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Systems Engineering Advising Corner

The following provides a general discussion for prospective or recently admitted students in the JHU Master of Science Systems Engineering Program related to the nature of the program, admission requirements, career planning and program plan development. The discussion is based on frequently asked questions that arise during advising sessions. The final authority is the Engineering for Professionals (EP) Program. Only official decisions can come from the Systems Engineering Committee. Please direct your questions to the adviser you were assigned upon admission. Further assistance is always available from Dr. Sam Seymour, Vice-Chair, Systems Engineering Program at sam.seymour@jhuapl.edu, or 443-778-5711.

General Program Comments

The JHU Systems Engineering Program is intended for students who have a technical background and are now engaged, or desire in their career to lead in the development of complex systems. The JHU program has the objective of providing students with the knowledge and problem solving skills that are required to guide the engineering development of modern complex systems. These include the broad technical literacy necessary to integrate multidisciplinary system elements, and to make the system-level tradeoffs between performance, cost, and schedule. The students are expected to develop skills and habits of thought employing the principles of systems engineering.

In this program, students learn from reading and from interactive presentations by experienced systems engineers, and by applying this knowledge to solving practical systems problems. They exercise their skills in analysis, synthesis and coordination of the various disciplines required to develop, produce and operate complex technical systems to meet a customer's need. Through this "hands-on" approach under the guidance and tutelage of instructors experienced in systems engineering, the students develop the ability to think through the entire complex process of systems development from analyzing requirements to specifying operating procedures.

The JHU MS SE Program has several defining characteristics:

  • Integrated curriculum of systems engineering and management courses
  • Uses project life cycle to teach best practices and skills needed by today's engineers
  • Legacy of excellence over 20 years and 80 graduates per year
  • Practically oriented with a focus on applications
  • Emphasizes learning by doing
    • Courses built around team projects
    • Apply principles to specific systems
    • Highly interactive class sessions
  • Provides multiple viewpoints
    • JHU and industry co-instructors for each course
    • All practicing senior systems engineers and managers
    • Several expert guest lecturers
  • Uses case studies and examples from instructors experiences
  • Available through live classroom instruction or online

What is Systems Engineering?

The function of systems engineering is to guide (lead, manage, or direct, usually based on the superior experience in pursuing a given course) the engineering (application of scientific principles to practical ends; as the design, construction and operation of efficient and economical structures, equipment, and systems) of complex (diverse and have intricate relationships) systems (a set of interrelated components working together toward some common objective). (Kossiakoff)

A system is a construct or collection of different elements that together produce results not obtainable by the elements alone. The elements, or parts, can include people, hardware, software, facilities, policies, and documents; that is, all things required to produce systems-level results. The results include system level qualities, properties, characteristics, functions, behavior and performance. The value added by the system as a whole, beyond that contributed independently by the parts, is primarily created by the relationship among the parts; that is, how they are interconnected (Rechtin).

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. It is an engineering discipline whose responsibility is creating and executing an interdisciplinary process to ensure that the customer and stakeholders needs are satisfied in a high quality, trustworthy, cost efficient and schedule compliant manner throughout a system's entire life cycle (INCOSE)

It is a robust approach to the design, creation, and operation of systems (NASA Systems Engineering Handbook)

It is the design, production, and maintenance of trustworthy systems within cost and time constraints (Sage)

It is a holistic, product oriented engineering discipline whose responsibility is to create and execute an interdisciplinary process to ensure that customer and stakeholder needs are satisfied in a high quality, trustworthy, cost efficient and schedule compliant manner throughout a system's life cycle. (Bayhill)

It is a discipline that concentrates on the design and application of the whole system, as distinct from the parts. It involves looking at the problem in its entirety, taking into account all the facets and all the variables and relating the social to the technical aspects. (Ramo)

Students who do not have a technical background, but have work experience in design and development of systems products in software or hardware can succeed in this program as has been demonstrated by many students over the years. The challenge for such students is to engage in logical thinking, sequential processing, and analytical problem solving that is characteristic of the systems engineer. The more experience a student has in the workplace conducting engineering and developing systems components as part of or leading a technical team, the better the match to the program

