Dr. Jo Ann Lane on System of Systems Engineering: What it is, How to Get Started, and What is Important at the SoS Level Abstract: Today’s need for more complex, more capable systems in a short timeframe is leading more organizations towards the integration of existing systems, Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products, and new systems into network-centric, knowledge-based system of[…]

J.D. Baker on Requirements Development with RML® Abstract: A list of 2,563 “the system shall” statements must be one of the most boring things to read or write. It’s no wonder that engineers struggle with traditional requirements documents. Because reviewing long lists of “shall” statements would put anyone into a daze, analysts and others reading such documents have[…]

Professor Barry Boehm, University of Southern California on Using the Incremental Commitment Spiral Model to Stay on Top of the Changing DoD Acquisition Processes Abstract: The US Department of Defense is continually evolving their processes to find ways to provide needed system capabilities quickly, reliably and cost effectively.  This includes the incorporation of new technologies, managing system and[…]

Jeff Grady on Universal Architecture Description Framework Abstract: The history of system and software engineering modeling – for the purpose of understanding problem space and communicating the results of an analysis of problem space in the form of specifications – is about to come full circle. Starting as a fairly universal application of flow charts, it is now[…]