Date: 1 April 2015

Issue: 2015-2

In This Issue

Book Review: A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young

Zane Scott, Vitech Vice President of Professional Services

At first blush it is tempting to look at this book and ask, “How does this have any relevance for systems engineering?” After all, this little volume was first published in 1940 by an “ad man.” It’s 75 years old and predates the recognition of systems engineering as a separate discipline by decades. Arguably- it’s a tad out of date. Read More.

Adopting Model-Based Systems Engineering - Looking for the System Boundary

David Long, Vitech President, INCOSE president

When considering the adoption of model-based approaches and techniques, organizations frequently ask “what is the biggest challenge we will face?” It is a good question, one that deserves a good answer. While model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is clearly the future of systems engineering, adopting model-based approaches is not trivial. Read More.

Why a Small Team Benefits from a CORE Server

Bethany Maddox, Vitech Customer Support Specialist

Working at the head of our Customer Support team, I have the opportunity to talk to many of our customers. I often talk with long-term users and find that over time their needs are changing, and their CORE deployment needs to change to meet their growing needs. Read More.

Exploring the State Transition Diagram in CORE

Ron Kratzke, Vitech Principal Systems Engineer

Recently I have fielded several questions regarding the use of the State Transition Diagram in CORE and how States/Modes and the diagram relate to system behavior and simulation of the system behavior using COREsim. State transition diagrams describe the logical transition of a system through various states of operation. Read More. 

Defining Project Breakdown Structures

Sara Sumner, Vitech Applications Engineer

As a systems engineer, I have found that when working with complex projects, it is critically important to capture the relationships between the product and the functional work allocation. Capturing these relationships can help manage the uncertainty of impacts on the project when inevitable changes are introduced throughout the lifecycle and assist with the balance of resources needed to design and implement the system. Read More.