From the Complex Systems Engineering Series:
A Brief History of
Systems Engineering
(or, how in the heck did we get here?)
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
All rights reserved.
Presentation Contents
In the Beginning………….
Modern Systems Engineering
The Rapid Evolution of Systems Engineering: 1940 to 1995
The Rapid Evolution of Systems Engineering: since 1995
Origins of Systems Engineering in Control Theory
Buddha was the First Systems Engineer
Conclusions
Questions?
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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In the Beginning………..
The origin of systems engineering is disputed, but it
surely evolved out of necessity.
The complexity of the entities and projects increased
The technical depth and necessary specialty know-how increased
The breadth of types of technical know-how widened
The need to communicate and coordinate amongst a wide variety of
people (no one person had sufficient knowledge)
The term, “Systems Engineering”, is relatively new
(since the 1940’s [1] [2]), even though the art of
systems engineering is much older.
The discipline and science of systems engineering
as we know it today is relatively recent (1990’s), and
owes a lot to NCOSE/INCOSE [2].
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Modern Systems Engineering
Several aspects made the discipline and science of
modern systems engineering possible.
A well-defined, common vocabulary
Documented standards and guidelines
A coherent set of processes that are documented
Tools and methods able to implement those processes
The use of models to develop, test, and communicate system concepts
An educational program in various institutions that offers a specialty in
systems engineering
A method to certify or qualify systems engineering professionals
INCOSE has been instrumental in all of these, and
they have been in place only in the last few years. [1] [3]
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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The Rapid Evolution of SE: 1940 to 1995
Driven by the need to develop and field complex,
highly technical systems.
Manhattan Project
Military systems (large ships, aircraft, missiles)
Space systems
Computer hardware and software
Talented individuals, enlightened companies, and
even the government forged their way through the
complexity. They invented ad hoc standards,
methods, and tools as they went.
Discipline and repeatability were a problem
Education and written processes were lacking
Varied considerably across the country, and the world
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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The Rapid Evolution of SE: 1940 to 1995 (cont.)
The term “systems engineering” dates back to Bell
Telephone Laboratories in the early 1940s [2] [4]
WWII was a major driving force behind the need for
“systems engineering”.
Hall [1962] asserts that the first attempt to teach
systems engineering as we know it today came in
1950 at MIT by Mr. Gilman, Director of Systems
Engineering at Bell. [5]
TRW (now a part of Northrop Grumman) claims to
have “invented” systems engineering in the late
1950’s to support work with ballistic missiles. [6]
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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The Rapid Evolution of SE: 1940 to 1995 (cont.)
In 1990, a professional society for systems engin-
eering, the National Council on Systems Engineer-
ing (NCOSE), was founded by representatives from
a number of U.S. corporations and organizations.[1] [2]
As a result of growing involvement from systems
engineers outside of the U.S., the name of the
organization was changed to the International
Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) in 1995.
[1] [2]
In the 1970’s/1980’s, the energy crisis and competi-
tion from Japan forced the automotive industry to
develop cars as highly complex systems.
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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The Rapid Evolution of SE: since 1995
In the last 16 years, most all commercial systems
have become more complex, and technology more
diverse, such that systems engineering is now
essential in virtually all fields.
More recently, medical, biomedical, and medical
devices have become sufficiently complex, as well
as safety-critical, that a disciplined systems
engineering approach has become essential (hence
the theme of this Mini-Conference).
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Origins of Systems Engineering in Control Theory
But wait! Some (including myself) would argue that
systems engineering really started with control
theory.
It is feedback and control that makes a system a “system”.
Feedback causes complexity, and leads to emergent behavior.
Scientists and engineers have been working with control theory since
the 1800’s (even though the terminology was different)
Brief history of Automatic Control (through Years)
1868 first article of control ‘on governor’s’ –by Maxwell - 1965 Fuzzy Set Theory; Fuzzy Control
1877 Routh stability criterien - 1972 Vidyasagar multi-variable optimal control and Robust control
1892 Liapunov stability condition - 1981 Doyle Robust control theory
1895 Hurwitz stability condition - 1990 Neuro-Fuzzy
1932 Nyquist
1945 Bode
1947 Nichols
1948 Root locus
1949 Wiener optimal control research
1955 Kalman filter and controllability observability analysis
1956 Artificial Intelligence
1957 Bellman optimal and adaptive control
1962 Pontryagin optimal control
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Buddha was the First Systems Engineer
But wait! The origin of systems engineering can be
traced to Buddha.
