Systems Engineering – Now more than ever!
by Mark R. Evans, ASEP, President-2020 INCOSE Chesapeake Chapter
Can you doodle like da Vinci?
There are many reasons engineers give as their motivation for becoming an engineer. But the one standout answer that is most commonly cited (beyond the usual prestige, fame, and fortune) is this: most engineers are drawn to math, science, and problem solving, but what really motivates them beyond their love of problem solving is their desire to make the world a better place. The opportunity to contribute to civilization and improve the life of millions of people is exciting. It gives engineers great purpose in life. Systems Engineers are by their very nature pre-disposed toward designing solutions to complex problems in order to serve humankind.
Since Leonardo da Vinci, (who was arguably the first Systems Engineer in history), the desire to apply innovative and scientific ideas to work serving humankind has been the hallmark of the engineering profession. The history of systems engineering is filled with remarkable engineering achievements. Although some engineers became wealthy, wealth was usually a by-product, not the main motivation for doing engineering. A search for engineering’s greatest achievements results in a long list and an almost impossible selection task…. There are so many amazing engineering accomplishments it is impossible to even rank order the list.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE 20th CENTURY
This list and its history would make an excellent book topic. [Check out Top 20 Engineering Developments of the 20th Century from Thomas Insights] In no particular order, twenty of the best engineering accomplishments of the 20th century were:
1. Electricity
2. The Automobile
3. The Airplane
4. Water Supply and Distribution
5. Modern Electronics
6. Radio and Television
7. Agricultural Mechanization
8. Computers
9. The Telephone
10. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
11. Highways and the systems of roads
12. Spacecrafts
13. The Internet
14. Imaging Technology
15. Household Appliances
16. Health Technologies
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies
18. Laser and Fiber Optics
19. Nuclear Technologies
20. High-performance Materials
The NAE’s full list of engineering achievements, with an expanded explanation of each item, can be found at www.greatachievements.org.
If you were to choose another source, you would get another slightly different representative list, but the point here is engineering, and systems engineering in particular, can be credited with a significant number of the world’s big accomplishments in the past 120 years. Accomplishments that made life better and more enjoyable for many people. In the past, Systems Engineers rose to the challenge of solving some of civilization’s greatest problems and providing solutions for civilization’s greatest needs.
Systems Engineering achievements in the 21st century
So far, there are 19 years of evidence proving great Systems Engineering achievements will continue. The 21st century’s first two decades brought a momentum of discovery and creation that will set a new pace for decades to come. From the growth of communication networks that instantaneously link ideas, to the newfound understanding of physical science, engineers have achieved an understanding that establishes a foundation for future advancements.
“There have been many great engineering and scientific advances in the last decade, ranging from developing the smartphone to building the Hadron Collider. However, the greatest advances are yet to come—sustainable technologies to address the great challenges of our time, energy and water scarcity”
Here is another list from an article “Top 10 engineering advancements of 21st century” from Electronic Products Magazine. Without ranking them, here are the best judged top 10 engineering advancements of the 21st century:
1. Large Hadron Collider
Few 21st century projects come close to dwarfing the size and scope of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Built from 1998 to 2008 by hundreds of brilliant minds plucked from across the globe, LHC is one of the most advanced research facilities ever designed. Its purpose is to prove or disprove the existence of the Higgs boson particle and other particle physics related theories.
2. Mars’ Opportunity and Curiosity rovers
The two rovers are a marvel of contemporary engineering, braving the inhospitable Martian environment in their quest to study soil, rocks, atmospheric conditions, and microscopic particles.
3. Sky Crane
Not to be confused with a helicopter, Sky Crane, is a brilliant solution engineered to solve the problem of safely depositing rovers on the Martian surface.
4. Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam spanning the width of the Yangtze River, China. Regarded as a feat of historic proportions by the Chinese government, the dam is the largest power station in the world, producing a total of 22,500 MW
5. Burj Khalifa
The tallest free-standing structure in the world is situated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Burj Khalifa, translated to “Khalifa Tower,” is the tallest of all skyscrapers with its 829.8 m (2,72 2ft) length. Opened in January 2010, everything about the structure is record-breaking: highest number of stories in the world, highest outdoor observation deck, highest occupied floor, tallest service elevator, and longest elevator travel distance.
6. Grasshopper rockets’ landing system
SpaceX’s reusable launch system development program designed and proved out a launch system that is reusable upon landing in order to facilitate affordable commercial spaceflight.
7. The Brenner Base Tunnel
Construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel began in 2008 as a joint effort between Austria and Italy to create a 55-kilometer (34-mile) railway tunnel directly through the base of the Brenner massif portion of Alps. BBT is slated for completion in 2025. The tunnel will be 1,600 m (5,200 ft) below the surface at its deepest point.