A good reference book for prospective students is Systems Engineering- Principles and Practice, by A. Kossiakoff and W.N. Sweet, Wiley Interscience, 2003, a treatise and a textbook, the capstone of over fifty years of fundamental research in systems engineering at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and its application to real world problems. Dr. Kossiakoff was an early founder of the JHU/APL and was its Director 1969-1980, and its Chief Scientist from 1980-2005. A notable outcome of the research is that systems engineers need "to develop the ability to think in a special way - to acquire the 'systems engineering viewpoint' and to make the central objective the system as whole and the success of it mission". The book provides several systems engineering models that have their origin in the work of the Laboratory: 1) a hierarchical model of complex systems; 2) a systems life cycle model related to evolving engineering activities and the participants; 3) the concept of "materialization" that represents the process of taking an abstract idea to a tangible product; 4) the theory of "sectionalization" that divides a system into components and identifies and manages the interfaces; and 5) a framework for including the human element in systems design and defining the role of the systems engineer in each phase of the acquisition life cycle. The text lays the basis of understanding for the development of systems, systems-of-systems, and enterprise systems. It describes the systems engineering concepts and methodologies required by large, complex problems, containing multiple technology disciplines, and a variety of enterprise contributions that are part of the solution. Kossy's textbook is the basis of fundamental systems engineering knowledge used by thousands of graduate students across the nation. Dr. Kossiakoff started the JHU Technical Management and Systems Engineering graduate programs and this book is used in the Introduction to Systems Engineering course.

The Kossiakoff text describes in detail the typical process the systems engineer engages in for a traditional development project as shown in the next figure.

Kossiakoff's System Engineering Process image

According to Kossiakoff, "the systems engineering life cycle model consists of three stages, the first two encompassing the developmental part of the life cycle, and the third the post-development period. These stages mark the more basic transitions in the system life cycle, as well as the changes in the type and scope of effort involved in systems engineering. These stages are (1) The concept development stage, which is the initial stage of the formulation and definition of a system concept perceived to best satisfy a valid need, (2) the engineering development stage, which covers the translation of the system concept into a validated physical system design meeting the operational, cost, and schedule requirements, and (3) the post-development stage, which includes the production, deployment, operation, and support of the system throughout its useful life. The above names for the individual stages are intended to correspond generally to the principal type of activity characteristic of these stages.

The concept development stage, as the name implies, embodies the analysis and planning that is necessary to establish the need for a new system, the feasibility of its realization and the specific system architecture perceived to best satisfy the user needs. Systems engineering plays the lead role in translating the operational needs into a technically and economically feasible system concept. The level of effort during this stage is generally much smaller than in subsequent stages.

The principal objectives of the concept development stage are to:

  1. Establish that there is a valid need (and market) for a new system that is technically and economically feasible.
  2. Explore potential system concepts and formulate and validate a set of system performance requirements.
  3. Select the most attractive system concept, define its functional characteristics, and develop a detailed plan for the subsequent stages of engineering, production, and operational deployment of the system.

The engineering development stage corresponds to the process of engineering the system to perform the functions specified in the system concept, in a physical embodiment that can be produced economically and maintained and operated successfully in its operational environment. Systems engineering is primarily concerned with guiding the engineering development and design, defining and managing interfaces, developing test plans, and determining how discrepancies in system performance uncovered during test and evaluation should best be rectified. The main bulk of the engineering effort is carried out during this stage.

The principal objectives of the engineering development stage are to:

  1. Develop any new technology called for by the selected system concept, and validate its capability to meet requirements.
  2. Perform the engineering development of a prototype system satisfying the requirements of performance, reliability, maintainability, and safety.
  3. Engineer the system for economical production and use, and demonstrate its operational suitability.

