable! Time simply is. As Zig Ziggler is so fond of saying, "We all have the same amount of time, 24 hours in every day." It's really a question of what one does within that time that makes the difference.
The second part of the Time Management fallacy is based on the belief that if one simply becomes more effective, a better time manager, then they will be able to accomplish what needs to be done - NOT!
What is to follow is a anasynthis, i.e. analysis and synthesis, of one's activity within time in an organizational context. The intent is to provide a foundation for a deeper level of understanding regarding the dilemma faced, and provide some more meaningful approaches that can be taken to resolve the Time Management dilemma.
If this will be your first encounter with Systems Thinking Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) don't panic as they are really very straight forward as follows:
You can also find additional information at the links in the references.
I suppose the best place to start is with the situation as it's perceived, experiencing time pressure.
The interaction of time available and things to do results in time pressure. As time available increases it subtracts more and the time pressure experienced decreases. As things to do increases it adds more and time pressure experienced increases. From this perspective, there are three ways to deal with the situation, increase the time available, decrease the things to do, or just live with it. There are actually additional ways to deal with the situation though they are embedded in elements of the system which have not yet been described.
The situation being described assumes an organizational context and the individual experiencing time pressure might be an individual contributor or a manager. I don't think it will change the way the system unfolds. Within this context it is generally perceived that those things in the things to do category cannot be ignored - they must be dealt with.
From this perspective time pressure influences action which after some delay subtracts from things to do. The reduction of things to do has two effects. First, reducing things to do causes it to add less to time pressure thus creating Balancing Loop (B1). Yet, at the same time, reducing things to do causes it subtracts less from time available creating Balancing Loop (B2). Before you begin to think this is the answer - think again. Would I have led you down this path only to let you off so easily? Of course not!
Note: A Balancing Loop is a sequence of interactions which attempt to bring two things to agreement. Any situation where one attempts to solve a problem or achieve a goal or objective is representative of a Balancing Loop. If you count the number of minus signs around the loop and if there is an odd number of minus signs then it's a Balancing Loop.
The diagram in Fig. 2 is only valid if things to do is only somewhat greater than the time available. If things to do is far greater than the time available in which to accomplish them completing some of the things to do will neither reduce time pressure nor increase the time available. My experience indicates this is generally the case so where to go from here?
When the action taken doesn't reduce things to do and subsequently time pressure the most often opted for approach is to work harder. While this may resolve the situation, it is usually not likely to as things to do is far larger than can be accommodated with work harder. And, if one continues under this misguided work harder mental model for an extended time the result is generally stress & burnout which subtracts from effectiveness, actually resulting in more things to do because of rework. This situation creates the Reinforcing Loop (R3). This is just one more instance of the best intentions leading one to where one least wants to be. The system wins! Always!
Note: A Reinforcing Loop is one in which the interactions are such that each action adds to the other. Any situation where action produces a result which promotes more of the same action is representative of a Reinforcing Loop. If you count the number of minus signs around the loop and there is an even number, or zero minus signs then it's a Reinforcing Loop.
If the work harder approach doesn't provide and answer suppose we take another approach.
If one chooses to use personal time this will immediately increase time available for work and the sequence personal time, time available, time pressure, work harder, things to do, personal time forms the Balancing Loop (B4). This approach is flawed because reducing personal time also has a tendency to increase stress & burnout so the system responds much as previously described. And, what makes it even worse is that the sequence personal time, stress & burnout, effectiveness, things to do, personal time forms a viscous Reinforcing Loop (R5), acting to make things progressively worse. The more personal time you use the more personal time you will need to use.
And so in the midst of this dilemma Time Management comes to the rescue.
The belief is that time management will improve effectiveness subsequently reducing things to do and therefore reducing time pressure thus creating Balancing Loop (B6). This all seems to make complete sense, and the diagram works. So why is it that in real life it just doesn't seem to work this way? Why is it that time management doesn't seem to reduce things to do and subsequently time pressure allowing individuals to reclaim the precious and essential personal time?
The critical piece of this system I have been purposely avoiding is founded in a belief structure.
