Institutions that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a key value and key objective ... more Institutions that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a key value and key objective of the organization better understand the positive and negative impacts of strategic decisions on the communities they serve. This paper describes a process for developing a DEI strategy for the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) based on the Royal Academy of Engineering and Science Council's Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework 2.0. The paper investigates four of the eleven areas of the framework, benchmarking INCOSE's progress and developing a set of initiatives to support INCOSE's DEI progression. Based on this paper's research, and confirmed by dozens of other societies in similar exercises, DEI progression requires careful planning and proactive steps, as part of a comprehensive strategy consistently implemented over time. But most of all, success in transforming into a diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution requires the passion and...
Creating a better world requires a systems thinking mindset that incorporates conflicting ideas, ... more Creating a better world requires a systems thinking mindset that incorporates conflicting ideas, sees the world through multiple perspectives, anticipates the impact of systems in use over time and space, and can reliably adjust for the dynamic influences of an uncertain future. Global engineers of the future need to understand the foundations of systems theory and science, and be exposed to challenges that help them mature their knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes (competencies) about applying a systems approach. To this end, this paper will report on various efforts to understand the essential systems related competencies that all engineers should develop, the level of proficiency attained by today’s engineers in these competencies based on their current level of experience (measured in years), the proposed level of proficiency needed to achieve the goals of peace engineering, and the current gap. The paper will close with recommendations for maturing system related competencies in engineering around the world to close the systems gap and achieve a better world through peace engineering.
Systems thinking is commonly accepted as the backbone of a successful systems engineering approac... more Systems thinking is commonly accepted as the backbone of a successful systems engineering approach. As such, the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE) team chose to leverage a systems thinking based tool, called Systemitool, to describe our project to the vast audience that would potentially become involved directly or indirectly in the success of the project. This paper describes the process and steps used by the authors and the BKCASE team to develop the project’s systemic diagram, or SystemigramTM, and the story behind the project, the products, and the vision of the BKCASE project. The goal of the paper is to provide guidance so that readers can leverage the lessons learned from this effort to successfully develop their own project definitions and stories.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
A business is a specific type of enterprise, usually a legal entity with a management structure t... more A business is a specific type of enterprise, usually a legal entity with a management structure that allows for relatively tight control of its components...including how it enables SE. The term business is often used in this article in lieu of enterprise because specific actions to enable SE are typically done by businesses. This is discussed further in the parent article Enabling Systems Engineering. The strategy for organizing to conduct SE activities is important to their effectiveness. For example, every enterprise has a purpose, context, and scope determined by some of its stakeholders and modified over time to increase the value the enterprise offers to them.
As systems become increasingly global in nature, those involved in the conception, design, develo... more As systems become increasingly global in nature, those involved in the conception, design, development, support, sustainment, and end of life of such systems must have a global perspective on both the operational context in which those systems will be used, and the challenges faced by the development, production, deployment, and support teams involved in their creation and sustainment. To build a pathway to systems focused education, the foundations of systems knowledge and skills should be instilled in engineering students early in their education, starting with systems thinking in K-12 and building on more advanced system concepts through undergraduate education and beyond. This paper describes how societal needs combined with global trends produce systems challenges that must be addressed by engineers who are systems thinkers. After analyzing three separate undergraduate engineering education research efforts in process, the authors propose a pathway to support engineering educat...
2012 IEEE International Systems Conference SysCon 2012, 2012
ABSTRACT With much of the current systems engineering workforce reaching retirement age, there is... more ABSTRACT With much of the current systems engineering workforce reaching retirement age, there is a critical need to develop work experience among new systems engineers. Increasingly, educators and employers are turning to educational technology-based approaches to aid in this process. One such effort is the Experience Accelerator, an on-going research project aimed at maturing program-level systems engineers in Department of Defense acquisition programs. In this experiential learning approach, learners assume the role of a lead program systems engineer for development of a new unmanned aerial system (UAS), and they must make appropriate decisions and trade-offs at key points during the development lifecycle to keep the program on track and recover from problems that occur. Problems can occur in such areas as requirements, schedule, quality, cost, and customer expectations. The acquisition program is represented with a set of system dynamics simulation models that include such activities as sub-system development, system integration and system test. This paper focuses on the simulation-based approach used to provide internal decision support for learners as they engage in a learning experience within the Experience Accelerator. We present findings to date involving simulation modeling of acquisition programs and effectiveness of simulation results for decision support.
