Difference between revisions of "Editor's Corner"

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|<center>''We changed the name of this page to “Editor’s Corner”. Moving forward from this release, this page will be used for the Editor in Chief to discuss critical topics for systems engineering, either through their own words or by inviting a guest writer. Also beginning in this release, the additions, updates, and changes made in each release will be discussed on the Main Page.''</center>
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|<center>''The ''Editor’s Corner'' provides perspective from the Editor in Chief on critical topics for systems engineering, either through their own words or by inviting a guest writer.''</center>
 
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'''Metaverse.''' This term has hit me from several different directions the past few months. You may have heard the term in one context or another. It is not new if you are a fan of science fiction, or a gamer. Most sources attribute the term to sci-fi/cyberpunk/dystopian writer Neal Stephenson in his book “Snow Crash” in 1992. My first exposure to this concept was in Tad Williams’ 4-book series “Otherland” first released in 1996. Then there is the ''Matrix'' trilogy.
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<div style="text-align:right">'''20 November 2023'''</div>
  
The best way I can characterize the Metaverse is a virtual social ''and'' workplace network steeped in virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. And yes, let us throw in another buzzword – blockchain – for good measure. Most of these Metaverses include some form of a currency to buy and sell goods, spells, weapons, knowledge, and property. That currency may even have international currency exchange rates. One instantiation of a Metaverse is actually running on top of an Ethereum blockchain to manage all of the financial transactions – buying and selling of goods, in that Metaverse.
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The formal discipline of systems engineering emerged in the first half of the 20th century. Over the last 80+ years, it has evolved from first principles to a process-focused field that generally operates in the defense and aerospace domains to a transdisciplinary one focusing on the integration and interaction between technology and people across a variety of domains. In its ''Vision 2035'', the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), states that “the practice of systems engineering will further evolve to support the demands of ever-increasing system complexity and enterprise competitiveness. By 2035, systems engineering will leverage the digital transformation in its tools and methods and will be largely model-based using integrated descriptive and analytical digital representations of the systems. Systems design, analysis, and simulation models, immersive technologies, and an analytic framework will enable broad trade-space exploration, rapid design evolution, and provide a shared understanding of the system throughout its life cycle.
  
Why am I thinking about the Metaverse? Think “digital twin” and digital thread.
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The Systems Engineering Research Center [http://www.sercuarc.org (SERC)] led the initial creation of the ''Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge'' (SEBoK, pronounced “see-bach”). In 2009, the SERC began the three-year process of developing the SEBoK with a team of over 70 authors from around the world. Version 1.0 was published in 2012 and inpast 11 years the SEBoK has evolved in many ways: new topics, the inclusion of videos, a major rearrangement of the discussion, and perhaps most importantly, the addition of an area dedicated to the emerging topics of systems engineering.
  
Many of you know I am an industry person turned academic. One of the things that has concerned me the past few years is that we as engineering educators seem to be teaching what we learned or used 5-10 years ago. I have come to the believe that instead (or, maybe in addition to) we should be teaching what our students will need 5 years in the future.
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Over the years, the SEBoK has been led by several Editors in Chief:
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*Art Pyster and Dave Olwell led the development of SEBoK through version 1.0, including the decision to implement the SEBoK as a wiki.
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*Rick Adcock, appointed the first Editor in Chief after the transition of SEBoK from a research task to a community-led effort, helped identify new members of the editorial board and oversaw the addition of the first domain-focused knowledge area, [[Healthcare Systems Engineering]].  
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*Rob Cloutier added the first new part to the SEBoK since its initial release: [[Emerging Knowledge]], which captures topics that are critical for systems engineers but for which the knowledge is not yet settled (e.g. artificial intelligence applications to systems engineering). Rob also fostered the addition of multi-media to the SEBoK and created and built upon articles about the discipline, including [[A Brief History of Systems Engineering]].
  
'''The Metaverse for Systems Engineering'''. Let me dive further into the deep end here. Think of a virtual reality environment in which teams can gather to build SysML models, that become functioning code, that become engineering designs that can be verified and validated in this environment before it is ever built. The Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) conducted some preliminary work toward this direction a decade ago for the US Department of Defense (DoD). It was called Graphical CONOPS, but it did not have the vision of becoming the entire engineering design chain. Nor were the tools available then.
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I am honored to have been asked to be the newest Editor in Chief of the SEBoK. And like every Editor in Chief before me, I am extremely lucky to work with a group of editors and authors from around the world that have consistently supported the SEBoK. These people are critical representatives of the global systems engineering community, and the SEBoK would not be possible without their tireless efforts.
  
Does a lot of this sound familiar? Of course it does. I have seen numerous presentations on “Digital Transformation” by corporations and governments. And tool vendors are working to provide their proprietary solutions to this challenge. Spend some time on Youtube, you will find BMW using a new tool to redesign their factory, Disney designing rides, and NavAir designing aircraft. But what are the challenges facing us as systems engineers to take advantage of these concepts and notions. I believe they are many, but here is my short list:
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Looking forward as the discipline of systems engineering evolves, the SEBoK will need to evolve with it. At my first INCOSE International Symposium in 2008, I heard about something called "model-based systems engineering". The last 5 years have seen a tremendous push toward "digital engineering". Both of these are currently reflected in the SEBoK, but we need to do more. Digital transformation is a critical topic for systems engineers and will continue to be for at least the next decade. But the true end state is not that we as a discipline create new pockets of practice but that instead we move as a community toward a data- and model-enabled way of working. My sincere hope is that in 2033, we will talk not about MBSE or DE but about systems engineering with models and data a standard part of practice. To that end, I'm pleased to share that we have assembled a team whose mission is to integrate the discussion of using models and data throughout the SEBoK and that Rob Cloutier has agreed to spearhead this effort.
*Proprietary vendor stacks (the tool vendors have no motivation to work with other vendors)
 