What do you do when you have time available? Create things to do of course, which is depicted by the addition of the very viscous Balancing Loop (B7). Since we can't conceive of having time available we in fact ensure that we have none. How could a person be earning their salary at work if they have time available. It is simply unthinkable. And if management believes you have time available it is quite certain they will attempt to ensure you don't have it for long.
So, what the real answer comes down to is, to have time available, you first have to believe that it's ok to have time available and actively identify things you can take out of the things to do category, or at least don't need to be done by you. I would expect this answer probably difficult to accept. All I can say is, Been there! Done that!
Special Issue On: Quality Requirements Engineering for Systems and Software Architecting: Methods, Approaches, and Tools
Important Dates:
Deadline for submission: 1 November 2010
Date of notification to authors (first round): 30 January 2011
Guidelines for submitting manuscripts:
http://www.springer.com/computer/swe/journal/766
INSIGHT is the newsletter of International Council on Systems Engineering. It is published four times per year (January, April, July, October). INSIGHT features status and information about INCOSE's technical work, local chapters, and committees and boards. Additionally, related events, editorials, book reviews, trends, and how-to-do articles that are pertinent to the many aspects of a systems engineer's job are also included, as space permits.
Upcoming submission deadlines and themes for INSIGHT
| Issue | Submission Date for General Articles | Theme | Theme Editor | Deadline for Theme Article Proposal* |
| 2nd Qtr 2010 | 15 May 2010 | The Best of Loughborough: Highlights from the Conference on Systems Engineering Research and SEANET | Roy Kalawsky and Ricardo Valerdi | |
| 3rd Qtr 2010 | 8 Aug 2010** | 2010 International Symposium Coverage: Chicago, Illinois, USA | Jack Stein | 11 Nov 2009 |
| 4th Qtr 2010 | 15 Oct 2010 | Systems Development from Deep Sea to Deep Space: Lessons from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab | Mike O'Driscoll and Sam Seymour | |
| 1st Qtr 2011 | 15 Feb 2011 | Knowledge Management for Systems Engineering | Regina Griego | 21 May 2010 |
EuSEC 2010 Newsletter 4, April 22, 2010
Date: 19 May 2010
Time: 15:00 UTC / 11 AM EDT
Presenter(s): Dave Walden, CSEP-Acq and Eileen Arnold, ESEP-Acq
General Webinar Details: http://www.incose.org/practice/webinars.aspx
Abstract:
INCOSE established its Professional Certification Program to provide a formal method for recognizing the knowledge and experience of Systems Engineering professionals. This webinar will provide an update on the INCOSE certification program and an introduction to its Expert Systems Engineering Professional (ESEP) designation. David Walden, CSEP-Acq, INCOSE Certification Program Manager, will give a brief update on the INCOSE certification program. He will highlight some of the recent certification changes as well as some of the positive indicators related to the on-going growth and recognition of the program. Eileen Arnold, ESEPAcq, member and the immediate past Chair of the Certification Advisory Group (CAG), will provide an overview of the ESEP designation. The ESEP was introduced earlier this year and is targeted towards senior-level systems engineering leaders. She will describe the requirements for ESEP and go over the ESEP application process.
Guest Editors: Rafael Capilla, M. Ali Babar, Oscar Pastor
Harnessing the Power and Promise of Distributed Software and Systems
The Requirements Engineering Specialist Group (RESG) of the British Computer Society welcomes members from, and organizes events for, practitioners, academics and students worldwide working in the field of requirements engineering. The RESG defines requirements engineering as the elicitation, definition, modelling, analysis, specification and validation of what is needed from a system. The RESG aims to provide a forum for interaction between the many disciplines involved in requirements engineering. Meetings of the RESG are held in a variety of locations in the UK, including London, Manchester, York and Edinburgh.
Opportunities to exchange experiences and new technologies are through a newsletter, website, workshops, seminars and tutorials on aspects of requirements engineering. These include, but are not restricted to:
The RESG website is a rich resource for interested professionals. Highlights include:
The RESG provides an email forwarding service to the requirements engineering community in the UK and worldwide. Calls for papers for RE-related conferences, workshops and special events are forwarded to the mailing list. Mailings also include reminders of coming RESG or related events and position openings for professionals in the RE field.
