Systems Engineering (glossary)
The definition of systems engineering has evolved over time. The current accepted definitions are found below:
(1) 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. (ISO/IEC/IEEE 2010)
(2) 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 2012)
The Fellows Initiative on System and Systems Engineering Definitions was established in 2016, to review current INCOSE definitions of SYSTEM and SYSTEMS ENGINEERING and to recommend any changes necessary to align the definitions to a) current practice, and b) the aspirations of INCOSE’s 2025 Vision. At the January 2019 INCOSE Board of Directors meeting, a new INCOSE definition for "Systems Engineering” was approved. That definition is:
(3) A transdisiplinary and integrative approach to enable the successful realization, use, and retirement of engineered systems, using systems principles and concepts, and scientific, technological, and management methods.
The INCOSE Fellows elaborated this definition by stating:
We use the terms “engineering” and “engineered” in their widest sense: “the action of working artfully to bring something about”. “Engineered systems” may be composed of any or all of people, products, services, information, processes, and natural elements.
Source
(1) ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2010. Systems and Software Engineering - System and Software Engineering Vocabulary (SEVocab). Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)/ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765:2010.
(2) INCOSE. 2012. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, version 3.2.2. San Diego, CA, USA: International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), INCOSE-TP-2003-002-03.2.2.
(3) INCOSE Fellows Briefing to INCOSE Board of Directors, January 2019.
Discussion
There are many definitions of systems engineering. The SEBOK presents three of those definitions. Two come from foundational documents. The third, and newest, will be introduced at the INCOSE International Symposium in July 2019, and will be propagated in future INCOSE documents.
The INCOSE Fellows also proposed new definitions for "engineered system" and "system". These were also approved by the Board of Directors and included in the glossary of terms.