Program Assessment

Introduction

Systems Engineering focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then continuing with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem: Operations--Performance--Test--Manufacturing--Cost & Schedule--Support--Disposal. Systems Engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Many of us already practice systems engineering, but call it something else: design or development of product, process, service. This course of study will enable the engineer to function in an interdisciplinary team, organize the structure of the project and apply their area of engineering specialty toward the development of a product, process, or service for improved time, cost and quality.

Students will learn how to use the systems engineering process for engineering of complex products, processes or services. The elective modules will build on students' existing knowledge and project experiences by providing additional domain specialization or project management tied to the systems engineering skills of team building, communication, synthesis & creativity, problem solving, management of time and resources, data base management, and life-cycle viewpoints.  The core learning modules will be in basic systems concepts and application of these concepts to engineering life cycle, encompassing customer needs to design to manufacture to operation.
 

Learning Objectives

• Improve students' ability to engineer complex products, processes, or services.
• Develop students' understanding of basic systems concepts and their application to the engineering life-cycle.
• Develop students' understanding of key systems engineering skills, including team building, communication, synthesis & creativity, problem solving, management of time and resources, database management, and life-cycle viewpoints.
• Build on students' existing knowledge and project experiences by providing additional domain specialization or project management tied to systems engineering skills.

Tools

Focused Email Discussion
Given that faculty are remote, programmatic issues are generally communicated by email with the Director acting as facilitator. The Director is central to distributing topics for group discussion, whether initiated by the Director, faculty, or students.

Practicing Engineers
Systems Engineering (SYSE) courses are taught by experts in the field who are full time practioners. Not only are they familiar with the technical aspects of their courses, but they are also aware of the impact of the program on the systems engineering community. Virtually all students are practicing engineers who already have several years experience in systems engineering. By virtue of their particiaption, they are well aware of the important of the program objectives and well aware if they are being met.

Professional Society Interaction
The primary professional society is the International Council on Systems Engineering. The Director is an active member, as are many of the faculty and students. The Director is a member of a working group and a member of the INCOSE University Leadership Roundtable.

Student Portfolios
All masters students are required to maintain an e-portfolio of their learning experience. Given the interdisciplinary nature of systems engineering, a major component of their reflection is the integration of topics among courses as related to the program objectives and their own learning objectives.

Data and Reflection

Student Portfolios-----------------------------------------------------------
The Director is the sole advisor for SYSE 590. In consultation with faculty and select students, the portfolio requirement needs to be made more structured. Too many students wait until the end of their study program to compile the portfolio. The intent of the portfolio is to act as an assessment vehicle and to provide students with experience at system integration. In this case, the system of interest is the students study plan. By waiting until the end, the student loses learning about process maturity, integration under uncertainty, and configuration management. These topics are important to systems engineering and to the student gaining as much possible form the program. The program loses the opportunity for assessment when the student is early in their learning.

Two improvements are being considered:

• engaging individual faculty in encouraging students to make entries to their porfolios on a continuous basis
• restricting advancement in the program if a student has not updated their portfolio.

July 2007 INCOSE ---------------------------------------------------------
Insight article, "A Reference Curriculum for a Graduate Program in Systems Engineering"
Presentation at 2007 International Symposium, San Diego CA.

The authors surveyed systems engineering program from around the world to determine what courses and topics are being taught. They also survey industry and governement agency to determine what competencies are desired in a systems engineer. A gap analysis was presented as well as a proposed framework for a reference systems engineering curriculum.

The Director and a faculty member reviewed the reference curriculum relative to the Portland State program, with the following observations:

PSU-SYSE provides courses in needed competencies:

• systems engineering fundamentals
• decisions and risk
• modeling and simulation
• systems integration

PSU-SYSE may not be offering sufficient coverage of:

• systems architecture
• systems management
  

• System Integration, how is that different from System Engineering Management, Test, Quality and Architecture?  Seems like the overlap of these courses would teach you how to integrate different disciplines.  Byler’s Integration course tends to overlap with architecture so I cannot use that as a guide.   As they have an explicit course in architecture, what is their focus for this topic.
• Another thought I had was that they said leadership training was missing but I did not see it reflected in the final pyramid of the reference curriculum.  In many ways I think the EMGT degree and the Software Engineering degree at PSU have it right by having a specific core course in communication/leadership.  I would rank both courses as highly valuable.
• Also, System Engineering Concepts, System Engineering Management appear to be differentiated from general project management and each other.  It would be interesting to know what they are proposing separates these.  For example does PSU System Engineering Approach class map to System Engineering Concepts or System Engineering Management or both.
• What about system thinking ala Senge.   This area has some interesting stuff but I don't see that in the PSU program and wonder if that would be covered in the System Concepts class.  In particular the idea of the system arch-types would be very interesting to study.
• PSU did well when it came to having a good simulation requirement.  It also does great with the Risk and Decision making course.

Two measures are being considered:

• offering a course in systems architecture
• encouraging students to take a course in teamwork and communication. Such a course is offered in the Engineering and Technology Mangement program, but it will need further evaluation to decide if it can be offered online and covers systems engineering management.

INCOSE ConOps for a SEEC----------------------------------------------------

Jack Ring, a Systems Engineering Fellow, helped develop a Concept of Operations for a Systems Engineering Education Community, in 2002. At the recent INCOSE symposium, June 2007, Jack gave a presentation on its status and encouraged members to revitalize the work. These ConOps represent the thinking of the leaders of the systems engineering community and present a broad, modern vision of what is needed in the future.

Possible Action
These ConOps will be reviewed relative to plans for this program

Systems Engineering Formal Education and Industry Experience, 2008 --------------------

Mark Espeland is an experienced systems engineering working at Rockwell Collins in Army helicopter displays and integration. He reviewed papers and books related to systems engineering education, conducted a survey of select universities, and compiled his findings in his paper, Individual Development in Systems Engineering. He recommends that formal education of systems engineers could be improved by addressing six relevant topics in the curricula:
1. the global context of systems engineering,
2. management, leadership, and team structure,
3. character development,
4. business environment,
5. the human aspect of every system,
6. requirements.

Mr. Espeland's paper will be an important component in our deliberation for developing a new course for the program. This development will start summer 2008 in view of offering a new elective course summer 09.