Conference Session

A Systems Thinking Approach to Solving Problems

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanna DeFranco, Pennsylvania State University; Fadi Deek, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Raghvinder Sangwan, Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

Engineering Education, 2010 Promoting Effective Communication in Global Engineering ProjectsAbstractEffective communication plays a key role in the success of engineering teams. However,achieving a high level of communication when developing projects globally can be challenging.An organization’s learning capacity, its familiarity with the cultural diversity of its teammembers, and its information technology support for project planning, data management, groupcommunication and collaboration among geographically distributed teams, are some key factorsthat can help overcome this challenge.IntroductionThrough a study conducted in 2008 by NASA, communication was identified as one of the fivetop level themes their highly valued Systems Engineers

Conference Session

A Systems Thinking Approach to Solving Problems

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Cochran, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

engineering, product design, finance, material supply, salesand marketing, and even the company union representatives. Because of their exposure, thestudents learn that solving manufacturing systems problems requires not only technicalknowledge but also inter-personal knowledge and skills.Class OrganizationIn the very early part of the course, the Vice Presidents of sponsoring companies visit MIT andgive presentations regarding their company and provide an overview of the proposed projects toestablish the importance of the proposed projects. It is very important to cooperate withsponsoring companies in this course. After having background information on the sponsoringcompanies and the proposed projects from the presentation session, the students then

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Satinderpaul Devgan, Tennessee State University; Sachin Shetty, Tennessee State University; Saleh Zein-Sabatto, Tennessee State University

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

 engineering approach. Need Analysis Because  of  global  competition,  products  and  systems  have  to  deliver  more  and  are  becoming more complex. Engineers of the  future  must be trained  in systems engineering  approach rather than  classical  engineering  design  approach.  Further  most  systems  of  the  future  will  use information (signal, communication in analog and digital form), computers (hardware, software, and firmware) and broad­based engineering technologies.  Table 1  Employment Projections at Local, State and National Level [5, 6]  Local [5]  State [5]  National [6] Title  2006  2016

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Walter, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne; David Walden, Sysnovation, LLC

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

AC 2010-741: ASSOCIATE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL (ASEP)CERTIFICATION: A CREDENTIAL TAILORED FOR STUDENTS AND JUNIORENGINEERSSteve Walter, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne Dr. Steve Walter is the Distinguished Professor of Systems Engineering at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). Before joining the IPFW faculty in 2006 he held positions as a systems engineer and project manager with the Northrop Grumman Space Systems Division where he served in a variety of systems engineering and program management roles. Prior to that, he was a senior member of the technical staff at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he developed new and innovative

Conference Session

A Systems Thinking Approach to Solving Problems

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renee Stepler, Pennsylvania State University; Steve Garguilo, Johnson & Johnson Inc.; Khanjan Mehta, Pennsylvania State University; Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

envisioned atthe outset of the projects. To addresses these shortcomings, at The Pennsylvania State Universitywe are applying three key tenets of systems thinking to our humanitarian engineering and socialentrepreneurial ventures: 1) employing regulation via feedback to ensure that the system isactually working; 2) defining systems by their interactions and their parts; and 3) understandingthat systems exhibit multi-finality. The concept of multi-finality refers to (designing) a systemwhere the individual actors (inputs), the subsystems, and their interactions, all meet their owngoals while the system as a whole also meets its goals. In this paper, we lay the framework forthe application of specific systems thinking concepts to increase the

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Trainor, United States Military Academy; Daniel McCarthy, United States Military Academy; Michael Kwinn, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

(US Army) is an Academy Professor in the Department of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has a B.S. degree from USMA in Organizational Leadership and an M.E. degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. He also holds a PhD in Management Science (System Dynamics) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests include systems design, new product development, system dynamics, decision support systems, project management and curriculum development. He has taught and served as the course director for numerous engineering courses in Systems Design, System Dynamics and Production Operations Management. He

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alice Squires; Robert Cloutier

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

- Page 15.531.2based format. That is, throughout the rest of the course, the instructor and the studentsinteracted asynchronously through text-based exchange within the Web Course Tools(WebCT) Learning Management System (LMS). Delivery consisted of posting weeklycourse content in the form of presentations, participating in required weekly onlinediscussions, and working together with a team to produce a final team project. The initialcourse was offered to sponsored corporate students in a condensed six-week format andthe initial courses were used primarily for systems engineering training. In 2005, audiolectures were added to the weekly course content; yet follow-on comparative researchindicated that: “…where there is evidence that the inclusion

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wolter Fabrycky, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

practice. Disappointments with cost, schedule, and evenperformance aspects of large, complex, and risky technological undertakings in the publicinterest suggests consideration of licensure as a possible requirement for Systems Engineers.VI. Systems Engineering Knowledge and PublicationsINCOSE, like other professional and technical societies, has an obligation to advance, develop,archive, and publish a body of knowledge central to its purpose. This is being accomplished forSystems Engineering by the classical means found within all learned professions; a body ofknowledge, referred journals, one or more periodicals, textbooks, and up-to-date web sites.SE Knowledge and Curriculum (BKCASE).12 BKCASE is a recently initiated knowledge-based project with