The RESG community also presents itself through its LinkedIn Group.
More information: http://www.resg.org.uk/index.php/Welcome
http://www.incose.org/practice/techactivities/wg/risk/
Identify risk management tools and methods; plan activities to expand knowledge; share information; and interface with related functions.
Chair: Jack Stein, Terumo Cardiovascular System Corp.
Contact Risk Management Working Group for additional information or to join this group.
2008 International Workshop Risk Management WG Summary Presentation Size: 200K
No Magic, Inc., announced that it is hosting the first Annual No Magic World Conference, on November 7-10, at the American Airlines Conference Center in Fort Worth, TX.
No Magic, Inc., announced the general availability release of MagicDraw® 16.8, as well as version 16.8 releases for Cameo Business Modeler, Cameo Data Modeler, SysML plug-in, UPDM plug-in, and Cameo MDA 16.8. The company also announced the release of the Cameo Simulation Toolkit (Alpha release).
ParaMagic™ plugin is claimed to make MagicDraw SysML models come alive! Using the values and constraint relationships displayed in SysML parametric diagrams, model-builders can run simulations and trade studies for complex systems from concept through final test.
Ramesh Gulati (Author), Ricky Smith (Contributor)
Industrial Press, Inc, April 15, 2009
ISBN-10: 0831133112, ISBN-13: 978-0831133115
To manufacture quality products or provide services at competitive prices is essential to survive in today s business climate. We are forced to look for better ways of doing things on continual basis. To meet customer s needs on their schedule requires (high) availability and reliability of equipment and systems when they are needed. In the maintenance and reliability (M&R) field, professionals are constantly challenged to implement the best way to ensure equipment is available as and when it is needed at a reasonable cost. These are called best practices. But it is not as simple as putting something into effect. To truly realize a best practice requires learning, re-learning, benchmarking and implementing better ways of ensuring high reliability and availability of equipment and systems.
Maintenance & Reliability Best Practices is designed to support that learning process. Written by professionals with 60 plus years of shop floor and management experience in a variety of industries, this practical resource will help seasoned professionals and novices understand the basic principles of maintenance and reliability. Written in an easy-to-read format, each chapter discusses the concepts with specific questions and answers. Each topic answers the what, why or how of the topic being presented. Understanding and implementing M&R practices in a cost-effective way is essential. This is perfect book for designers who design the equipment; operators who operate; and maintainers who maintain, as well as warehouse and store personnel who procure and supply materials; engineers who improve the reliability; and human resource professionals who provide and arrange for a work force. Students specializing in the M&R field will also benefit. More information
Alex Steffen, 10 Apr 10
“There's a really cool event happening in Berkeley today, Design 4 Resilience: Thriving in an Uncertain World. It's an open space, unconferency sort of show, not unlike the miniconference we held last weekend on how to rebuild Seattle as a carbon neutral.”…..
“I am really glad there are people revving up the conversation about resilience: it's an essential debate to have. That said, some things about the way resilience is being defined, framed and envisioned in some of discussions strike me as veering from the helpful. While I don't have time to offer a full-blown set of alternative solution-approaches, I thought a few ideas might be useful:”……..
Eric Yu (Editor), Paolo Giorgini (Editor), Neil Maiden (Editor), John Mylopoulos (Editor)
The MIT Press (January 31, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0262240556, ISBN-13: 978-0262240550
Much of the difficulty in creating information technology systems that truly meet people's needs lies in the problem of pinning down system requirements. This book offers a new approach to the requirements challenge, based on modeling and analyzing the relationships among stakeholders. Although the importance of the system-environment relationship has long been recognized in the requirements engineering field, most requirements modeling techniques express the relationship in mechanistic and behavioral terms. This book describes a modeling approach (called the i* framework) that conceives of software-based information systems as being situated in environments in which social actors relate to each other in terms of goals to be achieved, tasks to be performed, and resources to be furnished.