The post-development stage consists of activities beyond the system development period, but still requires significant support from systems engineering, especially when unanticipated problems requiring urgent resolution are encountered. Also, continuing advances in technology often require in-service system upgrading, which may be just as dependent on systems engineering as the concept and engineering development stages. The post-development stage of a new system begins after the system successfully undergoes its operational test and evaluation and is released for production and subsequent operational use. While the basic development has been completed, systems engineering continues to play an important supporting role in this effort.

The conduct of systems engineering during a systems development is also often illustrated in the form of spirals, "v" or iterative loop diagrams. An example of the activities performed during the system life cycle below with a description of the activities in each phase.

system life cycle image

Critical Needs: Operational data collection or mission analysis may reveal a need to achieve new capabilities. Scientific evidence from experimental work may reveal the need for a new scientific instrument to collect specific new information towards a scientific discovery. Analysis and planning are performed to define the need for a system, both operational and technical, and then determine its feasibility. These needs can be communicated through such diverse media as scientific papers, studies, or official military documentation.

Capability Assessment: Once a need is recognized, it is always prudent to determine whether presently available systems and operational capabilities could be leveraged to meet the need, for instance, via new tactics or procedures. This can be via analysis or studies, further data collections, or critical experiments. If it is determined that a new system is needed, an appropriate architecture compatible with related systems may be identified.

Concept Exploration: If a new system capability is needed, whether it is the first of its kind or a spiral upgrade of an existing system capability, candidate concepts and corresponding modeling and analyses are often developed. These are then used in 'strawman' form to trade off which approach is the potentially lowest risk, highest performance, closest to operational, and/or most economical. One next explores technology readiness and alternative systems concepts, conducting critical experiments and studies of new features of the system design. The one or few concepts emerging as the leading candidates are often modeled and defined in increasing detail to gain more definitive characterization of these metrics and to support drafting of operational requirements and specifications.

Solution Validation: If a significantly different capability, or significant development risk, is accepted for the selected conceptual approach, prototyping of parts or all of a system may be required. This may be for one of several purposes such as to validate an emerging technology, to validate and refine production requirements, and to verify that the design can be produced in numbers and is operationally suitable. Often this involves formal demonstration in a representative laboratory or simulated operational environment.

Solution Implementation: During this phase, fabrication of the production article, and operational tests and evaluation activities are conducted to validate the satisfactory performance of the system leading to full-scale production of an affordable and functional system.

Deployment: The system is taken to the field for operational use with data collected to ensure that the system continues to meet its operational requirements and satisfy the need for which it was built. If a new threat or needs gap emerges, or there are advances in technology that indicate a new need, then the spiral of activities shown in the Figure may be re-entered, and a new round of the activities described above may be initiated.

Career Planning Notes

The field of systems engineering is relatively new, but has significant and increasing relevance in the development of both government and civilian systems. Systems engineers are highly sought after because their skills complement those in other fields and often serve as the "glue" to bring new ideas to fruition. Career choices and the related educational needs for those choices is complex, but they can be considered in the context of the following diagram.

system life cycle image

Four potential career directions are shown, where there are varying degrees of overlap between them. The systems engineer focuses on the whole system product leading and working with many diverse technical team members, following the systems engineering development cycle, conducting studies of alternatives and managing the system interfaces. The systems engineer generally matures in the field after a technical undergraduate degree with work experience and a Master of Science degree in systems engineering, with increasing responsibility of successively larger projects, eventual serving as the chief or lead systems engineer for a major systems, or systems-of-systems development. Note the overlap and need to understand the content and roles of the technical specialists and the program manager.

The project or program manager, with a technical or business background is responsible for interfacing with the customer and defining the work, developing the plans, monitoring and controlling the project progress, and delivering the finished output to the customer. The PM often learns on the job from experience with projects of increasing size and importance, enhancing the toolset available with a Master of Science degree in Technical/Program Management. While not exclusively true, the Chief Executive Officer is frequently found in the ranks of the organization's Program Managers.

