ECE 09421Introduction to Systems Engineering

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Systems Engineering is the interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of today's complex, dynamic products and systems. Individual products such as Cell phones, aircraft, automobiles, computers and even household appliances are made up of parts developed by many people with varied skill sets, often working for different companies and from remote locations. Other systems such as transportation, energy generation and distribution, medical, communications, emergency response and similar are very complex as they are composed of many varieties of products and systems. Systems Engineering is an integrating function that addresses all the disciplines and specialty groups resulting in a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation including maintenance & support, and eventual disposal. Systems Engineering considers both the business and the technical needs, including environmental and safety, of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem that includes - operations, cost & schedule, performance, training & support, sustainment, test, disposal, and manufacturing. The course is designed to expose the student to the system engineering process to complement their technical skill set and to cover topics that are often not covered in other classes. The course will include frequent guest lecturers who are practicing experts in the systems engineering domain. The course will utilize the latest in processes and software tools from industry such as SysML modeling and architectural documentation tools. Students will participate in a semester long project to gain hands-on experience with the course concepts.