Social perspectives on computing have provided much insight for many years. The i* framework aims to offer a modeling approach to the relationships embedded in computer systems that is part of an engineering method that offers systematic techniques and tools providing smooth linkages to the rest of the system development process, including system design and implementation. The book includes Eric Yu's original proposal for the i* framework as well as research that applies, adapts, extends, or evaluates the social modeling concepts and approach.
By Anne Ju
“From leading Cornell's championship RoboCup team to founding a company that uses robots for moving warehoused goods, former Cornell professor Raffaello D'Andrea brings a systems engineering approach to every project.
That was the message he conveyed as keynote speaker at the Systems Engineering Forum, held April 7-8.…”

Anwar El-Homsi and Jeff L. Slutsky
Productivity Press; 1 edition (December 21, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1439803943, ISBN-13: 978-1439803943
One study after the next shows that most employees are unhappy with their jobs and that less than a third actively engage with their work. That means that two out of every three are merely putting in their time, rather than maximizing productivity and attaining satisfaction. One could argue that such a malaise is the symptom of an unhealthy workforce.
Corporate Sigma: Optimizing the Health of Your Company with Systems Thinking shows you how to develop extraordinary competence in your employees. Your organization will function as a system capable of learning, adapting, developing, and growing according to the winning vision you set for it. Like Six Sigma, Corporate Sigma is a metric that assesses the quality or the health and wellness of an entire organization. But assessment is only the first step.
Providing you with distinctive tools that will transform your organization into a customer-driven, profitable, and continuous learning organization, this guide:
Organized in self-contained sections, you can focus on what you believe needs direct attention, such as leadership, vision, or tools for lean improvement. However, once you start a healing journey, you are likely to discover the best cures are always holistic.
May 17-18, 2010, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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May 17-21, 2010, The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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18-20 May 2010 - Pisa, Italy
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May 18-20, 2010, Norway
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May 19, 2010, Williams F1 Conference Centre, Grove, Oxfordshire, UK
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May 23 - 26, 2010, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Gaylord Opryland, Nashville, TN, USA
May 24 – Thursday May 27, 2010
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May 26, 2010, Telford, Shropshire, UK
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June 1, 2010,Trondheim, Norway
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June 7, 2010, Nantes, France
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In conjunction with CAiSE 2010
June 7-8, 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia
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In conjunction with CAiSE 2010
June 7-8, 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia
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In conjunction with CAiSE 2010
June 7-8, 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia
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In conjunction with CAiSE 2010
June 7-8, 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia
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07-11 June 2010, Hammamet, Tunisia
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June 8-11, 2010, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
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In conjunction with the 12th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2010)
June 8 - 12, 2010, Funchal, Madeira - Portugal
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June 8 - 12, 2010, Funchal, Madeira - Portugal
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June 9-11, 2010, Singapore
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2nd Workshop in conjunction with SSIRI 2010
June 9-11, 2010, Singapore
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June 15 - 16, 2010, Paris, France, in conjunction with ECMFA 2010
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Held in conjunction with ECMFA 2010
June 15 - 18, 2010, University Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris, France
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Held in conjunction with ECMFA 2010,
June 15th-18th, 2010, University Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris, France
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June 15-18, 2010, Paris, France
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Held in conjunction with ECMFA 2010
June 16, 2010, University Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris, France
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June 16, 2010, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK
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June 20 - 23, 2010, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
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a satellite event of Petri Nets 2010
June 21, 2010, Braga, Portugal
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Colocated with ECOOP 2010
June 21 or 22, 2010 – Maribor, Slovenia
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10th International Conference on Application of Concurrency to System Design (ACSD 2010)
June 21-25, 2010, Braga, Portugal
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June 21-25, 2010, Braga, Portugal
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Collocated with Petri Nets 2010
June 21-25, 2010, Braga, Portugal
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June 22 - 24, 2010, Henry Ford College, Loughborough University, UK
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June 23-25 2010 Prague, Czech Republic
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June 26-28, 2010, Babson Conference Center, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA
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June 28 - 30, 2010, TEI of Larissa (Greece)
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Co-located with TOOLS Europe 2010, ICSMP 2010, SEAFOOD 2010, TAP 2010
June 28-July 2 2010 - Malaga, Spain
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Held in conjunction with REFSQ 2010, Essen, Germany
June 29, 2010, Essen, Germany
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Held in conjunction with REFSQ 2010, Essen, Germany
29th June 2010, in Essen, Germany
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Held in conjunction with REFSQ 2010, Essen, Germany
June 30, 2010, Essen, Germany
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In conjunction with Tools 2010 Federated Conferences.
