Tothal Systems

There is still an active discussion of what Systems Engineering, and the systems engineer is all about. I found an interesting post on the matter here . The historical roots have created some of the differences in these definitions of “systems engineering.” For example, the INCOSE definition comes from its roots in electrical engineering and its early application in places like Bell Labs, the defense industry, and space programs.[1] All systems engineering definitions and all industrial engineering programs share a focus on a set of methods and techniques, although the particular methods and techniques vary. This article here is not meant to totally resolve the matter, but to bring a personal perspective to the profession. Basics Wikipedia starts telling us that: Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering focusing on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over their life cycles. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different team...

 Let us be clear from the start what requirements mean. Are they the description of the system to be? At first glance yes, even though that is only half of the truth: they are the description of what the system should be doing, and what is the fashion it should behave or look like. But they are not the description of how that behavior is accomplished. If you are looking at the implementation of a required (in other words requested, desired) behavior, you are looking at design . Because that’s what requirements are all about: the what . Requirements specify WHAT a system (entity) should be doing, rather than the HOW. The latest is the domain of design … or architecture.