8. Millau Viaduct
France’s Millau Viaduct is the tallest bridge in human civilization; each post measures 343 m (1,125 ft) from top to base. The bridge spans across the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in the Southern portion of France and received a 2006 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award for its integrity and its slender elegance.
9. Upgrades to 3D computer-aided design.
Some may be thinking CAD software isn’t that new. The initial AutoCAD was released in 1982 and 3D-modeling software, SOLIDWORKS, came about in 1995. What’s different and worth pointing out is that efficient 3D modeling only became a thing in the last 10 to 15 years after graphics-processing units improved to the point of being able to render high resolution images made of hundreds of sub-objects.
Modern CAD software allows engineers to shorten design cycles by recreating working models in a manipulative medium to test all parameters and conditions prior to production.
10. Smartphone and Wi-Fi proliferation.
Almost self-explanatory….
Which brings us to a key question in 2020
what can systems engineering do to address the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic?
It is hopeful and encouraging to see that Systems Engineers are actively helping to engineer and provide solutions to the global pandemic. There is a tendency to label the pandemic a health crisis and think of it as a domain problem best addressed by experts within the fields of medicine and epidemiology. But this is more—it’s a complex systems problem that will be with us for several years. It will continue to damage multiple social, economic, financial, government, and health systems until we figure out an adequate control and prevention system.
Just trying to frame the global pandemic problem has been a complex issue. As a problem set, the global pandemic is so complex, addressing it has required a broad skill set in addition to the subject matter expertise required from multiple fields of medicine.
One of INCOSE’s Systems Engineering responses to dealing with the pandemic can be found in a recently published, outstanding paper, titled: “Handling the COVID‐19 crisis: Toward an agile model‐based systems approach”
This paper was written jointly by six INCOSE standouts in one international academic collaboration. It uses MBSE to construct several models that can be used by local governments and scientific organizations to manage and get a handle on the pandemic. Their crisis model looks at economic, health, and government systems within 12 different scenarios and draws comparisons against a zero-baseline “do-nothing” scenario. Surprisingly, in the analysis looking for the optimal systems strategy, the model shows some scenarios where the actions taken resulted in outcomes that were worse than the “do-nothing” scenario. These are the situations that local governments need to understand before making governance decisions. This paper proposes an agile COVID‐19 decision‐aid system as a possible answer for getting control of and eliminating the pandemic crisis. This paper is a must read.
Major Engineering Universities are responding to the crisis
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, MIT’s SOLVE program launched a new Global Challenge: How can communities around the world prepare for, detect, and respond to emerging pandemics and health security threats? This Program has received so many proposals that it closed submissions and is now judging for the winners of over $2 Million in prizes for the best submitted solution. https://news.mit.edu/2020/solve-pandemic-challenge-covid-0413
The Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin has several engineering initiatives that are setting the pace for engineering innovations at American Universities: https://www.engr.wisc.edu/news/covid-19-impact-how-engineers-are-making-a-difference/
The International response
The European Union has some very innovative technologies the EU Parliament has put into place to fight Covid-19 throughout Europe. The EU’s top ten ways to fight Covid-19 are described in this paper: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/641543/EPRS_IDA(2020)641543_EN.pdf
The National Academy of Engineering has issued a National Call to Action.
“The current COVID-19 crisis separates us physically but also compels us to work together to address related societal and economic challenges, ranging from arresting the contagion to relieving stress on the health care system, production of vaccines, and reimagining life in today’s remote working and learning environment.” https://www.nae.edu/230195/COVID19-Call-for-Engineering-Action
Along with the medical and scientific expertise, the engineering community is ideally suited to address these challenges by sharing knowledge, skills, system approaches, and an innovative mindset to combat the contagion and its impact. This project seeks to bring together people with great ideas. The NAE will host more pitch showcases in the coming weeks and months. https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/08/answering-the-call-engineers-continue-to-pitch-new-ideas-to-help-address-covid-19
There are things interested Chesapeake Chapter System Engineers can do
Join-up with the National and INCOSE International led SE call to action responses. Or seek ways to collaborate with other INCOSE Chapters already jointly engaged.
Locally, support our STEM efforts and support schools with tutoring, volunteering, and on-line lecturing.
Keep our chapter commitment to champion systems engineering strong by helping to build our membership…. If each member will attempt to recruit just one friend or engineering associate to join INCOSE and we get just a 15% success rate, the numbers of our professional associates will continue to increase, and our Chapter can grow.
Systems Engineering – Now more than ever!
It’s not just a slogan, it’s a cry for help based upon a critical need for the brain powered engineering solutions systems engineers are known for. There are no doubts that civic-minded systems engineers will answer the call.