Systems Engineering (glossary)
(1) Any application of a combination of traditional engineering and holistic systems thinking, working with domain engineering, human sciences, management and commercial disciplines, to support the engineering of one or more systems of interest to come.
(2) Interdisciplinary approach governing the total technical and managerial effort required to transform a set of customer needs, expectations, and constraints into a solution and to support that solution throughout its life.
(3) An interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem:
- Operations
- Performance
- Test
- Manufacturing
- Cost & Schedule
- Training & Support
- Disposal
Systems engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Systems engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. (INCOSE 2010, 1)
(4) A system consists of three related sets:
- a set of elements;
- a set of internal interactions between the elements; and
- a set of external interactions between one or more elements and the external world; i.e. interactions that can be observed from outside the system. (Aslaksen, 2004)
Source
(1) None cited.
(2) None cited.
(3) INCOSE. 2010. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, version 3.2. San Diego, CA, USA: International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), INCOSE-TP-2003-002-03.2.
(4) Alaksen,E. 2004. "A Critical Examination of the Foundations of Systems Engineering Tutorial". Paper presented at 14th Annual International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) International Symposium, 20-24 June 2004, Toulouse, France.