EAGER/Collaborative Research: Lectures for Foundations in Systems Engineering

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) collaborative project is to create a series of educational videos on foundational areas from which systems engineering theory will be able to draw. The field of systems engineering has developed largely as a process driven discipline, with much of the process lacking rigorous foundations. Across government agencies, industry, and academia, methods that are process-driven, heuristic in nature, and even inherently flawed, are used and taught routinely, without an understanding of their limitations, thereby contributing to significant cost and time overruns, delays, and cancellations of major engineering projects. One estimate is that the loss to the Federal Government resulting from current systems engineering processes exceeds $200 million per day. This educational outreach effort is aimed at introducing rigorous foundations of systems engineering to engineering students in order to influence practice as well as training of the future systems engineering workforce, and provide rigorous foundations for decision making in systems engineering. This project will promote the use of rigorous foundations in the development of a theory of systems engineering in ways that are accessible to a broad group of educators, researchers and practitioners. If the practice of systems engineering is to change, advances must take place to lay rigorous foundations for the methods, processes and tools for practitioners. These advances must then be taught in a way that is both rigorous and accessible to the community. Three overall areas are targeted in this EAGER: 1) Utility Theory; 2) Probability Theory; and 3) Flawed Methods. Two to three videos will be produced in each of these areas. All of these will be developed in the context of systems engineering needs and opportunities. As an introduction to these topics, one overview video will be produced to provide the context for why the videos are important to systems engineering education and practice. The adoption of rigorous mathematical theory in systems engineering will have significant ramifications for government agencies as well as the industries engaged in design and development of complex engineered systems. Promoting the implementation of well-vetted theories, methods and tools from other disciplines into the discipline of systems engineering through these videos has the potential for a significant impact. These videos will be developed so as to be useful in the classroom and for practitioners in order to increase the range of their impact.