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This full-day course is designed to equip engineering professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to combine the strengths of Design Engineering and Systems Engineering into Systems Design Engineering (SDE) principles. These principles will improve engineering efficiency and practically design more sustainable system-level products, all while strategically aligning with digital transformation objectives.

In recent years, the increasing complexity of modern aerospace systems has driven the rapid adoption of robust Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). MBSE is a development methodology centered around computational models, which are instrumental in supporting the design and analysis of intricate systems. In this context, the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) and Systems Modeling Language (SysML) are two prominent modeling languages for specifying and analyzing the structure and behavior of a cyber-physical system. Both languages have their own specific use cases and tool environments and are typically employed to model different aspects of system design. Although multiple software tools are available for transforming models from one language to another, their effectiveness is limited by fundamental differences in the semantics of each language.

In today's complex engineering landscape, effective systems engineering is essential for ensuring the success of projects across various industries. The MBSE Design and Development training course offers a comprehensive exploration of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles and practices, providing participants with the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to excel in modern systems engineering. This course serves as a bridge from traditional systems engineering approaches to contemporary systems modeling methodologies.

To many, a digital twin offers “functionality,” or the ability to virtually rerun events that have happened on the real system and the ability to simulate future performance. However, this requires models based on the physics of the system to be built into the digital twin, links to data from sensors on the real live system, and sophisticated algorithms incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). All of this can be used for integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) decisions, such as determining future failure, root cause analysis, and optimized energy performance. All of these can be used to make decisions to optimize the operation of an aircraft—these may even extend into safety-based decisions.

This work covers the historical development of Built-In-Test (BIT) for fiber optic interconnect links for aerospace applications using Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) equipped transceivers. The original failure modes found that installed fiber optic links must be disconnected before diagnosis could begin, often resulting in “no fault found” (NFF) designation. In fact, the observed root cause was that most (85%) of the fiber optic link defects were produced by contamination of the connector end faces. In March of 2006, a fiber optics workshop was held with roughly sixty experts from system and component manufacturers to discuss the difficulties of fiber optic test in aerospace platforms. During this meeting it was hypothesized that Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) was feasible using an optical transceiver transmit pulse as a stimulus. The time delay and amplitude of received reflections would correlate with the position and severity of link defects, respectively.

Use of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) has been growing across industry, extending beyond defense and aerospace to include various commercial enterprises such as automotive and healthcare. Tool vendors are quick to point out benefits of this model-based approach and practices but are not always clear how MBSE benefits can be realized on a project. When deployed successfully, several key considerations should be addressed that maximize the value for a use-case. This four-hour class will discuss the nature and purpose of the MBSE approach and how key information is used for successful MBSE deployment as it relates to Systems Management.

Abstract Threat identification and security analysis have become mandatory steps in the engineering design process of high-assurance systems, where successful cyberattacks can lead to hazardous property damage or loss of lives. This article describes a novel approach to perform security analysis on embedded systems modeled at the architectural level. The tool, called Security Threat Evaluation and Mitigation (STEM), associates threats from the Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) library with components and connections and suggests potential defense patterns from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 security standard. This article also provides an illustrative example based on a drone package delivery system modeled in AADL.

The complete lifecycle of complex systems, such as ground vehicles, consists of multiple phases including design, manufacturing, operation and sustainment (O&S) and finally disposal. For many systems, the majority of the lifecycle costs are incurred during the operation and sustainment phase, specifically in the form of uncertain maintenance costs. Testing and analysis during the design phase, including reliability and supportability analysis, can have a major influence on costs during the O&S phase. However, the cost of the analysis itself must be reconciled with the expected benefits of the reduction in uncertainty. In this paper, we quantify the value of performing the tests and analyses in the design phase by treating it as imperfect information obtained to better estimate uncertain maintenance costs.

This Human Systems Integration (HSI) Standard Practice identifies the Department of Defense (DoD) approach to conducting HSI programs as part of procurement activities. This Standard covers HSI processes throughout design, development, test, production, use, and disposal. Depending on contract phase and/or complexity of the program, tailoring should be applied. The scope of this standard includes prime and subcontractor HSI activities; it does not include Government HSI activities, which are covered in the DoD HSI Handbook. HSI programs should use the latest version of standards and handbooks listed below, unless a particular revision is specifically cited in the contract.

This course is offered in China only and presented in Mandarin Chinese. The course materials are bilingual (English and Chinese). As the complexity of products increases, traditional text-based systems engineering can no longer meet the needs. To solve the problem, Model-based Systems Engineering offers a unified communication platform among relevant staff by carrying out diagram-based unambiguous description, analysis and design for the demand, and structure and behavior of complex systems in the form of a model.

This course is offered in China only and presented in Mandarin Chinese. The course materials are bilingual (English and Chinese). Currently in the industry, especially within China, product requirement development is more of an experience-based process rather than a scientific methodology. This course addresses this issue and provides a more process-driven method for better requirement development through the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology.  Real industrial examples are used to demonstrate how to systematically convert the voice of the customer data to engineering specifications using QFD.

The advancement of both sensory and unmanned technology, combined with increased utilization of autonomous platforms in complex teaming scenarios, has created a need for practical design space exploration tools to aid in the synthesis of effective System-of-Systems (SoS). The presented work describes a modular, flexible, and extensible framework, referred to herein as the Technologies and Teaming Evaluation (TATE) framework, for straightforward identification of high-quality SoS, which may include both manned and autonomous elements, through quantitative evaluation of system-level and SoS-level attributes against a set of user-defined reference tasks.

The purpose of this four hour short course is to provide information to understand how is established the basic architecture of a Flight Control Actuation System of a transport airplane, i.e. understanding the rationale for the distribution of the control surfaces, power sources, actuators and computers.

This document includes a standard set of management practices that can be used, or espoused, by the OEMs for use during the design and development of electronic systems to mitigate the effects of future Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS). While this document focuses primarily on microelectronic devices, the methods described here may also apply to other commodities.