The financial career path that ultimately could lead to a Chief Financial Officer position usually includes a business undergraduate and MBA degrees. Individuals progress through their careers with various horizontal and vertical moves, often with specialization in the field. There is overlap in skill and knowledge with the Program Manager in areas of contract and finance management.

Many early careers start with a technical undergraduate degree in engineering, science or information technology. The technical specialist makes contributions as part of a team in the area of their primary knowledge, honing skills and experience to develop and test individual components or algorithms that are part of a larger system. Contributions are made project-to-project over time and recognition is gained from innovative, timely and quality workmanship. Technical specialists need to continue to learn about their field, and stay current in order to be employable compared to the next generation of college graduates. Often advanced degrees (MS and PhDs) are acquired to enhance knowledge, capability and recognition and job responsibilities can lead to positions such as lead engineer, lead scientist or Chief Technology Officer in an organization. The broader minded or experienced specialist often considers careers in systems engineering.

Systems Engineering Admissions

Admission requirements in systems engineering (http://www.ep.jhu.edu) focus on academic and professional experience credentials. No standard exams or tests are needed. There are no specific prerequisite or "make-up" courses. The student admissions expectations include an undergraduate technical or engineering degree with a GPA of 3.0 or greater. The applicant is to have one year of relevant work experience as shown on a current resume. The requirements have some degree of flexibility with longer years of work experience balancing a lower GPA, or a higher GPA balancing less than one year of experience. It is desired that the student be prepared to understand and utilize the knowledge gained in class the next day, so maturity and experience will assist in this preparation.

Official admission decisions come only from the Admissions Committee.

An official response from the JHU typically takes 4-6 weeks.

The Admissions Committee has three options: Fully accept into the program based on completely meeting the program admissions criteria; Conditional accept, where the criteria are not quite fully met, and the student may take only one course at a time for two semesters and earn an A or B grade; or Reject, where the student credentials fall below the expectations needed to be able to succeed in the program.

The JHU official notification of admission will come only after receipt of the official transcripts, completed application form, resume, and application fee. Please request your transcripts to be sent ASAP to the EP address after you apply. The receipt of the transcripts is on the critical path for an admissions decision. This step takes the longest time.

Admissions are done on a rolling basis. Applications are processed in the order received.

To be sure there is enough time, it is suggested that you apply by 1 March for the summer term, by 1 June for the fall term, and by 1 October for the spring term.

Advisers can authorize a prospective student permission to enroll in one course prior to an official admissions decision if there is good reason to believe that the student will achieve acceptance. The advisers must review a current resume and a copy of the student transcripts during an Open House or an EP Advising Session. The course that can be authorized will only be Introduction to Systems Engineering or Management of Systems Projects.

Letters of recommendation as part of the application package for systems engineering are not required. If the student credentials do not meet initial expectations, then employee recommendations can assist the Admissions Committee in understanding the extent of the current relevant work experience and the employer support of the student during the academic period of performance.

Systems Engineering Advisers

Academic Advisers are assigned to students in the admissions letter sent by JHU EP. Any advising question prior to admission can be addressed to Dr. Seymour. The Academic Adviser will, as needed:

  1. Provide oversight of the student's academic progress by:
    • Assisting in the selection of courses and completion of the Program Plan
    • Approving the Program plan and plan deviations
    • Approving course enrollment during Open House or Advising Sessions
    • Ensuring student is meeting degree milestones in a timely manner
    • Being available for contact with students
    • Assessing and developing the student's interests and abilities
    • Writing letters of reference if needed
  2. Provide leadership in matters of academic expectations
    • Being knowledgeable about issues that pertain to academics and practice
    • Helping students interpret and understand institutional policies and procedures
    • Directing students to appropriate institutional resources or contacts
Dr. Sam Seymour - Partnerships, HEAT and others
Sam.Seymour@jhuapl.edu 443.778.5711
Mr. Chris Ryder - SMHEC
Christopher.Ryder@jhuapl.edu 443.778.4696
Mr. Dave Flanigan - APL and MOCO
David.Flanigan@jhuapl.edu 443.778.8129
Mr. Charles Fidler - Crystal City
Chuck.Fidler@wg.srs.com 703.907.3988
Mr. Jack Keane - Test Pilot School
Jack.Keane@jhuapl.edu 443.778.8826