June 30, 2010 - Malaga, Spain
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30 June – 2 July, 2010, Essen, Germany
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(in conjunction with CSBC 2010)
July 2010, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
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Satellite workshop to TOOLS 2010, 1 - 2 July, 2010, Malaga.
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July 1-3, 2010, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
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July 5 - 9, 2010 in Vienna, Austria
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Friday July 9, 2010, Eindhoven University of Technology
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July 11–14, 2010, Ottawa, Canada
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11 - 15 July, 2010, Rosemont, IL, USA.
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Co-located with ISSTA 2010
July 12th or July13th 2010, Trento, Italy
July 12-15, 2010, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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In conjunction with COMPSAC 2010
Seoul, Korea, July 19 - 23, 2010
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July 21-23, 2010, Southampton, England, UK
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July 25 – 29, 2010, Seoul, Korea
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Aug 16, 2010, Lisbon, Portugal
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in conjunction with DIS 2010
August 17 2010, Aarhus, Denmark
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August 17 - 19, 2010, CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa
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To be held in conjunction with ICIS 2010
August 18 – 20, 2010, Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Japan
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August 22-27, 2010 - Nice, France
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23 - 26 August 2010
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia
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August 30 – Sep 3, 2010, Lyon (France)
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September 1st & 2nd, 2010, Valenciennes/France
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1-3 September 2010, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France
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September 05-09, 2011, Lisbon, Portugal.
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September 8, 2010, Valencia, Spain
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September 13, 2010, Hoboken, New Jersey – USA
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September 15-17, 2010, Dresden, Germany
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September 15 - 18, 2010, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA at the College of William & Mary, Computer Science Department,
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Co-located with the International Scientific Colloquium (IWK2010)
September 16, 2010, Ilmenau, Germany
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September 20-21, 2010, Antwerp, Belgium
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21-24 September 2010, Singapore
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University Residential Center of Bertinoro, Italy
23-24 September 2010
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September 23-24, 2010, Moscow, Russia
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September 26-29, 2010, São Carlos - São Paulo - Brazil
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September 27-October 1, 2010, Budapest, Hungary
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Located at SASO 2010
September 27th, 2010, Budapest, Hungary
September 27, 2010, Sydney, Australia
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September 27, 2010, Sydney, Australia
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September 27-October 1, 2010, San Francisco
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Sep 27, 2010 - Oct 1, 2010, Sydney, Australia
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September 27-October 1, 2010, Budapest, Hungary
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September 27 – October 2, Leipzig, Germany
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27 September - 2 October, 2010. University Of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
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To be held in conjunction with the RE 2010 Joint Conference
September 28, 2010, Sydney, Australia
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A satellite event of ICGT'10
September 28th 2010, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
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Joint with 2nd International Workshop on High Performance Computational Systems Biology (HiBi 2010)
September 30 - October 1, 2010, Twente, The Netherlands
Co-locating with
5th International Conference on Graph Transformation (ICGT 2010) , 29 September - 1 October, 2010
17th Annual workshop on Software Model Checking (SPIN 2010), 27 September - 29 September, 2010
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October 3-8, 2010, Oslo, Norway
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4 - 6 October, 2010. Keelung, Taiwan.
