UK Chapter

Dr Robert Davis and Paul Cheeseman, TPD, 1730H, Wednesday, 1st May 2013, LU's offices in Holborn, London. A review of experience in preparing systems safety handbooks for the rail industry and a look at the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating good practice in Systems Safety Engineering with good practice in Systems Engineering.

Using Multiple Perspectives to Design Resilient Systems for Agile Enterprises

by Jeremy Hilton, Cranfield University

This paper proposes an approach to improve the resilience of systems in the design stage by considering a framework of resilience to inform the system’s requirements. We suggest that, in addition, one should consider the regulatory needs, not only of the system, but also the management of the engineering and project/program management processes. Finally we propose a link between the unstructured problem space and the structured engineering and project management space through the consideration of multiple dimensions of the system’s needs.

Since this is the inaugural meeting, some time will also be allocated to reviewing the aims of the Interest Group and gathering views from those attending on topics for future sessions.

Light refreshment will be provided.

Please note that if you wish to attend you must book by close of play on Friday 10th May, to to allow names to be given to the venue prior to the event.  Please bring some form of identity, such as photographic driving licence or passport to show at reception. The event is free to attend.

Tony Ramanathan, Network Rail, 1730H, Tuesday, 21st May 2013, RSSB's offices at the Angel, London. Tony will discuss GRIP and Network Rail's approach to railway scheme design in the context of schemes that are under way and planned.

Following the success of the first meeting of this new INCOSE Interest Group, we are holding a second on July 22nd at Defence Academy, Shrivenham, starting at 7pm (refreshments from 6.30).

Location Marlborough Hall Room MH109 (different from last time!)

Our guest speaker will be Duncan Kemp, Engineering Skills Development Leader in MOD, and well known to INCOSE audiences as a lively and popular speaker. Drawing on his extensive experience in the leadership of change in MOD and Dept for Transport, he will address us on the topic of

‘Transforming the Enterprise - Challenges and Lessons Learned'

Time will also be set aside for a general discussion on members’ specific concerns, both personal and professional, to assist with guiding future activities of the group.

To allow names of attendees to be passed to the Academy’s visitor reception, it would be appreciated if those wishing to attend could book on-line by close of play on Friday 19th July.

A a collaborative approach to applying systems engineering presented by a collaborative team comprising Nassar Majothi of Parsons Brinckerhoff and Joe Silmon of Atkins.

Steve Lilleyman, Purple Secure Systems.

MBSE offers plenty of promise, tempting architects and system designers with opportunities to improve quality at reduced cost through a rigorous methodology and the possibility of reuse. In reality, it can be difficult to know how to apply this modern paradigm to organisations that have long established ways of working with more traditional approaches to product development. 

This presentation addresses these issues by identifying common problems faced by a range of projects of different types, as experienced by systems engineering consultants working both in the defence industry and in other public and private ventures, and sets out some ways to apply the model based paradigm to good effect.

Note: INCOSE UK South Coast Meetings are open to both INCOSE members and non-members at no cost. 

Once again, this event offers the opportunity to find out what another year of EngD Systems students have been researching, and get an insight into their results and findings.

About the seminar:

Increasingly, human factors issues are being considered fundamental to ensuring the integrity of safe systems. This seminar will bring human factors centre-stage from the periphery of engineering safety-critical systems by illustrating how they should be included within a good safety management system, examined in a similar way to any other risk control system. Seminar presentations from human factors experts working in a selection of industries will demonstrate how human factors issues can be mitigated to ensure safe systems.

A useful side benefit of regular attendance at RIG events is building up a picture of what is going on in UK rail systems engineering but it does take a little while for the picture to emerge. This session is focussed on building that picture in one hour. We invite you to come along and talk for no more than 3 minutes about what your organisation is doing in rail SE. You are encouraged to send me one slide in advance which we will have ready for you to speak to but you can talk without a slide if you want to. (And you can just listen as well.)

If the RIG membership doesn’t let us down (and it never has in the past), participants will leave the session with a more comprehensive overview of who is doing what in UK rail systems engineering than anyone else on the planet.

This event will feature Rick Adcock from Cranfield providing an in-depth overview of the BKCASE project.

The BKCASE project produced its final version of a guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) in September 2012. This will become an INCOSE-hosted product. This presentation will consider what is covered in the SEBoK and will focus in particular on areas of contention or challenge. These cover knowledge areas in which a better shared understanding is needed and those where we need to improve current practice and opportunities for Systems Engineering to expand into new areas. This will help us understand where Systems Engineering needs to go to develop further its knowledge and relationships in the future.