Systems Engineering Concentration Areas

The JHU Systems Engineering Program has available a number of different concentrations where many of the courses are uniquely required for a specific concentration. Please refer to the JHU EP website and the catalog descriptions under the Systems Engineering Program. Starting in the Summer 2009 semester, the systems engineering concentrations are:

  • Systems Engineering
  • Program Management Systems Engineering
  • Biomedical Systems Engineering
  • Model and Simulation Systems Engineering
  • Software Systems Engineering
  • Information Assurance Systems Engineering

For all concentrations, students are required to take the core systems engineering courses and then continue with concentration related courses.

Program Plans

In their acceptance letter, degree candidates will be referred to the EP systems engineering web site to fill out a Program Plan. The student Program Plan is a listing of the sequence of courses that are intended to be taken to meet the requirements for a MS SE degree. The plan is sent to the student's academic adviser for review and approval. Without an approved plan in place, course enrollments would need to be done on an individual course by course basis. It is more important to have a plan in place than to have a perfect plan.

Students are encouraged to submit their Program Plans online through the EP web site.

If it becomes necessary to deviate from the Program Plan after it is approved, a new Program plan should be submitted for adviser approval. The student's adviser should be contacted for permission to enroll in a course not on the approved plan. Either a program change form should be completed and sent to the adviser, or a detailed email sent with the reason for the change, the new course description, and verification the prerequisites for the new course are met. The approval for the change will be forwarded by the adviser to the EP enrollment representative who will open the course to the student.

If the adviser has concerns about your plan he/she will contact you by email or phone to resolve the issues.

The JHU Systems Engineering Program has several course schedules that vary with location, delivery means and partnership agreements. Students should only use the schedule of courses that applies to the primary campus where they take their courses. While there is high degree of similarity between the offerings, care must be taken and adviser approval given for any deviations that cross curricula shown on the long range schedules.

Currently, long range course schedules are available for each concentration at:

  • Public Offerings (APL, Dorsey Center, Montgomery County and SMHEC)
  • HEAT Center
  • Crystal City
  • Online (Distance)
  • Other Partnerships

When filling out the Program Plan:

  1. Select the course list schedule that matches your primary campus
  2. Select the system engineering concentration that you are pursuing
  3. Complete the list of courses in a chronological order that is consistent with each course prerequisite. The course materials are designed to expect the student to take the courses in sequential order. Deviations from following the prerequisites require adviser approval based on a rationale that includes both lack of course availability and prior experience in the course content area.
  4. Verify that each course is offered in the location and the semester you write down on your schedule
  5. Verify that you have listed all the required courses needed for your degree concentration.
  6. Please note that not all concentrations are available all campuses. The systems engineering program with the "SE concentration"
    • — is your only option if you are online, HEAT Center, SMHEC or Crystal City
    • — you should have listed the 8 required SE courses. If you are at APL, Dorsey, MOCO or SMHEC, then one of those 8 SE courses will be either 645.771, or 645.753, or 645.761, or 645.742 depending on which is available at the time it is appropriate to take in your schedule (after completion of 645.770)
  7. Verify that if you have indicated that you are selecting the Project Management concentration in systems engineering, that you have listed all ten required courses for this selection.
  8. If you are eligible to take technical elective courses you should also list them:
    • — any JHU EP 400 level or above course is usually acceptable as an elective
    • — SE students need to meet the prerequisites of the elective course or gain permission from the instructor for any course taken in JHU EP not in the SE program
    • — SE concentration students can take two additional courses from the set of 645.771, or 645.753, or 645.761, or 645.742 after they have completed 645.770.
    • — After enrollment in the JHU EP MS SE program, courses taken concurrently at other institutions are not eligible as transfer elective courses.
  9. Systems Engineering students MAY NOT take 595.460 nor 595.464 courses in the Technical Management Program.