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October 4-6, 2010, The Westin Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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October 11 – 14, 2010, Nancy, France
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October 16 – 20, Reykjavik Iceland
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Co-located with SPLASH 2010
In cooperation with ACM SIGPLAN (PENDING)
October 18, 2010, Reno, Nevada, USA
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October 20 – 23, 2010, Lugano, Switzerland
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October 25-28, 2010, Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, San Diego, CA, USA
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October 26 – 28, 2010, Mϋnchen, Germany
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October 27-28, 2010, Hersonissou, Crete, Greece
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October 27-29, 2010, Paris, France
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1-4 November 2010, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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(Held in conjunction with ER 2010)
November 1-4, 2010, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Nov 7, 2010 - Nov 8, 2010. Taipei, Taiwan
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November 8-10, 2010, Heythrop Park Hotel, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, UK
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November 10-12, 2010, Medellín, Colombia
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November 12, 2010 as part of the Enterprise Engineering Week at the Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands from the 9th of November to the 12th of November
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November 15-18, 2010
Hyatt Regency Tech Center – Denver, Colorado, USA
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December 7-9, 2010, Paris, France
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December 18, 2010, Bangkok, Thailand
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January 25-27, 2011, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Loughborough University - Optimised Selection of Aircrew Training Media for Future Operations
Loughborough University invites applications for a 3.5 year research studentship in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Loughborough University, leading to the award of a PhD degree.
BKCASE (pronounced "Bookcase") is the acronym for the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering. The BKCASE project is led by a university partnership between the Stevens Institute of Technology and the Naval Postgraduate School. The project scope is to define a Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SE BoK) and use the SE BoK to develop an Advanced Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering (GRCSE, pronounced "Gracie").
The ideal outcome is that the SE BoK will be supported worldwide by the Systems Engineering community as the authoritative BoK for the SE discipline and that the GRCSE will receive the same global recognition and serve as the authoritative guidance for graduate degree programs in SE. A leading group of systems engineers from across the world will volunteer as authors and reviewers on the project to collaborate over a three year period and deliver two quality products, the SE BoK and GRCSE, to the public in 2012.
The University of Derby has recently started a Research group in Systems Thinking and Organisational Change. They are interested in researching the possible impacts of Systems Thinking on Organisational Change and Business Improvement within the public sector and would welcome the opportunity of engaging with practitioners to widen their expertise and knowledge.
This webpage makes the point that one area that is clearly missing in the current systems engineering landscape is the means by which information from the variety of tools and applications used in Systems Engineering can be integrated. Due to the distributed nature of Systems Engineering and the large, disparate datasets that SEs create, the use of Semantic Web technology solves many problems that other approaches find challenging. Built-in global identifiers are one example of the advantages that come from using Semantic Web standards. OWL and RDF provide a wide range of capabilities for modeling SE concepts and integrating data based on those concepts.
This website describes two SE products. inteGREAT Requirements Studio is an automated requirements developing platform that enables users to define, analyze, simulate and document requirements automatically for all SDLC Roles. inteGREAT Enterprise 2010 is said to be a complete solution to various complexities and hurdles businesses face for executing projects. inteGREAT Enterprise 2010 provides duplex integration with Visual Studio Team System, SharePoint, Word, Excel, Visio, Project and Expression Blend with Sketchflow.
http://www.acq.osd.mil/se/index.html
The Office of the Director, Systems Engineering (DSE) is the focal point for all policy, practice, and procedural matters relating to Department of Defense Systems Engineering and its key elements to include technical risk management, software engineering, manufacturing and production, quality, standardization, and related disciplines.
http://www.derby.ac.uk/dbs/research
Systems Thinking and Organisational Change Research Group (Sytoc) - Sytoc is a research group focusing on the service sector in both public and private organisations. Sytoc conducts national and international research projects in systems thinking and organisational change.
The air traffic crisis provoked by the Icelandic volcano eruption, with its accompanying economic and societal effects, is analyzed through the lens of the ISO 31000 risk management standard in a new article just posted on ISO's Website.
23–28, May 2010, Niigata, Japan
Information Processing Society of Japan /Information Technology Standards Commission of Japan(IPSJ /ITSCJ)
IPSJ /ITSCJ
Organizer contact: Jacky Takahashi at: inq-sc7niigata@itscj.ipsj.or.jp
Toki Messe Niigata Convention Center
Address: 6-1, Bandai-jima, Niigata-city, 950-0078, Japan
Web: http://www.tokimesse.com/english/
Risk: a possibility of meeting danger or suffering harm
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Risk: the product of the probability of a hazard resulting in an adverse event, times the severity of the event
Source: Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) and many others
Risk: Effect of uncertainty on objectives
Source: ISO 31000:2009, “Risk management — Vocabulary”
The Systems Engineering Goldmine (SEG) is a searchable archive of project-related documents – reports, papers standards, models, etc, offered free by PPI as a contribution to the projects community. The contains a wealth of reference information relevant primarily to the engineering of systems. The resource is intended for use by clients and friends of Project Performance International (PPI) together with clients and friends of subsidiary company Certification Training International Pty. Ltd. (CTI).