The historical Buddha lived from 563 to 483 BC (this
is actually uncertain, since this was pre-historic times).
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Buddha was the First Systems Engineer (cont.)
Anil Rajvanshi makes a case for the very first
philosophical awakening to systems engineering. [7]
“Does an enlightened individual need to remain caged in the body? Why not get
liberated from the physical? For seven days, the Buddha grappled with this dilemma. In
the end, he decided that there was nothing personal about enlightenment - the
knowledge should be shared with all for the benefit of humankind. He spent the next 50
years doing just that, and all those who listened to him benefited greatly.”
“It is necessary for all of us to discover truth (understand the system, build a model of
the system, define interfaces, and interactions with other systems), but once we find it, it
should be shared freely with others (specs flowed down, ICDs generated, share with
others an understanding of how the system should work). This will not only provide more
insight, but also foster peace and happiness (successful and effective systems). The
desire to share our discoveries with the world is normally fuelled by greed (ego) for
either fame or money. Very few are selfless enough to share their discoveries freely for
common benefit (but this comes as second nature to a systems engineer).”
Buddhist Proverb: “When someone shares something of value with you, and you
benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.”
And thus “systems engineering” was born!
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Buddha was the First Systems Engineer (cont.)
The detailed specialists (mechanical engineers,
electronics engineers, software engineers, etc.)
attain inspiration and enlightenment, but…….
It’s a unique in-body experience that specialists tend to internalize
Can produce very good designs, but not necessarily good systems
Typically not communicated to, and not coordinated with, others
Has not worked well on complex systems, unless the detailed
specialists are managed and coordinated by a systems engineer
Systems engineering is all about sharing, communi-
cating, coordinating, and optimizing (all out-of-body)
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Buddha was the First Systems Engineer (cont.)
The key points here are:
The universality of enlightenment, and the problems of keeping it
within you
The concept that great improvement and success can be obtained by
many people openly sharing their “enlightenment”
The systems engineer’s intrinsic need to communicate and coordinate
his own “enlightenment”, as well as that of others, for the overall
success of the system
“Greed” (ego) is an impediment to successful systems
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Buddha was the First Systems Engineer (cont.)
Halverson’s First Axiom on Systems Engineering:
“If the detailed specialists could see the big picture, and were able to
communicate perfectly, there would be no need for systems
engineers.”
Halverson’s Second Axiom on Systems
Engineering:
“Except for Buddha, all people are born as either detailed specialists
(an inch wide, but a mile deep), or as systems engineers (a mile wide,
but an inch deep).”
Halverson’s Third Axiom on Systems Engineering:
“You can’t train a detailed specialist to become a systems engineer,
and vice versa. These are intrinsic traits you are born with.”
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Conclusions
The real novelty here, and the point of this whole
presentation, can be summarized as follows:
There has always been a need for systems engineering
Complexity, technical diversity, and the need to involve many experts
leads to the need for systems engineering
It is only recently that we have had a name for it
It’s all about communication!
It is the moral thing to do
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
All rights reserved.
Questions?
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
All rights reserved.
Bibliography
1. “A Brief History of Systems Engineering”, the INCOSE web site,
www.incose.org
2. “Systems Engineering”, Wikipedia
3. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, Version 3
4. Schlager, J. (July 1956). "Systems engineering: key to modern
development". IRE Transactions EM-3 (3): 64–66. doi:10.1109/IRET-
EM.1956.5007383
5. Arthur D. Hall (1962). A Methodology for Systems Engineering. Van Nostrand
Reinhold. ISBN 0442030460
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
All rights reserved.
Bibliography (cont.)
6. extract from the USAF Space and Missile Systems Center's History Office
7. “Peace on Earth: Cosmic Consciousness is Well within Reach”, Anil
Rajvanshi, http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Peace_on_Earth/id/219635
Copyright © 2011 Mark Halverson
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Back-Up Slides
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