Space Systems Engineering Course — the Pilot

1. Space Systems Engineering Course — the Pilot Lisa Guerra Exploration Systems Mission DirectorateNASA Headquarters lisa.a.guerra@nasa.gov October 16, 2008

2. Systems Engineering at UT-Austin Motivation: • The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) is responding to the NASA Administrator's call to develop systems engineers for NASA's exploration future. Response: • Under the sponsorship of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), UT-Austin invited Ms. Lisa Guerra to help create a systems engineering program within aerospace engineering to be responsive to the post-2010 needs of ESMD and the Constellation Program. • The intent is for the course to be a pilot, transferable to other universities operating within NASA's Space Grant Consortia.

3. The Pilot Class Students Space Systems Engineering, Spring 2008 Department of Aerospace Engineering The University of Texas at Austin

4. Quotes from Students in Pilot Class “It was a ‘big picture’ view of what we may be involved in as engineers of the future.” “I liked how so many of the assignments asked us to evaluate the decisions made by NASA employees from the past. It made the homework so much more fun because it’s as if we were the NASA employees making those same important decisions.” “It made us think about problems beyond the right answer and the gray area behind all decisions.” “It is the real-world application that makes the course attractive.” “Taking this course makes an engineer realize there is much more to engineering than designing a given component to a set specification.This course really teaches all the factors that go into producing a viable space system, and some tools to achieve that end.” “The Q&A during lecture was often the most insightful because of the different perspectives on the topic. It was so valuable to allow the class to interact.” “It’s the glue!”

5. Space Systems Engineering Course — The Pilot • Taught in the Spring 2008 semester to 21 hand-selected students (with GPAs>3.0) in the UT-Austin Department of Aerospace Engineering. • Student level of experience: • From both junior and senior level • Some had completed the senior capstone design course the previous semester • Variety of work experience: government and industry co-ops; student satellite build projects • Added participation feature: • The teaching assistant, John Christian, just completed a MS degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech with an emphasis on System Design and Optimization. • One of the students was the lead systems engineer for the Texas2Step satellite build project (sponsored by AFRL). • The capstone design professor, Dr. Wallace Fowler, audited the entire course.

6. Course Goal Not trying to make everyone who takes the course a systems engineer, but trying to give aerospace engineering students a systems perspective as they approach their capstone design project.

7. Perspective on the Space Systems Engineering Course • What is course based on? • Systems engineering handbooks and primers from NASA and DoD • Variety of professional training materials on systems engineering • NASA missions, experience base and documents to provide examples for systems engineering topics, including my own experiences • My observations of 2 senior design classes and 1 graduate design class • No particular systems engineering textbook affiliated with course • What perspective? • The aerospace perspective — what does it take to put a space system together • Practical not theoretical — use of concrete examples • Tools oriented, e.g., cost models, analytical hierarchy process, FMEA • Who is course designed for? • Serves as prerequisite (junior year) to a senior aerospace design class • Could also offer to seniors, as well as other engineering discipline students • Currently working with EE and ME departments for a Master’s level version.

8. Perspective on the Space Systems Engineering Course • What competencies are emphasized? • Obtain a working knowledge of systems engineering concepts • Execute certain systems engineering tools • Improve techniques for communicating and critiquing products • Be prepared to execute a student design project. • How is the course structured? • Structured in a modular fashion, such that • Module topics can be inserted into existing courses • Modules can be re-ordered according to teaching preference • Modules can be added or deleted based on topic interest • Module lengths vary — some may take 2 class lectures to complete the content. • Modules contain notes pages and backup slides for additional content or further explanation.

9. Sequence of Modules Included in Space Systems Engineering Course • What is systems engineering? • Teamwork • Project life cycle • Mission scope and concept of operations • System architecture • System hierarchy and work breakdown structure • Analytical hierarchy process • Requirements: development basics; writing; management of • Functional analysis • System synthesis* • Design fundamentals • System interfaces* • Margins • Technical Performance Measures • Cost analysis • Risk analysis • Technology Readiness Levels • Trade studies • System reliability • Validation & Verification • Technical reviews • Schedule development • Systems engineering & management roles/plans • Engineering ethics * New modules; not in pilot

10. Additional Topics in Pilot but not Included in Distributed Materials • Probability & Statistics Primer • Professor from Operations Research department guest lectured • Aerospace engineering students not required to take in undergraduate course sequence • Monte Carlo Analysis • One of the assignments applied the technique. • Tutorial provided to understand how to use and program in Matlab. • Modeling and Simulation • In future semesters, will be addressed as part of the new 1 hour Spacecraft Systems Modeling Lab. • This lab will be a co-requisite to the Space Systems Engineering course.