Systems Engineering Course Enrollment

A few months prior to the start of a semester, the EP web site opens for student enrollment in courses on a first-come-first-served basis. Please check the annual EP calendar for key dates. Each student must enroll in their next course(s) each semester and can do so conveniently online. If the Program plan is up-to-date enrollment is allowed in the course(s) according to the plan on file. Academic Adviser permission is needed via email or through a Program Plan change approval, if the enrollment system will not process the request.

Most systems engineering course sections are filled or are nearly filled with 20 students each semester, so it is important to enroll in a timely manner. If a course section is filled, you may request to be put on a wait list in hopes an additional section will be opened. When the wait list exceeds 6 or more students and instructors and classroom space can be found, every effort is made to accommodate the wait-listed students.

If for legitimate reasons, enrollment does not occur in a timely manner, the student is invited to come to an Open House prior to start of the semester to seek adviser assistance to enroll on an open course where there is eligibility.

Academic Advisers do not have current enrollment information. Please call 410-516-2300 to confirm your enrollment registration if you do not receive a written confirmation within two weeks of registering or the Friday before the first day of in-person registration.

Transfer Courses

The Admission Committee at the time of admission makes decisions regarding approval of up to two courses for transfer into the MS SE program. Transfer courses from outside the JHU EP must:

  • -come from an accredited college or university
  • -have been taken within the last five years
  • -be clearly graduate level courses
  • -have academic empirical "substance", e.g. technically challenging
  • -not be used for any other degree or certificate
  • -received an A or B grade and accompanied by an official transcript
  • -not be taken at an international institution
  • -not taken after admission into the MS SE program
  • -be relevant to the systems engineering degree
  • -be equivalent to "semester hours" not "quarter hours"

"Relevant to the SE degree" means that the "technical" course is from science, engineering, mathematics or computer science areas. (e.g., not business, history, social science, etc.) Identifying an equivalent EP course is helpful in gaining quick approval. The principle of having elective courses in this systems engineering program is based on the expectation that the systems engineering will be leading a diverse technical teams and to be capable and credible, he/she should be technically current in a chosen field related to his/her career. A link to the college course description is highly recommended.

Courses that have been taken online or small private colleges outside JHU require special consideration, with examination of the course syllabus, sample course work, exams and homework to determine the appropriate inclusion in the JHU degree program. In some cases, contact will be made with the institution to learn more about the course. In this manner, the content and academic rigor of the proposed transfer course can be thoroughly assessed.

When a proposed transfer course provides a very close match to an existing JHU MS SE course, and if the course is approved for transfer, it may replace an existing SE course. All the course transfer criteria must be met. The proposed course(s) are likely from an institution that has a similar graduate systems engineering program. The maximum two-course transfer limit still applies. Academic Advisers do not handle transfer course requests. Please address such questions to Dr. Seymour.

Government and military students in the JHU Systems Engineering Program may have had the opportunity to take Defense Acquisition University (DAU) courses that can be considered for transfer credit into the JHU MS SE program. The accredited DAU courses must be Level III courses that have been certified by the American Council on Education (ACE) with three or more graduate credits. Applicants must provide a copy of their DAU transcripts or an official letter from DAU student services office stating the course(s) title, number and completion date.

Typical courses that would be considered are:

DAU for JHU
PMT 401 ( PMT 301) 645.767
PMT 403/405 645.767
PMT 402/305 645.767
PMT 352B 645.767
SYS 301 645.462
CON 234/353 elective
IRM 303 elective
PQM 301/ PRD 301 elective

For those students who are in an Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) with a corporate partnership with JHU EP, there is a plan that addresses how selected ELDP courses can be used in fulfilling the MS SE degree requirements. In some cases, up to two ELDP courses are eligible that include both required and elective courses. ELDP students should contact the corporate educational representative or Dr. Seymour for discussion of this special arrangement.