According to the NDIA SE Division, one of the top five systems engineering issues for the Departm... more According to the NDIA SE Division, one of the top five systems engineering issues for the Department of the Defense (DoD) is: “The quantity and quality of systems engineering expertise is insufficient to meet the demands of the government and defense industry. ” (NDIA SE Division, 2010)
Institutions that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a key value and key objective ... more Institutions that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a key value and key objective of the organization better understand the positive and negative impacts of strategic decisions on the communities they serve. This paper describes a process for developing a DEI strategy for the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) based on the Royal Academy of Engineering and Science Council's Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework 2.0. The paper investigates four of the eleven areas of the framework, benchmarking INCOSE's progress and developing a set of initiatives to support INCOSE's DEI progression. Based on this paper's research, and confirmed by dozens of other societies in similar exercises, DEI progression requires careful planning and proactive steps, as part of a comprehensive strategy consistently implemented over time. But most of all, success in transforming into a diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution requires the passion and...
Creating a better world requires a systems thinking mindset that incorporates conflicting ideas, ... more Creating a better world requires a systems thinking mindset that incorporates conflicting ideas, sees the world through multiple perspectives, anticipates the impact of systems in use over time and space, and can reliably adjust for the dynamic influences of an uncertain future. Global engineers of the future need to understand the foundations of systems theory and science, and be exposed to challenges that help them mature their knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes (competencies) about applying a systems approach. To this end, this paper will report on various efforts to understand the essential systems related competencies that all engineers should develop, the level of proficiency attained by today’s engineers in these competencies based on their current level of experience (measured in years), the proposed level of proficiency needed to achieve the goals of peace engineering, and the current gap. The paper will close with recommendations for maturing system related competencies in engineering around the world to close the systems gap and achieve a better world through peace engineering.
Systems thinking is commonly accepted as the backbone of a successful systems engineering approac... more Systems thinking is commonly accepted as the backbone of a successful systems engineering approach. As such, the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE) team chose to leverage a systems thinking based tool, called Systemitool, to describe our project to the vast audience that would potentially become involved directly or indirectly in the success of the project. This paper describes the process and steps used by the authors and the BKCASE team to develop the project’s systemic diagram, or SystemigramTM, and the story behind the project, the products, and the vision of the BKCASE project. The goal of the paper is to provide guidance so that readers can leverage the lessons learned from this effort to successfully develop their own project definitions and stories.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
A business is a specific type of enterprise, usually a legal entity with a management structure t... more A business is a specific type of enterprise, usually a legal entity with a management structure that allows for relatively tight control of its components...including how it enables SE. The term business is often used in this article in lieu of enterprise because specific actions to enable SE are typically done by businesses. This is discussed further in the parent article Enabling Systems Engineering. The strategy for organizing to conduct SE activities is important to their effectiveness. For example, every enterprise has a purpose, context, and scope determined by some of its stakeholders and modified over time to increase the value the enterprise offers to them.
As systems become increasingly global in nature, those involved in the conception, design, develo... more As systems become increasingly global in nature, those involved in the conception, design, development, support, sustainment, and end of life of such systems must have a global perspective on both the operational context in which those systems will be used, and the challenges faced by the development, production, deployment, and support teams involved in their creation and sustainment. To build a pathway to systems focused education, the foundations of systems knowledge and skills should be instilled in engineering students early in their education, starting with systems thinking in K-12 and building on more advanced system concepts through undergraduate education and beyond. This paper describes how societal needs combined with global trends produce systems challenges that must be addressed by engineers who are systems thinkers. After analyzing three separate undergraduate engineering education research efforts in process, the authors propose a pathway to support engineering educat...
2012 IEEE International Systems Conference SysCon 2012, 2012
ABSTRACT With much of the current systems engineering workforce reaching retirement age, there is... more ABSTRACT With much of the current systems engineering workforce reaching retirement age, there is a critical need to develop work experience among new systems engineers. Increasingly, educators and employers are turning to educational technology-based approaches to aid in this process. One such effort is the Experience Accelerator, an on-going research project aimed at maturing program-level systems engineers in Department of Defense acquisition programs. In this experiential learning approach, learners assume the role of a lead program systems engineer for development of a new unmanned aerial system (UAS), and they must make appropriate decisions and trade-offs at key points during the development lifecycle to keep the program on track and recover from problems that occur. Problems can occur in such areas as requirements, schedule, quality, cost, and customer expectations. The acquisition program is represented with a set of system dynamics simulation models that include such activities as sub-system development, system integration and system test. This paper focuses on the simulation-based approach used to provide internal decision support for learners as they engage in a learning experience within the Experience Accelerator. We present findings to date involving simulation modeling of acquisition programs and effectiveness of simulation results for decision support.
According to the NDIA SE Division, one of the top five systems engineering issues for the Departm... more According to the NDIA SE Division, one of the top five systems engineering issues for the Department of the Defense (DoD) is: “The quantity and quality of systems engineering expertise is insufficient to meet the demands of the government and defense industry. ” (NDIA SE Division, 2010)
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Papers by Alice Squires