11. Course Special Feature Pause and Learn Opportunity • Use of project examples, particularly the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) • Requirements documents • Technology story • Technical performance measures • Work breakdown structure • Concept of Operations • Associated and current readings related to systems engineering, examples: • NY Times article, 2007 • M. Griffin SE speech at Purdue, 2007 • M. Griffin architecture lecture, 2008 • Crosslink cost article, 2001 • NASA ASK management article, 2007 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

12. Student Assignments from the Pilot Course • Homework assignments • Group and Individual • Writing and problem-solving/programming • One assignment per week • Periodic group presentations • Exams • Mid-term (1 hour); in-class • Final (3 hours allotted, but took 2 hours); in-class • Semester-long assignment • Select a book from the suggested reading list • Write a 10 page paper discussing the book and its relevancy to the systems engineering learning. • Samples from the list:

13. Additional Course Resources DVDs for student viewing: • So You Want to be a Systems Engineer? Personal Behaviors of a Systems Engineer – 53 mins.; 2005 • Systems Engineering – When the Canvas is Blank – 45 mins.; 2007 Reference documents: • NASA Systems Engineering Handbook; 2007 & 1995 editions • Defense Acquisition University Systems Engineering Fundamentals; 2001 • SMC/AF Systems Engineering Primer & Handbook, 2005 Gentry Lee, JPL

14. Results from Official UT-Austin Course Evaluation Survey Background: • 21 surveys returned • Values were assigned on a 5-point scale • Most favorable response = 5 • Least favorable response = 1 • Course well-organized 4.7 • Communicated information effectively 4.6 • Showed interest in student progress 4.8 • Student freedom of expression 4.9 • Course of value to date 4.9 • Overall course rating 4.7

15. Student Evaluation of Class Structure(from unofficial survey) Scoring: (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree; (3) no opinion/neutral; (4) agree; (5) strongly agree • Use of class interaction and Q&A with the professor was at the right level. • Class video and guest lecturer enhanced learning and reinforced topics. • The use of lecture briefing notes and not a textbook was an adequate delivery of the material. • Additional materials (such as JWST examples or outside readings) enhanced lecture notes. • Learned new concepts and methods with assignments. 4.3 3.8 4.3 4.5 4.6

16. ABET Criteria 2000 Outcomes Achieved This course contributes to the following EC2000 Criterion 3 outcomes.

17. New Course Features from Summer Update • Space Systems Engineering Course materials reviewed and updated by Paul Graf, University of Colorado-Boulder. • Added new modules to focus on System Synthesis, System Architecture, and Interfaces. • Provided updates to existing pilot modules. (& sanity check) • Provided additional space mission examples. • Provided more articles for reading assignments. • Suggested alternative semester-long project using mission failure reports.

18. Potential Topics to Include in Future Versions • Software design and development • Acquisition Strategy • Earned Value Management (EVM) • Specialty engineering: • Human Factors, • Maintainability, • Logistics support, etc. Topic ideas from students in pilot class: • Quality methodologies, e.g., six sigma, ISO-9000 • Team staffing and retention • Use of “best practices” and benchmarking • Communication skills • Legal issues

19. Charge to Workshop Audience • Today, version 1.0 • Welcome exchange of ideas • Leveraging the resources of academic community to share material to make this better • Lessons learned in teaching this material • New module development and inclusion in later versions

20. Questions or Comments?

21. L. Guerra’s Planned Efforts for 2009-2010 • Develop website to continue dissemination of systems engineering curriculum • Allow for publication of updates • Enable sharing of improvements and lessons learned from faculty using the materials • Enable faculty grants to improve course materials • Enhance communication on systems engineering • Participate at the ASEE National Conference (2009 in Austin) Presentation/workshop on NASA’s systems engineering activities • Develop graduate-level course based on undergraduate Space Systems Engineering course • Initiate a Master’s degree program in Systems Design at UT-Austin (with ASE, EE & ME departments)