Alice Squires

Year one of the systems engineering experience accelerator

Abstract Systems engineering educators are struggling to meet the workforce development demand for senior systems engineers. Systems engineers are critical for addressing a broad set of increasingly complex systems problems faced by industry and government. However, the discipline is experiencing an outflux of senior systems engineers reaching retirement age with no ready source of systems engineers available to replace them, at a time when the demand for systems engineers is increasing (NDIA, 2010). The workforce challenge is to shorten the time it takes for a systems engineer to reach the senior level. The Systems Engineering Experience Accelerator (SEEA) research project was conceived as a critical response to these needs and challenges. The SEEA focuses on a solution that leverages technology to create an experience intended to accelerate the learning of systems engineering related competencies. This paper summarizes the operation of the preliminary version of a prototype SEEA simulator after the first year of the SEEA project. A review of the plans for future research is also included.

Enabling Systems Engineering Program Outcomes via Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge

Abstract With the ever-increasing complexity of systems, it is important to properly educate the upcoming systems engineering workforce. The Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering (GRCSE) provides guidelines for graduate program degrees in systems engineering. GRCSE establishes a baseline set of entrance expectations, objectives, outcomes and content for any graduate degree in systems engineering. GRCSE recognizes that each university needs to meet the needs of their constituents, and for this purpose, GRCSE only defines 50% of the program content, and leaves the other 50% to be defined by individual universities to satisfy the needs of their stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to introduce GRCSEs outcomes, and how those outcomes can be attained through the program content.

Work in process: A Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE™)

This paper reviews the progress and content of the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) and the Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering (GRCSE™) products being developed as part of the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE™) project initiated in September 2009. The version 0.25 of each product was released for limited review in fall 2010; version 0.5 of each product will be released for public review in fall 2011; and final version 1.0 of each product are due out in fall 2012. This paper reviews how these products differ from and build upon existing products, and recounts lessons learned after the first 15 months on the project.

A systems approach to creating a sustainability performance benchmarking and reporting framework

While there have been several innovations in the field of corporate sustainability over the last decade, many companies have found the activities involved in data gathering and analysis to support monitoring and reporting of sustainability information to be extremely time consuming and lacking in clear answers of risk and return. Corporate sustainability management (CSM) is gaining grounds recently. CSM looks at the dependence of a companys viability on its ability to create optimal profit without causing environmental damage and social problems in the community (Rahardjo, 2013). The purpose of this research is to establish a benchmarking framework that creates a systematised method for comparative reporting of sustainability information in order to lower the barrier to entry for companies struggling to invest in sustainability.