0. Introduction – Why Systems Engineering?

1. The System Life Cycle and Solution Development

• Systems thinking
• Defining “the problem”
• The solution domain: key concepts, relationships, information types and work products, Model-Based
  Systems Engineering (MBSE)
• Concept of Use (CONUSE)/Concept of Operations (CONOPS)/Operational Solution Description
  (OSD)/Architectural Design Description (ADD) issues
• Architectural frameworks
• Relationship between problem definition and stakeholder satisfaction
• Systems of systems engineering (systems of autonomously managed systems)
• Waterfall, incremental, evolutionary and spiral developments
• Concepts of agile, lean, scaled agile framework and concurrent/simultaneous engineering
• Product Line Engineering (PLE)
• Digital engineering, digital thread, digital twin
• Summary of key concepts

2. Systems Engineering Processes: Principles, Concepts and Elements

• Workshop – principles of the engineering of systems
• Design concepts
• The Wedge ModelTM– verification and validation
• SE process elements
• Requirements analysis
• Development of physical solution description
• Development of logical solution description-MBSE (model-based architecting/design)
• Effectiveness evaluation and decision – trade studies
• Specification of systems elements – specification writing
• System integration
• Verification and validation
• Engineering management
• Workshop – matching common activities to the SE process elements
• Work product attributes
  • requirements traceability
  • design traceability
  • test/verification traceability

3. Systems Engineering Standards

• ISO 14971 – Medical Device Risk Management (MDRM)
• ISO/IEC 15288 – Systems Engineering
• standards pitfalls and pointer

• What are requirements?
• Types of requirements, and how they relate to analysis, specification and design
• Requirements quality attributes
• Requirements languages other than natural: operational, formal
• Requirements Analysis (RA) – how to do it. MBSE in the problem domain
• Workshop – context analysis
• Workshop – design requirements analysis (interactive whiteboard exercise)
• Workshop – states and modes analysis
• Workshop – parsing analysis of example requirements
• Requirements quality metrics
• Workshop – functional analysis in requirements analysis
• Entity Relationship Attribute (ERA) analysis, rest of scenario analysis, out-of-range analysis, other
  constraints search, stakeholder value analysis
• Concept of Use (CONUSE)/Intended Use Description (IUD)
• Managing RA
• Requirements analysis and management software tools
• Common pitfalls in performing RA

5. Development of the System Physical Solution Description – Part 1

• Technology and innovation in solution development
• Configuration items
• Criteria for selecting configuration items

6. Development of the System Logical Solution (MBSE in Design)

• Types of logical representation
• Functional analysis in design – how to do it
  • Functional analysis/architecture process
  • Workshop – physical and functional design
• Performance threads
• Systems Modeling Language (SysML), Architecture Analysis Design Language (AADL) and other system
  modeling languages
• State-based modeling
• N-squared charts
• Analysis and design software tools
• Pitfalls in developing system functional solution

7. Development of the System Physical Solution Description – Part 2

•  Review of progress against challenges
• Use of design driver requirements
• The system physical architecture related to the functional architecture
• Facilities, procedures and people
• The specification tree
• Object-oriented design
• Common pitfalls in developing system physical architecture
• Adding the detail to the design
• Design For Six-Sigma (DFSS): e.g., Design Of Experiments (DOE)
• Interface engineering
• Common interfacing pitfalls

8. Effectiveness Evaluation and Decision-Making

• Approach to design optimization
  • The role of Measure of Effectiveness (MOEs) and goals
  • Constructing a system effectiveness model
  • Capturing utility functions
  • Taking account of risk
  • Iterative optimization of design
• Working with budgets, targets and ceilings
• Value engineering
• Workshop – engineering decision-making
• Multiple stakeholders, multiple uses, event-based uncertainty
• Pitfalls in effectiveness evaluation and decision (avoiding the smoke and mirrors)

9. Description of System Elements – Requirements Specification Development

• The eight requirement specification types and their uses
• Public specification standards – the good, the bad, and the ugly
• Specification structure principles
• Good and poor terminology
• Recommended Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) and templates
• Pitfalls in preparing requirements specifications

10. Engineering Specialty Integration (ESI)

• What makes an engineering specialty special?
• Common engineering specialties
• A generic approach to ESI
• Organizational issues of ESI
• Pitfalls, and specialty engineering examples

11. System Integration

• Integration planning
• Alternative system integration strategies
• Integration
• Integration testing
• Using incremental builds
• Configuration audits
• Qualification
• Pitfalls and pointers in system integration

12. Verification and Validation

• Verification and Validation (V&V) terms defined
• Lean concepts in V&V
• Technical reviews
  • Requirements reviews
  • Principles of design review
  • Architectural Design Review (ADR) – relationship to Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
  • Detailed Design Review (DDR) – relationship to System Design Review (SDR), Critical Design Review (CDR)
  • Test Readiness Review (TRR)
  • Requirements satisfaction audits (Functional Configuration Audits [FCAs])
  • Design description (Build State-Build Standard [BS-BS]) audits (Physical Configuration Audits [PCAs])
  • Technical reviews and incremental builds
  • Administration of technical reviews
  • Customer involvement in technical reviews
  • Pitfalls in conducting technical reviews
• Test and evaluation
• Other verification and validation methods and tools 

13. Systems Engineering Management 

13.1. Engineering Planning

• Scoping SE – the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP), Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP)?
• Why prepare a SEP?
• How a SEP may relate to other plans
• Content of the SEP
• Pitfalls in preparing a SEP

13.2. Project Breakdown Structures (PBS/WBS)

• Types of PBS (Work Breakdown Structure [WBS])
• Why the PBS/WBS is a foundation of effective engineering management
• Rules in preparing a PBS/WBS
• PBS/WBS Standards and Guides
• Relationship of a PBS/WBS to cost accounts
• Relationship of a PBS/WBS to work packages
• PBS/WBS development pitfalls and pointers
• Integrated Product Teams

13.3. Configuration Management (CM)

• What is configuration?
• The concept and types of baseline
• CM standards – EIA, IEEE, etc.
• The four fundamental CM activities
• Pitfalls and pointers in CM 

13.4. Technical Program Controls

13.5. Risk Management

• The nature of risk
• Components of risk
• The five key activities of risk management

14. In Closing

• Systems engineering summarized
• Tailoring to specific activities or projects
• Getting the most out of systems engineering methods
• Systems engineering capability assessment and improvement