Chapter 1: Systems Engineering

1.1.1 Defining systems engineering first attempt

This book is concerned, primarily, with applying the Unified Modelling Language (UML) to systems engineering. It would seem appropriate, therefore, to give some definitions for systems engineering at this initial stage. However, this is not as simple as it may appear as there are many definitions to choose from and it would be precipitous to state a definition at this stage without giving some thought to the issues involved. It is not only important to understand the needs for systems engineering, but also to understand what a system is. Therefore, deriving a definition for systems engineering will be left until later in this chapter when we have more of an idea about the scope and complexity of the field of systems engineering. Rather than a single, definitive statement of what exactly systems engineering is, this book will put forward two definitions one technical, one practical which should always be kept at the back of your mind while going about life, but more of this later.

1.1.2 The need for systems engineering

It was stated in the introduction to this chapter that an understanding of why we need systems is required, together with an understanding of what, exactly, a system is [1, 2]. This section aims to address the first of these two points, by asking the question,...