A totally rebuilt, hugely expanded version of the SEG has just gone live. Each document in the SEG now has a corresponding description page, containing metadata about the document. Apart from name and document identifier, this data may include date, source, keywords, abstract or extract, and possibly other data. Site document description page content is searchable overall, and in the sub-categories of systems engineering, software engineering, project management, and acquisition. An extensive library of standards is included within the searchable document set. For clients of PPI, and to some degree other subscribers, many of the documents are downloadable. In a small number of cases, e.g. IEEE standards, ISO standards, recent OMG documents, the metadata is included and a link provided to the relevant webpage of the document owner from which the document may be downloaded or purchased. This is new functionality.
As a service to the projects community, the metadata for documents may be navigated by unregistered visitors to the site.
The SE Goldmine now also provides, for Registered Users, a huge, searchable glossary of systems engineering-relevant definitions, and other definitions relevant to projects work. Other new search categories include Methodologies, Organizations, Publishers, People and Journals. The functionality of the site is now highly integrated, to facilitate research.
We expect the content of the SE Goldmine to continue to increase over time – content is increasing daily as about 2800 additional documents are indexed and abstracted.
More information: http://segoldmine.ppi-int.com/
PPI Managing Director Robert Halligan addressed the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa on the subject “The Application of Systems Engineering in a Research Environment”, on 20 May 2010. CSIR is one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organizations in Africa. The organization undertakes directed research and development for socio-economic growth.
Certification Training International (CTI) was established in 2008 as a subsidiary of Project Performance International (PPI). CTI’s goal is to become the industry leader in providing preparation and certification training to the world’s systems engineering and project management professionals, just as our parent company Project Performance International has already achieved in the field of systems engineering. CTI currently offers public certification training in the United States of America, South Africa and The Netherlands. On-Site training is offered worldwide.
CTI offers a CSEP (Certified Systems Engineering Professional) Preparatory 4-Day Course focused on passing the CSEP examination conducted by INCOSE. CSEP based on the Systems Engineering Handbook V3.1 and V3.2 are both accommodated by this course. CTI also expects to offer certification training in the PRINCE2® project management methodology later this year. More about this soon.
More generally, CTI aims to equip you with the knowledge and information to comfortably sit certification examinations. Our training stands out as having been scientifically designed to this end, employing leading edge adult learning principles and techniques to assist delegates to absorb and recall the information needed in the fastest possible way.
CTI has been a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) since 2008, sitting alongside other industry leaders in influencing the direction of systems engineering.
Visit: http://www.certificationtraining-int.com
PPI has scheduled its first OCD & CONOPS in Capability Development 5-Day course and workshop in the United Kingdom.
The course will be held in Bristol over 15 -19 November, 2010 at the Avon Gorge Hotel, Sion Hill, Clifton.
Course Brochure | Registration Form | Register Online
Contact: registrations@ppi-int.com
More information
Upcoming locations include:
View 2010/2011 Systems Engineering Course Schedule
Upcoming locations include:
View 2010/2011 RA&SW Course Schedule
Upcoming locations include:
View 2010/2011 OCD/CONOPS Course Schedule
Upcoming locations include:
View 2010/2011 Software Engineering Course Schedule
Upcoming locations include:
View 2010/2011 Cognitive Systems Engineering Course Schedule
Kind regards from the SyEN team:
Robert Halligan, Managing Editor, email: rhalligan@ppi-int.com
Alwyn Smit, Editor, email: asmit@ppi-int.com
Luke Simpson, Production, email: lsimpson@ppi-int.com
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SyEN makes informative reading for the project professional, containing scores of news and other items summarizing developments in the field of systems engineering and in directly related fields.