UK Chapter

 

Designing safety critical systems like signalling and train control is arguably the most important job on the modern railway. While physical infrastructure and rolling stock continue to rely on tried-and-tested designs, signalling is undergoing a transformation with the introduction of the Digital Railway.

 

Our networks are increasingly congested, with more and varied traffic types. As we move toward a dynamically controlled model within this complex ecology, our ability to manage complexity and to assure the systems to the same level of safety integrity must evolve with the technology.

 

To achieve this, we need to facilitate a new management approach that incorporates a more targeted level of risk modelling. By progressively assessing system design – using data collected across the system lifecycle – we can continually refine a design and test its resilience, making enhancements as well as corrections where standards are deficient or non-existent. In doing so, we put system risk engineering back in the hands of the signalling engineers.

Following the success of the previous INCOSE UK - ECF event
hosted by Atkins (Bristol) in November 2018, the next Forum
has been planned. AWE has kindly offered to host the Forum on
behalf of INCOSE UK - ECF at their Aldermaston site, the event is
now open to applications from INCOSE UK members.

Spaces are limited to a maximum of 35 conference delegates only.
Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and are
subject to meeting security clearance requirements.

While the Systems Engineering of complex solutions may initially present the inexperienced engineer with an overwhelming array of variables to consider and problems to solve, in practise specific aspects of the systems engineering process will be more important to realising the final system solution than others; understanding of the problem space, operational environment, system interfaces or system operation for example.

This event will focus on Systems Engineering in action, speakers from AWE and Lockheed Martin will present on projects that illustrate the importance of different aspects of systems engineering in realising a good system solution.

This event will be hosted at AWE Aldermaston. Maps and details for travel will be provided to delegates when their registration is complete.

AWE is a nuclear licensed site; as such all delegates must comply with AWE’s security requirements in order to gain site access. Following registration, you will be contacted via email to provide personal information to AWE’s security team. This information is required to arrange site access and will be handled in accordance with GDPR regulations. AWE reserves the right to refuse site access to applicants.

Please express your interest in attending this event by registering here or by email to ecf@incoseonline.org.uk. If you would like to visit the Educational Collection please state this also.

It should be noted that AWE Security will need to process your site access and therefore late applications may not be processed on time.

Following a first meeting of the reconstituted INCOSE Agile SE Working Group, one of the priorities identified was how we can ensure that Agile Systems Practitioners are competent. We are therefore holding a problem structuring workshop to better understand the situation.

The workshop will take place on May 22nd in London, and will be facilitated by Duncan Kemp of DE&S. We would like a broad cross-section of participants from industry, academia, and different domains at the workshop so that different perspectives can be captured for further investigation and development.

The venue for the workshop will be:
Leonardo
8-10 Great George St
London, SW1P 3AE

 

Agenda

 

• Can we use MBSE for Service-Centric Analysis and Design - Is it useful?
• Service Lifecycle Representations and Harmonisation

 

 Apply via INCOSE UK Calendar before 19 April.  Security ID required

 

Building on from last year's joint conference between the IRSE and INCOSE UK, Karl King and Mike Morua of Frazer-Nash Consultancy will lead a structured workshop to identify the fundamental needs and requirements of an example digital signalling upgrade project. This will demonstrate a robust and concise process of extracting significant volumes of requirements information in an organised and recorded fashion.

This event will be of interest to anyone interested in the capture and development of requirements for complex systems including project managers, designers, operators, engineering managers and sponsors. Participants at this event will leave with a clear picture of good practice in this area and of the gaps between this and their own organisation's practice.

This event is available to IRSE and INCOSE UK members at £115 + VAT and non-members at £130 + VAT

Event Facilitators

Karl King is a Chartered Electronic Systems Engineering Manager with extensive experience of safety critical control technology, particularly in the Railway industry on both mass transit and mainline systems, including Automatic Train Control systems as well as Rolling Stock and Depot Operations.

 

Karl has worked on the requirements development and management for many large complex projects including Cambrian ERTMS Early Deployment Scheme, Victoria Line Upgrade, ETCS Retro-fitment of Rolling Stock fleets, Sydney Train ETCS Upgrade, Thameslink Upgrade, HS2 Enabling Works and Development of a High Voltage Coupler.  He has worked on large railway projects in numerous countries throughout the world including the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Canada, USA, Brazil, India, Malyasia, South Africa, Mozambique, Guinea and Australia.

