BACKGROUND

In the space of a few decades, the discipline that has emerged as "Systems Engineering" (SE) has come to deeply impact society with its output in the tangible form of delivered services and products. The methods, processes, and tools involved in conceiving, architecting, developing and deploying systems requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach which is known as SYSTEMS THINKING.  

One of the challenges in understanding Systems Thinking and the processes, methods and tools of Systems Engineering is providing AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE SUCH A PROCESS with a full sense of its richness and scope. 

Another challenge is the time lapse between the conception, requirements elicitation and architecture definition until THE DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES OF THOSE CHOICES ARE REVEALED during detailed design, test and integration, and finally in operational use.

An additional challenge is to implement a system of sufficient complexity to demonstrate these consequences IN A CLASSROOM SETTING.

SE IN A NUTSHELL

A key aspect of Systems Engineering is to put methods, processes and tools in place for a development project that:

• Ensures that the envisioned system successfully addresses a real need for a client, in the market or for society at large.
• Identifies the constituent elements of the system and the role that they play
• Ensures that these elements and their interactions are specified to a level that allows for their successful development and/or procurement and successful integration into a system
• Ensures that the system is structured in such a way that it in concert with a support infrastructure provides the desired operational capabilities as well as ability to adapt to evolving needs and technologies over its expected life span

What is a Systems Engineering Experience Accelerator?  

The SE Experience Accelerator should provide a controlled environment/setting that allows for the cultivation of multidisciplinary SE insights in accelerated time.  Much as a flight simulator is used to provide pilots with training and experiences that are either too expensive or not feasible to do in a real airplane, so too will the Experience Accelerator provide students and practitioners with relevant experiences in an authentic environment where they can safely experience the consequences of their actions and decisions.  As with flight simulators, it is important that the students first have the necessary knowledge (Logos), are presented with and work through an authentic (Ethos) and emotional real (Pathos) experience, but also have the contemplative debriefing period in which to fully digest and produce the "aha" experience.

"Without theory, experience has no meaning.  Without theory, one has no questions to ask.  Hence without theory, there is no learning."

-W. Edwards Deming