*Methodology (SysML has shown that tools without corresponding methodologies are bewildering)
 
*Integration complexity (the tools that are out there today are just too hard to integrate for mere mortals)
 
*Academic involvement
 
  
Let me address that last bullet in closing. I proposed at an INCOSE MBSE workshop a number of years ago that for universities to use these emerging tools and tool integrations, the vendor community needs to step up and create "MBSE in a Box". Or, a “Metaverse in a Box”. One simple install – push a button and the entire suite of tools gets installed. The box needs to include lessons and lesson plans that teach '''both''' the concepts and the tool application. These must be free and open to be included in current and future curriculum. Bottom line, this complex implementation must be made simple for it to be integrated into current curriculum, which is already jam packed.
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Finally, I encourage anyone with an interest to reach out to the SEBoK team [mailto:sebok@incose.net sebok@incose.net]. We welcome your feedback and insights and look forward to partnering with you as we move toward the SEBoK of the future.  
  
I used to work for a gent that would say technology is “same stuff, different decade”. Considering many of these ideas and concepts have been around for decade(s) now, maybe he was right. One of my favorite sayings is, “It takes a generation, or two, to effect real change”. What I do not understand is: why?
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Sincerely,
 
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[[File:Hutchison_Signature.png|200px|left]]
What do you think? Can this community become the catalyst for change? Can we define what a Metaverse for Systems Engineering could become? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please drop a comment using the “Add comment” feature at the bottom of this page. The “Add comment” feature does not capture who is posting the comment. So, if you want a more vibrant interaction with others, please consider including your name and email with your comment. (We recommend using [at] and [dot] if you post your email address.)
 
 
 
Alternately, if you want to initiate a longer conversation with me, drop me a note at rcloutier[at]southalabama[dot]edu. Please put “SE Metaverse” in the subject line to help me sort the mail easier.
 
 
 
With all of that in mind, I hope you enjoy this latest release of the SEBoK,
 
 
 
[[File:RobSignature2.jpeg|200px|left]]
 

Latest revision as of 20:12, 19 November 2023

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The Editor’s Corner provides perspective from the Editor in Chief on critical topics for systems engineering, either through their own words or by inviting a guest writer.
20 November 2023

The formal discipline of systems engineering emerged in the first half of the 20th century. Over the last 80+ years, it has evolved from first principles to a process-focused field that generally operates in the defense and aerospace domains to a transdisciplinary one focusing on the integration and interaction between technology and people across a variety of domains. In its Vision 2035, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), states that “the practice of systems engineering will further evolve to support the demands of ever-increasing system complexity and enterprise competitiveness. By 2035, systems engineering will leverage the digital transformation in its tools and methods and will be largely model-based using integrated descriptive and analytical digital representations of the systems. Systems design, analysis, and simulation models, immersive technologies, and an analytic framework will enable broad trade-space exploration, rapid design evolution, and provide a shared understanding of the system throughout its life cycle.”

The Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) led the initial creation of the Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK, pronounced “see-bach”). In 2009, the SERC began the three-year process of developing the SEBoK with a team of over 70 authors from around the world. Version 1.0 was published in 2012 and inpast 11 years the SEBoK has evolved in many ways: new topics, the inclusion of videos, a major rearrangement of the discussion, and perhaps most importantly, the addition of an area dedicated to the emerging topics of systems engineering.

Over the years, the SEBoK has been led by several Editors in Chief:

  • Art Pyster and Dave Olwell led the development of SEBoK through version 1.0, including the decision to implement the SEBoK as a wiki.
  • Rick Adcock, appointed the first Editor in Chief after the transition of SEBoK from a research task to a community-led effort, helped identify new members of the editorial board and oversaw the addition of the first domain-focused knowledge area, Healthcare Systems Engineering.
  • Rob Cloutier added the first new part to the SEBoK since its initial release: Emerging Knowledge, which captures topics that are critical for systems engineers but for which the knowledge is not yet settled (e.g. artificial intelligence applications to systems engineering). Rob also fostered the addition of multi-media to the SEBoK and created and built upon articles about the discipline, including A Brief History of Systems Engineering.

I am honored to have been asked to be the newest Editor in Chief of the SEBoK. And like every Editor in Chief before me, I am extremely lucky to work with a group of editors and authors from around the world that have consistently supported the SEBoK. These people are critical representatives of the global systems engineering community, and the SEBoK would not be possible without their tireless efforts.

Looking forward as the discipline of systems engineering evolves, the SEBoK will need to evolve with it. At my first INCOSE International Symposium in 2008, I heard about something called "model-based systems engineering". The last 5 years have seen a tremendous push toward "digital engineering". Both of these are currently reflected in the SEBoK, but we need to do more. Digital transformation is a critical topic for systems engineers and will continue to be for at least the next decade. But the true end state is not that we as a discipline create new pockets of practice but that instead we move as a community toward a data- and model-enabled way of working. My sincere hope is that in 2033, we will talk not about MBSE or DE but about systems engineering with models and data a standard part of practice. To that end, I'm pleased to share that we have assembled a team whose mission is to integrate the discussion of using models and data throughout the SEBoK and that Rob Cloutier has agreed to spearhead this effort.

Finally, I encourage anyone with an interest to reach out to the SEBoK team sebok@incose.net. We welcome your feedback and insights and look forward to partnering with you as we move toward the SEBoK of the future.

Sincerely,

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