Table Of ContentTomorrow’s Systems
Engineering
This book looks at systems engineering now and comments on the future. It
notes the signs of deepening our understanding of the field which includes,
digital engineering, interactive model-based systems, decision support frame-
works, and points to a grand unified theory. The book also suggests how the
systems engineer can be a better designer and architect.
Offering commentaries regarding how the field of systems engineering might
evolve over the next couple of decades, Tomorrow’s Systems Engineering:
Commentaries on the Profession looks at the potential opportunities that
might lie ahead rather than making predictions for the future of the field.
The book allows the reader to prepare for the future in terms of technical
interest as well as competitiveness and suggests opportunities that could be
significant and useful for planning actions in the careers of future systems
engineers. Discussions of improvements in how we develop and use software
that can help to facilitate and protect overall IT capability within the system
design and system architecture are also included.
This book is for systems engineers and software engineers who wish to think
now about the directions the field might take in the next two decades.
Tomorrow’s Systems
Engineering
Commentaries on the Profession
Howard Eisner
First edition published 2023
by CRC Press
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ISBN: 978-1-032-21622-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-21623-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-26927-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003269274
Typeset in Times
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
This book is dedicated to:
• The forward-looking Fellows of INCOSE
• My wife June Linowitz, who knows how to live in the present and
be mindful of the future
• My children Oren and Susan who have helped me both with my
present and my future
• My five grandchildren, Jake, Gabe, Becca, Zachary, and Ben, who
are all in their 20s, and who have assured their futures by their
education achievements
Contents
Preface xiii
Author Biography xv
1 Toward a Future Environment 1
Force Fields 20 Years Ago 1
The Information Age 1
Speed and Responsiveness 2
Competition 2
New Work Patterns and Environments 2
Loyalties and Leverage 2
Stresses for Systems Engineering and INCOSE 2
INCOSE 3
The Journal: Systems Engineering 4
The Systems Engineering Handbook 4
Systems Engineering Vision – 2035 5
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) 6
The Office of The Secretary of Defense (OSD) 6
The SERC 8
Loughborough University 9
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) 9
Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge 10
Special Citations Across the Board 11
Overview of Chapters 11
References 12
2 Tomorrow’s Systems Engineer 13
Super Systems Architect 13
Superior Team Leader 14
Contributor to Literature 14
One Step Down From Corporate Vice President 14
Entrepreneur 14
New Engineer Article 16
Spec Innovations Article 16
News Patrolling Article 17
vii
viii Contents
Management Skills of the Super Systems Engineer 17
By N-Step Problem-Solving 21
By Reductionism 21
By Modeling and Simulation (M & S) 21
By Lateral Thinking 21
By Total Systems Intervention (TSI) 21
By Generalized Systems Thinking 22
By the Design Approach 22
By Expert Systems 22
By Mathematics and Statistics 22
By DoD Suggested 22
By Decision Support Systems 22
By Cost-Effectiveness Analysis 22
Examples of Highly Successful Systems Engineers 23
E. Rechtin 23
N. Augustine 23
B. Boehm 23
S. Ramo 23
A. Grove 24
T. A. Edison 24
R. Oppenheimer 24
Admiral H. Rickover 24
References 25
3 The Systems Engineer as Executive VP 27
The Project Triumvirate 27
Architectures 28
Systems Engineering Process 28
Computer Tools and Aids 28
Technical Coach and Team Builder 28
Technical Review Sessions 29
Schedules 29
Cost-Effective Solution 29
Connections to the Systems Engineer of Tomorrow 29
Other Examples of Systems Engineer as Executive 29
Norman Augustine 30
Eberhardt Rechtin 30
Simon Ramo 30
Admiral Hyman Rickover 30
Irwin Jacobs 30
Andrew Viterbi 31
Andy Grove 31
References 32
Contents ix
4 Kinds and Types Beyond the Tipping Point 33
Synthesis 33
Analysis 34
Replicative Design 34
Theories of Design 35
Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) 36
Beyond the Tipping Point 36
Other Gladwell Interests 37
The Literature Connection 38
INCOSE Handbook 39
In Search of Excellence 39
From Good to Great 39
Robert Oppenheimer 40
Bell Labs 40
The Innovators 40
Grit 40
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 41
Out of the Crisis 41
Eberhardt Rechtin and His Heuristics 41
Reengineering the Corporation 41
Built to Last 42
References 43
5 The Systems Approach and Thinking 45
List of Descriptors 47
Peter Senge 48
INCOSE Handbook 49
Russ Ackoff 49
Peter Checkland 49
J. Boardman and B. Sauser 50
Michael Jackson 50
Donella Meadows 50
Jamshid Gharajedaghi 50
Gerald Weinberg 51
S. G. Haines 51
Virginia Anderson and Lauren Johnson 51
Daniel Kim 52
L. B. Sweeney 52
Barry Richmond 52
Michael McCurley 52
John Gall 53
O’Connor and McDermott 53
Albert Rutherford 53