JHU cannot count work experience for graduate credit.

Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering

On rare occasion, a student finds that completion of the Master of Science degree course requirement cannot be completed due to work, travel or health reasons. In these cases a Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate can be granted by JHU if the following six courses are completed:

645.767 Management of Systems Projects
645.462 Introduction to Systems Engineering
645.767 Systems Conceptual Design
645.768 System Design and Integration
645.769 Systems Test and Evaluation
And ONE of the following:
595.763 Software Engineering Management
645.770 Systems Engineering Project

Rarely a student will be admitted into the systems engineering program only for the certificate, but this is generally discouraged. The demand for the program at the MS level often limits the space available, and the remaining four courses for the MS degree increase the richness and diversity of the academic experience. Those who might seek the Certificate may already have a PhD or other MS degrees and further credentials would not benefit their career.

Example Systems Engineering SW Tools

MS PROJECT http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/default.aspx

Microsoft Office Project provided project management and scheduling tools to manage projects more efficiently and effectively. You can control project work, schedules, and finances, keep project teams aligned, and effectively communicate and present project information

VISIO http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/default.aspx

Microsoft Office Visio 2007 allows you to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information with data-connected diagrams that communicate information at a glance.

TAU http://www.telelogic.com/Products/tau/tau/index.cfm

Telelogic Tau® provides standards-based Model Driven Development of complex systems and software for information systems and enterprise IT applications, including Service Oriented Architecture

DOORS http://www.telelogic.com/products/doors/index.cfm

Telelogic DOORS®, provides solutions for requirements definition and requirements management, improves quality by optimizing communication and collaboration, and by promoting compliance and verification

Cradle http://www.threesl.com/

Cradle is a requirements management and systems engineering environment. Cradle integrates requirements management, and operational, analysis, design and architecture modeling into a single product, complemented by built-in access control, configuration management, process management and an ability to link to external tools, including PDM systems.

CORE http://www.vitechcorp.com/

The CORE environment synchronizes system requirements, behavioral models, architectures, and design solutions with test procedures and system specifications. The resulting integrated executable architecture can be simulated using the COREsim discrete event simulator to gain insight into potential performance issues enabling better risk and contingency management for any size project. CORE's object-oriented environment delivers the same robust functionality from single user workstations to large, distributed, client-server teams.

Systems Engineering Program Technology

The successful SE student must have access to a modern computer with Microsoft Office software, email and full internet connectivity. The computer should have audio capability. It is helpful but not generally required to have a video camera capability as well.

JHU EP Systems Engineering courses use web software to augment or to deliver the course material. Students will be provided access and training to such tools as WEBCT/Blackboard and, in the near future, SAKAI http://sakaiproject.org/portal. Those courses with video components will use eLive elluminate http://www.EP.jhu.edu/elive/ or, Adobe Connect/Presenter http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/.

For students in the Systems engineering online program, is is desired but not required to have a small computer camera to enhance communication with your instructors and other students. If appropriate, say for group projects, an Adobe Connect link can be created to allow video interaction to supplement the screen, audio, and textual exchange.

See the EP Home page for details.

