Engineering Mega-Systems The Challenge of Systems Engineering in the Information Age

SETTING THE STAGE
List of Acronyms

Introduction
The Trend Toward Large-Scale, Richly Interconnected Systems
Why This Book?
Organization of the Book

Context and Trends
Changing the Strategic Environment in the U.S. Department of Defense
The Imperative to Share Information across Agencies
Enabling Conditions
Institutional Trends: Enterprisewide, Top-Down Perspective
Implications for Systems and Programs
A Look Ahead

CONCEPTS AND FRAMEWORKS

Mega-System Concepts
What Is a System?
Mega-Systems
Summary

A Framework for Exploring Mega-Systems
Basis for the Framework
Elements of the Basic Framework
Tame versus Wicked Problems

Engineering and Acquiring Mega-Systems
What Is Systems Engineering?
Mega-System Challenges for Systems Engineers
Troubled Large-Scale Systems
Levels of Systems Engineering
Enterprise Systems Engineering Profiler

CASE STUDIES IN ENGINEERING MEGA-SYSTEMS

Introduction to Mega-System Case Studies
A Note about Case Studies
Approach to Mega-System Case Studies

Single Integrated Air Picture
Motivation: Moving from Independent Systems to a Theater-Wide Integrated Capability
Standing up a System Engineering Organization
SIAP System Engineering Process
Building the IABM
Formalizing the SIAP
Summary
SIAP Mapping to the Systems Engineering Profiler
Insights for Engineering Mega-Systems

Developing the Electronic Product Code Network
Background
The Auto-ID Center
The Vision: An Internet of Things
Concept and Technologies
RFID Design Process and Implementation
Transition from Research to Commercialization
EPC Adoption
Summary
EPCglobal Network Mapping to the Extended Framework
Insights for Engineering Mega-Systems

Observations from the Case Studies
Case Study Recap
Observations

THE WAY AHEAD

The Way Ahead
Emerging Tenets
Matching Practice to Circumstances
An Emerging View of Systems Engineering as a Continuum of Practice
Refining the Engineering Tenets: A Way Ahead
An Emerging View of Next-Generation Practice
Concluding Thoughts

POSTSCRIPT: PROFILING A COMPLEX ACQUISITION PROGRAM
Multiple Purposes of the Study
Approach
Findings
The Profile as an "Uncertainty Map"
Recommended Practices for Dealing with Uncertainty
Conclusion

Biography

Renee G. Stevens is a Senior Principal Engineer at The MITRE Corporation. She has 30 years of experience in the analysis, engineering, and acquisition of large-scale systems for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies. Her current interests lie in research and practice contributing to the development of an enterprise systems engineering discipline.

Stevens has developed the well-received Profiler tool for use in characterizing the environment and context in which a system will be developed and will operate. It serves as both a diagnostic tool and the basis for a situational model. Results have been widely briefed to government, academic, and professional audiences. She is applying the model to the assessment of several large-scale programs and is conducting research on innovative strategies and practices to improve the acquisition of information technology systems.

Stevens received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Hunter College, City University of New York, in 1966, and a master’s degree in public and business administration from George Washington University in 1981. She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Academy of Management.