The Autumn Assembly 2001 Abstracts

Understanding and Dealing with Systems chaired by Prof. Philip John

It is evident at every Systems Engineering event that there are many people working on processes, methods and tools (witness the number of papers on UML at the Spring Symposium). This is interesting but is certainly not sufficient. In order to develop systems engineering as a true discipline, we must develop an understanding of, and ways of dealing with, SYSTEMS. Systems are, after all the defining issue of systems engineering. 

If we do not address this issue then we risk developing elaborate processes, methods and notations .... and applying them to the wrong problem and addressing the solutions in the wrong way! This session addresses the following topics:

• Systems Engineering : Past, Present, Future
• The Importance of thinking Systems
• Developing a Context for Methods

The session will be completed with a panel question and answer and open discussion session on how the concepts presented relate to the standard SE process. Chairing the session will be Prof Philip John and there will also be presentations from Malcolm Mills (Gregory Harland Ltd) and Prof Andrew Farncombe.

UK Chapter Annual General Meeting

Returning to past practice, the UK Chapter AGM will be held at 12:30 on Monday 12th November. This is your opportunity to find out the state of the Chapter’s finances and endorse the nominations for next year’s committee. This part of the proceedings will last no longer than half an hour to ensure the maximum amount of time for the technical parts of the event.

All members of the UK Chapter will be circulated with a separate notice of the AGM, providing details of the proceedings.

Systems Engineering the Enterprise chaired by Allen Fairbairn

Complex projects and the enterprises that execute them can benefit much more than at present from an intelligent application of systems techniques.Whilst classic systems engineering will always be of use, a more broadly based set of techniques is required, especially to deal with the people systems and complex interactions with stakeholders.

Arguably, these considerations have been ignored in the past, in the interests of simplifying the problem space to be considered for the system of interest. Such an approach is no longer tenable for organisations that wish to learn from their current projects and adapt swiftly to the increasingly volatile market changes that are now emerging.

This session will examine ways in which techniques are now being developed to address the greater complexities involved in taking a much broader view of project realisation. The session will also introduce the recently established Intelligent Enterprise Working Group (IEWG) formed at the Melbourne Symposium in July, membership of which is open to all INCOSE members.

The session will be chaired by Allen Fairbairn of Elipsis, and will include presentations from Eve Mitleton-Kelly, Director of Complexity Research Studies, London School of Economics, Professor John Boardman, Systems Engineering Group, De Montfort University and Christopher Dean of Airbus UK Ltd.

System Modelling chaired by Bob Briggs

RDD-100 introduced a comprehensive integrated modelling environment over 15 years ago. The linkage between behavioural, physical and functional models is a powerful way of ensuring that all aspects of a system are correctly designed. Other tools have followed a similar route, but still many systems are developed solely on the basis of a set of requirements. The move to Object Oriented approaches may alter the characteristics of these viewpoints, but doesn’t change the fact that they must all be addressed.

This session addresses the following topics: 

• Why requirements on their own are not enough?
• Where does modelling fit in systems engineering?
• Modelling Myths
• Behaviour Modelling – the missing link?
• The move to Object Oriented approaches

The session will be chaired by Bob Briggs of Robert Briggs & Associates, and will include presentations from Paul Hicks, Graham Bleakley of I-Logix, Steve Whittle of BAE SYSTEMS and Jon Holt of Brass Bullet.

Requirements Engineering Workshop chaired by Paul Davies

Requirements Engineering still seems to be a major concern of many Systems Engineers, despite the large volume of publications on the subject. Much good work has been done by the INCOSE Requirements Working Group in recent years, but there is more that can be done to solve the ‘great unsolved problems’ perceived by the members. What are the real issues concerning those of us working in the ‘front-line’, and what can we in the UK do to help each other?

The session team will elicit your views and compile a ‘wish-list’ of issues to address, for presentation at the end of the session. Ideas on Working Groups to address problems other than Requirements will also be welcome. While this compilation is under way there will be presentations on some of the latest developments in Requirements Engineering. These will be selected from:

• Requirements Categorisation
• Requirements Metrics
• Requirements Research
• Toolset selection

This session is planned as an introduction to the efforts to establish a UK segment of the RWG, working locally within the UK and contributing to the main INCOSE Technical Community. Anyone interested in contributing to this initiative should make every effort to attend this session.

The session will be chaired by Paul Davies of Thales aided by Douglas Cowper of UCL.