Publications

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Process for Selecting Engineering Tools outlines the process and tools used to select a SysML (Systems Modeling Language) tool. The process is general in nature and users could use the process to select most engineering tools and software applications.

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The author of a popular book on risk and decision analysis made the statement that "The revolutionary idea that defines the boundary between modern times and the past is the mastery of risk: the notion that the future is more than a whim of the gods and that men and women are not passive before nature." (Bernstein 1998, 1) While this book was written primarily from the perspective of economics and finances, the premise that the tools for making a reasoned prediction of the future, based on past experience and present decisions, goes to the heart of what it means to "do" systems engineering. This paper examines the nature of uncertainty, risk and decision analysis, particularly as understood within the historical context and the continuing development of the "art and science of decision." © 2010 by Mark J. De Spain.

The basis of this work is a paraphrase of a well-known aphorism regarding system models that is extended to the object being modeled, begging your indulgence: “Essentially, all systems are broken, but some do useful work.” (Box, 1987).

The Design for Tractable Analysis (DTA) framework was developed to address the analysis of complex systems and so-called “wicked problems.” DTA is distinctive because it treats analytic processes as key artifacts that can be created and improved through formal design processes. Systems (or enterprises) are analyzed as a whole, in conjunction with decomposing them into constituent elements for domain-specific analyses that are informed by the whole. After using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to frame the problem in the context of stakeholder needs, DTA harnesses the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) to structure the analysis of the system and address questions about the emergent properties of the system. The novel use of DSM to “design the analysis” makes DTA particularly suitable for addressing the interdependent nature of complex systems. The use of DTA is demonstrated by a case study of sensor grid placement decisions to secure assets at a fixed site. © 2009, IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Functional modeling and SysML/UML are defined communication languages that engineers and related disciplines use to communicate the nature of engineering products. We often see functional modeling and SysML/UML used to describe large, physical entities, such as airplanes or space craft. Systems engineers use functional modeling to decompose these large systems into subsystems. Each subsystem has defined requirements, defined roles and responsibilities (functions), and definable interfaces. Each subsystem consists of electrical hardware, mechanical hardware, and computer software. Functional modeling and SysML/UML can also be used for modeling program/project management processes, systems engineering processes, and manufacturing processes. Many organizations use an array of flow charts, organization charts, network diagrams, and spreadsheets to define engineering processes. This paper presents how Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) used functional modeling and SysML/UML to define the design and development processes and procedures for a product realization process (PRP) called the Integrated Phase Gate (IPG) Process. The use of functional modeling helped the organization more readily accept the use of systematic modeling for developing PRP. Additionally, this paper will explore the value of using SysML/UML over functional modeling in order to completely specify process and process artifacts. © 2008 by Georgia Artery, Mark De Spain and Regina Griego.

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