Systems Engineering Foundation Course

Duration 3 days including workshop sessions

Course Structure

1. Background to System Engineering

History
Standards and Maturity Models
Literature References

2. The Motivation for Systems Engineering

The 'Left Shift' Principle: discovering problems as early as possible
Typical symptoms of non-existent or bad Systems Engineering
'War Stories'
Where to expect the business benefits of Systems Engineering
Instituting a virtuous circle of Systems Engineering improvement

3. Systems Engineering Processes ‘in the large’

Basic Systems Engineering Activities - the 'Waterfall Model'
Pros and cons of the Waterfall Model; ways of making it more realistic
Iteration in Systems Engineering; Green Field v. Brown Field; Re-use
Life-Cycle Models in Systems Engineering
Mapping Systems Engineering Activities onto Life-Cycle Models

4. Systems Engineering ‘in the small’

User Requirements: stakeholder identification and classification, sources, methods and tools
Systems Requirements: constraints, functional behaviour, 'ilities'; methods and tools
System Design/Architecture: heuristics for partitioning
Preliminary and Detailed Design: sub-contracting and the commercial function
Testing, Integration, Acceptance and Certification; Validation and Verification

5. Systems Engineering within the organisation

Commonly used Life-cycle models
Selection of the most appropriate Life-Cycle
‘Horses for courses’ or ‘one size fits all’?
Creating Life-cycle models for your own organisation
Systems Engineering Deliverables
Technical and Gate Reviews
Systems Engineering Management Plans (SEMPS)

6. Tailoring Generic Models for Specific Projects

The need to tailor generic process models
Factors affecting tailoring
Rule-based tailoring

7. Planning, Estimating and Project Management

The relationship between Systems Engineering and Project Management
Risk Management and the link with Systems Engineering
Process-based planning and integration
Metrics: identification, collection and application
Useful rules of thumb
Parametric estimating models
Tools to support the Systems Engineering function

Target Audience includes (in alphabetical order):

Customers
Project Managers
Suppliers
System Developers
System Engineers or those performing a de facto SE function within their organisation
System Procurers
System Specifiers

Course Presenters

Andrew Farncombe

Andrew is an experienced Systems Engineering professional and has held senior management positions including Technical Director in UK plc's. He holds a first class honours degree and is Visiting Professor of Systems Engineering at Cranfield University. He designed and co-authored the Systems Engineering Foundation Course and has presented it many times. His consultancy work includes Systems Engineering process development, organisational alignment within the supply chain and managing for improved Systems Integration.

Ian Alexander

Ian is a specialist in Requirements Engineering. He has worked in the telecoms, aerospace, automotive and railway sectors with a wide range of roles involving training, business process modelling, requirements analysis and requirements database customisation. His book 'Writing Better Requirements' is published by Addison-Wesley, 2002. He helps run the BCS Requirements Engineering Specialist Group, and is the head of the Requirements Engineering section of the IEE Professional Network for Systems Engineers.

Some comments on the course from those attending:

"Excellent all round"
"Probably the most important course I have attended, and very enjoyable"
"The course was very well presented and the questions were fielded exceptionally well"
"The presenters' appreciation of business issues was high and useful"
"Excellent course; a must for everyone in my department and other areas of the company"
"A very good introductory course to Systems Engineering"
"Excellent in the overview and detail of Systems Engineering"
"Excellent Course"

Finding out more

Prices on application. If you would like further information or to talk to someone about your Systems Engineering needs, please contact us as follows: