Systems engineering manages the design, integration and lifecycle of complex engineered systems as a whole, coordinating the many specialized engineering disciplines, mechanical, electrical, software and others, that a large system such as an aircraft, spacecraft or industrial plant draws together, so the finished system meets its requirements even though no single specialist understands every part of it. A professional society for the field, the National Council on Systems Engineering, was founded in 1990 and renamed the International Council on Systems Engineering in 1995 as its membership grew beyond the United States.
Facts
Origin YearINCOSE's own history dates the term systems engineering only to the early 1940s at Bell Telephone Laboratories, not to a precise year; 1940 is used here as the earliest year in that range. The professional society itself was founded as NCOSE in 1990 and renamed INCOSE in 1995. Superseding the prior undated debated status: the imprecision is in the historical record itself, not a genuine competing-camps dispute. Core ConcernCoordinating the requirements, design, integration and lifecycle of complex systems that combine many specialized engineering disciplines. 2 Core PrincipleDefine a system's requirements, structure and interfaces before any subsystem is designed in detail, and manage trade-offs across the whole system rather than optimizing one part at another part's expense. 1 Systems Engineering
Filter Results5 entries
FAQs
What makes systems engineering different from a single discipline like mechanical or electrical engineering?
Systems engineering is interdisciplinary rather than tied to one technology. Instead of owning a single kind of hardware, it focuses on designing, integrating and managing a complex system across its whole life cycle, coordinating separate engineering teams so the finished system works as a whole rather than as a pile of well built parts.
Connections
Associated With
Aircraft and spacecraft programs are among the largest and earliest adopters of formal systems engineering practice.
FMEA is a standard systems engineering method
Both coordinate complex processes and organizations rather than a single physical artifact.
MBSE is a systems engineering method
Complex system engineered as a whole
System identification is a systems and control method
Includes
Source Behavior tree (Wikipedia)
Source Change management (engineering) (Wikipedia)
Source Concept of operations (Wikipedia)
Source Department of Defense Architecture Framework (Wikipedia)
Source Design structure matrix (Wikipedia)
Source Event tree analysis (source article)
Source Function model (Wikipedia)
Source Functional block diagram (Wikipedia)
Source Genrikh Altshuller (Wikipedia)
Source Harold Chestnut (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Source Integrated logistics support (source article)
Source Integrated product team (Wikipedia)
Source Ludwik Finkelstein (Wikipedia)
Source Object process methodology (Wikipedia)
Source Simon Ramo (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. History and Definition of Systems Engineering (CSEP Training)
CSEP TrainingHistory and Definition of Systems Engineering pageQuote, History and Definition of Systems Engineering page
INCOSE traces foundational systems concepts at Bell Telephone Laboratories to the early twentieth century and the term systems engineering to the early 1940s.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- Core Concern: Coordinating the requirements, design, integration and lifecycle of complex systems that combine many specialized engineering disciplines.
View the Source Systems Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead section, opening definition of systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles.
Lead section, core definition paragraph
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles.
History section, professional society paragraph
In 1990, a professional society for systems engineering, the National Council on Systems Engineering (NCOSE), was founded by representatives from a number of U.S. corporations and organizations.
- In Group: Industrial and Systems Engineering, lead sentence: an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles
View the Source Simon Ramo (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Simon RamoView the Source Harold Chestnut (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Harold ChestnutView the Source Concept of operations (Wikipedia)
Includes: Concept of operations, StandardizationQuote, Includes: Concept of operations, Standardization
ISO/IEC/IEEE International Standard - Systems and software engineering -- Life cycle processes --Requirements engineering
Design structure matrix (Wikipedia)
Includes: Design structure matrix, LeadQuote, Includes: Design structure matrix, Lead
is used in systems engineering and project management to model the structure of complex systems or processes
Integrated logistics support (source article)
Includes: Integrated logistics support, LeadQuote, Includes: Integrated logistics support, Lead
Integrated logistics support (ILS) is a technology in the system engineering
Event tree analysis (source article)
Includes: Event tree analysis, LeadQuote, Includes: Event tree analysis, Lead
lays a path for assessing probabilities of the outcomes and overall system analysis
IDEF (Wikipedia)
Includes: IDEF, Lead sentenceQuote, Includes: IDEF, Lead sentence
is a family of modeling languages in the field of systems and software engineering
Function model (Wikipedia)
Includes: Function model, Lead sentenceQuote, Includes: Function model, Lead sentence
In systems engineering, software engineering, and computer science, a function model or functional model
Object process methodology (Wikipedia)
Includes: Object Process Methodology, Lead, last paragraphQuote, Includes: Object Process Methodology, Lead, last paragraph
Professional Certificate program in Model-Based Systems Engineering
Department of Defense Architecture Framework (Wikipedia)
Includes: Department of Defense Architecture Framework, Lead, second paragraphQuote, Includes: Department of Defense Architecture Framework, Lead, second paragraph
This Architecture Framework is especially suited to large systems with complex integration and interoperability challenges
Functional block diagram (Wikipedia)
Includes: Functional block diagram, LeadQuote, Includes: Functional block diagram, Lead
in systems engineering and software engineering, is a block diagram
Behavior tree (Wikipedia)
Includes: Behavior tree, LeadQuote, Includes: Behavior tree, Lead
used in systems engineering and software engineering to represent system behavior
Integrated product team (Wikipedia)
Includes: Integrated product team, Overview, paragraph 3Quote, Includes: Integrated product team, Overview, paragraph 3
IPTs are created most often as part of structured systems engineering methodologies
Change management (engineering) (Wikipedia)
Includes: Change management (engineering), LeadQuote, Includes: Change management (engineering), Lead
The change request management process in systems engineering is the process of requesting, determining attainability, planning, implementing, and evaluating of changes to a system.
Ludwik Finkelstein (Wikipedia)
Includes: Ludwik Finkelstein, Lead, fieldQuote, Includes: Ludwik Finkelstein, Lead, field
known for his significant contributions to the fields of measurement science, instrumentation, and systems engineering
Genrikh Altshuller (Wikipedia)
Includes: Genrich Altshuller, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Genrich Altshuller, Categories
Systems engineers
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.