Developing a Framework for a Graduate Program in Systems Engineering

1. PROPOSING A FRAMEWORK FOR A REFERENCE CURRICULUM FOR A GRADUATE PROGRAM IN SYSTEMS ENGINEERINGINCOSE International Workshop 2007 Rashmi Jain INCOSE, Head of Education and Research

2. SE Curriculum WG • Scope: Focus on existing SE centric1 graduate level courses offered by various institutions and universities across the US. • SE Curriculum WG was formed to discuss the relevant issues on the subject and provide guidance. • The group represented several institutions from academia, industry, and government both from the US and overseas 1basic and advanced level programs leading to a bachelors or higher degree in SE comprise a distinct category with a discipline-like focus. Included herein are only those degree programs where the concentration is designated as SE; where SE is the intended major area of study.

3. Research Methodology • Survey of Existing Programs: • Initial survey of existing SE programs was based on previous work and reports on graduate curriculum, personal phone calls, and follow-up emails to the department heads. • The database was organized to provide details on the name of the university, program, core courses, elective courses, program contact details, course credit, pedagogy, and mode of delivery. • SE curriculum WG reviewed the list of programs, provided inputs for its completeness and recommended a format for a curriculum framework.

4. Research Methodology • Survey of Existing Programs: • Second round of on-going survey based on • letters to the universities, • graduate catalogs obtained from universities, • information provided by the program contacts, • course descriptions obtained from the program websites and catalogs, • published papers on SE curriculum, • INCOSE directory, • www.nces.ed.gov , • university websites, and • professional societies. • Updates based on follow-up e-mails requesting confirmation of each university’s SE program and course information sent to the contacts at the universities (37.5% return rate).

5. SE Degrees Awarded by University *B = Bachelors *M = Masters *P = Ph.D.

6. Research Methodology • Competencies focused curriculum • SE curriculum WG and researchers agreed that the curriculum framework should address the SE competencies needs of the industry • SE competencies (Appendix 1) that were considered were derived based on: • Engineering Process Improvement, “SE Curriculum”, EPI 270-15 Rev. 1.1, April 5, 2006, Lockheed Martin, 2006. • INCOSE UK Advisory Board, “Systems Engineering Core Competencies Framework”, INCOSE UK, 2005. This report referenced the following: • International Standards Organization ISO15288, • Capability Maturity Model Integration, • EIA731, • INCOSE Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge & Handbook, • NASA Handbook, • IEE/BCS Safety Competency Guidelines, • A review of systems engineering competency work conducted by: BAE Systems, EADS Astrium, General Dynamics, Loughborough University, Ministry of Defense (Director General Smart Acquisition), Thales, University College London, and feedback from the Systems Engineering Community. • Stevens Internal Survey, Feb, 2003, and • Others

7. Research Methodology • Review of the existing SE programs: • Identified commonalities in course contents based on the review of SE program course descriptions. • Defined initial set of Topical Areas (TA) addressing both the industry required SE competencies & incorporate the breadth of courses offered by the SE programs. • Defined the 'best fit' category for each university's SE courses • Sorted courses by categorization • Baseline course descriptions • Reiterative process • Reviewed completeness of content.

8. Research Methodology • Review of the existing SE programs: • Each course was placed into one of the four levels (Appendix 2) • Level 0: Foundation Courses • Level 1: Introductory Courses • Level 2: Core Courses • Level 3: Specialization Courses • Topical areas were cross referenced to industry needs through QFD • Identified potential gaps in the process or gaps in the capability to meet industry needs. • Process was repeated until industry needs were sufficiently addressed and Topical Areas were refined into some suggested topical areas for a SE curriculum.

9. SE Topical Areas • Final grouping of the sixteen topical areas into four levels • Foundation Courses • Mathematics • Probability and Statistics • Introductory Courses • Fundamentals of Systems Engineering • Introduction to Systems Engineering Management • Core Courses • Systems Design/Architecture • Systems Integration and Test • Quality, Safety and Systems Suitability • Modeling, Simulation and Optimization • Decisions, Risks and Uncertainty • Software Systems Engineering • Specialization Courses • General Project Management • Finance, Economics, and Cost Estimation • Manufacturing, Production, and Operations • Organizational Leadership • Engineering Ethics and Legal Considerations • Masters Project or Seminar

10. Gap Analysis

11. Gaps Analyzed: SE Programs • Correlation of the topical areas with the SE competencies • SE competencies not addressed adequately: • System concepts • Architectural design • Modeling and simulation • Closely followed by: • System requirements • Determine and manage stakeholder requirements • Super-system capability issues • SE course offerings that need improvements: • Level 1: Introductory Courses • Fundamentals of SE • Level 2: Core course • System design/architecture • Systems integration • Quality, safety, and systems suitability • Decisions, risks and uncertainty

12. Gaps Analyzed: SE Programs • Correlation within the identified topical areas • Core courses that had weak relationship or absence of any relationship with some of the other topical areas • Quality, safety, and systems suitability • Modeling, simulation and optimization • Decisions, risks and uncertainty • Serious gaps were noticed between the above three and the specialized/elective offerings below: • General project management • Finance, economics, and cost estimation • Organizational leadership

13. Specialization Courses Specialization Courses Software Systems Engineering • Software Systems Engineering • General Project Management • General Project Management • Finance, Economics, and Cost Estimation • Finance, Economics, and Cost Estimation • Manufacturing, Production, and Operations • Manufacturing, Production, and Operations • Organizational Leadership • Organizational Leadership • Engineering Ethics and Legal Considerations • Engineering Ethics and Legal Considerations • Masters Project or Seminar • Masters Project or Seminar • Level 3: Level 3: Level 3: (12 Credits) (9 Credits) • Systems Design/Architecture • Systems Design/Architecture • Systems Integration and Test • Systems Integration and Test • Quality, Safety, and Systems Suitability • Quality, Safety, and Systems Suitability Level 2: Core Courses Level 2: Core Courses Level 2: Core Courses • Modeling, Simulation and Optimization • Modeling, Simulation and Optimization (12 Credits) (12 Credits) • Decisions, Risks and Uncertainty • Decisions, Risks and Uncertainty • Fundamentals of Systems Engineering • Fundamentals of Systems Engineering • Intro to Systems Engineering • Intro to Systems Engineering Level 1: Introductory Courses Level 1: Introductory Courses Level 1: Introductory Courses Management Management (6 Credits) (9 Credits) • General Mathematics • General Mathematics Level 0: Foundation Courses Level 0: Foundation Courses Level 0: Foundation Courses • Probability & Statistics • Probability & Statistics Framework for reference curriculum for Graduate SE Centric Program

14. Appendix 1

15. SE Competencies

16. SE Competencies Continued

17. SE Competencies Continued

18. SE Competencies Continued

19. SE Competencies Continued

20. SE Competencies Continued

21. SE Competencies Continued

22. Appendix 2

23. Four Levels of SE Courses