Systems Engineering Selected Textbooks

Berenbach, Brian and Paulish, Daniel,
Software Systems Requirements Engineering: in Practice, McGraw Hill, ISBN-10: 0071605479 ISBN-13: 978-0071605472
Bernard, Scott,An Introduction To Enterprise Architecture,
Second Edition, Authorhouse, 2005, ISBN-10: 1420880500, ISBN-13: 978-1420880502
Blanchard, Benjamin and Fabrycky, Wolter, Systems Engineering and Analysis,
Prentice-Hall, 2005 ISBN-10: 0131869779 ISBN-13: 978-0131869776
Buede, Dennis, The Engineering Design of Systems: Models and Methods, Wiley, 2000,
ISBN-10: 0932633412 ISBN-13: 978-0932633415
Dam, Steve, DoD Architecture Framework: A Guide to Applying System
Engineering to Develop Integrated Executable Architectures, Booksurge Publishing, 2006, ISBN-10: 1419632965, ISBN-13: 978-1419632969
Eisner, Howard, Essential of Project and Systems Engineering Management,
Wiley, 2003, ISBN 047103195X, 9780471031956
Fargnoli, Thomas, A Bridge to Simplicity Through Diagrams,
Authorhouse, 2007, ISBN-10: 1434334783, ISBN-13: 978-1434334787
Grady, Jeffrey, System Requirements Analysis, Elsevier, 2006,
ISBN 10 -0-12-088514-X ISBN 13- 978-0-12-088514-5
Hatley, Derek, Hruschka, Perter and Pirbhai, Imtiaz, Process for System Architecture and
Requirements Engineering, ISBN-10: 0932633412 ISBN-13: 978-0932633415
Hitchins, Derek, Systems Engineering: A 21st Century Systems Methodology,
Wiley, 2008, ISBN-10: 0470058560, ISBN-13: 978-0470058565
Holt, John & Perry, Simon, SysML for Systems Engineering: The Emperor's New Modelling
Language, Inspec/IEEE, 2008, ISBN-10: 0863418252, ISBN-13: 978-0863418259
INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, version3 June 2006 INCOSE-TP-2003-002-03
Kasser, Joseph, A Framework for Understanding Systems Engineering,
Booksurge Publishing, 2007 (Paperback), ISBN-10: 1419673157, ISBN-13: 978-1419673153
Kossiakoff, Alexander and Sweet, William, Systems Engineering Principles and Practice,
Wiley, 2003 ISBN 0-471-23443-5
Parnell, Gregory, and Driscoll, Patrick and Henderson, Dale,
Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management, Wiley, ISBN-10: 0470165707 ISBN-13: 978-0470165706
Rechtin, Eberhart and Maier, Mark, The Art of Systems Architecturing,
CRC Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8493-044-7
Ross, Jeanne, Weill, Peter, & Robertson, David,
Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution, Harvard Business School, ISBN-10: 0470165707 ISBN-13: 978-0470165706
Rouse, William, Essential Challenges of Strategic Management, Wiley, 2001
Wiley, 2001 ISBN-10: 0471389242 ISBN-13: 978-0471389248
Sage, Andrew, Introduction to Systems Engineering,
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Systems Engineering INCOSE Certification

Certification is a formal process whereby a community of knowledgeable, experienced, and skilled representatives of an organization, such as International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), provides formal recognition that a person has achieved competency in specific areas (demonstrated by education, experience, and knowledge). Certification differs from licensing in that licenses are permissions granted by a government entity for a person to practice within its regulatory boundaries. Certification also differs from a "certificate" that documents the successful completion of a training or education program. Read about the INCOSE certification Program: http://www.incose.org/educationcareers/certification/index.aspx.

The INCOSE released an extension of its Systems Engineering Professional Certification program that targets systems engineers who work in or support the US Department of Defense acquisition environment. This effort was a collaboration between INCOSE and the ODUSD(A&T) Systems and Software Engineering Directorate..

The new certification program is referred to as the Certified Systems Engineering Professional with US Department of Defense Acquisition (CSEP-Acquisition or CSEP-Acq). In addition to the core CSEP examination, which is based on the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook (SEH), Version 3.1, the CSEP-Acq has additional questions based on the Defense Acquisition Guidebook, Chapter 4, Systems Engineering. The INCOSE SEH is available on the international systems engineering standard, INCOSE website. Version 3.1 is based on ISO/IEC 15288:Systems and Software Engineering-Systems Life Cycle Processes.

INCOSE also has launched a new Associate Systems Engineering Professional (ASEP) certification that targets junior systems engineers with less than the five years of experience required for CSEP. ASEP uses the same core examination as CSEP. Visit INCOSE's updated certification website to learn more about these exciting new certification opportunities.

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