 

Michael Morua is a highly motivated leader and implementer of new concepts and ideas. He has proven systems engineering in Rail and Defence industries, especially in the areas of complex and time critical projects and programmes.  He has experience in multiple business domains and includes projects with Network Rail, London Underground, the Australian Rail industry, Australian DoD, UK MOD, US DoD, the US Navy and the London 2012 Olympics.

 

Michael specialises in concept development, requirements management and verification/Validation and Interface/Integration management areas.  He has served in Network Rail’s ETCS Strategy and Plans team for UK ETCS national deployment and Network Rail’s Lead Design Organisation for the East West Railway and Wales/Romford Regional Operational Centre Traffic Management schemes. His area of expertise is in the application of systems thinking and system of systems approaches to complex requirements and integration activities in a multiple supplier environment.

 

For further details, including how to book, please see http://irse.info/digsigupgrade18

 

 

Route Migration Strategies – Who Needs Them!

We invite you to a free-to-attend talk on Systems Engineering Methods with respect to Rail industry Route development.

The talk will take place on Tue 26 March 2019, 1800 to 2000 hrs at Network Rail – Square One, Manchester (address below).

Non-members welcome!

A clear and rigorous description of an organisation’s business processes is a key prerequisite of many outputs in the Systems Engineering field and related disciplines. Bristol Local Group is delighted to welcome Martyn Ould to discuss the novel Riva method. Unlike many of the alternatives, Riva combines a rigorous notation with a practical analytical method, one that is currently being used in parts of the Defence and Research community to good effect.

 With concurrency and collaboration at its heart, Riva is grounded in organisational theory rather than driven by the constraints of software modelling tools. It uses business concepts to describe businesses, rather than distorting the world to fit inappropriate software concepts. That said, it has strong formal underpinnings that ensure rigour and transparency in the resulting descriptions, more so than many other approaches that come from software engineering.

 Martyn is the author of Business Process Management – a rigorous approach. During a varied career in Software Development, including teaching at Oxford University and University of West of England, Martyn became increasingly involved in Business Process Management, applying Riva in assignments with major organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland, and with both national and local government. Now pretending to be retired, he was a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Chartered Engineer.

The text of Martyn's book Business Process Management – a rigorous approach is available as a PDF on his website www.veniceconsulting.co.uk, along with other supporting materials

 

 

 

 

Systems Engineers often need to engage with stakeholders and address complex or wicked problems.  Structured Dialogic Design is a methodology that evolved from the field of Interactive Management in the US starting in the 1980s. In its various forms (and under different names) it has been widely applied across the globe in enabling groups to tackle wicked problems and complex challenges, but is not well known in the UK. The Bristol team were therefore delighted when Peter Miles accepted our invitation to talk with us about Structured Dialogue and his experience of applying it in the UK, with clients including the MoD, Rolls Royce and NHS. This presentation will outline the methodology, its provenance, and the current state of practice.

 

 

 

Peter Miles is based in Manchester and is an associate of Demosophia LLC in the US. He is also Vice-chair of Stockport & District Mind, an RSA Fellow, and until recently a non-executive director of SCiO, a community of systems thinking practitioners. Peter has worked in process consulting since 2004, when he set up a business to bring the collaborative processes developed by John Warfield and Aleco Christakis to clients in the UK. Prior to that he was CEO of a division of Teradyne Inc., a business he helped to develop from a start-up. Peter has BSc. and MSc. degrees in Electronics and is a Chartered Engineer.

 

The meeting will take place at the offices of WSP in Manchester, from 10:00 – 16:00. The address is

 

No 8 First Street Manchester  M15 4RP.

If you would like to attend this meeting, please contact us via email on Michael.Gainford@es.catapult.org.uk

Relaunch event with Professor Alan Smith 6pm – 7.30pm 12 December 2018

 

We invite you to join us at the relaunching event of the London Local Group with the aim to provide a local meeting point for people interested in Systems Engineering, and stimulate an open dialogue and exchange of perspectives

Featuring a talk by Professor Featuring a talk by Professor Alan Smith, UCL followed by a group discussion on the future of the London Local Group

Venue: 4-8 Endsleigh Gardens Bentham House  221 Hong Kong Room University College London London WC1H 0EG

A large number of route upgrade programmes that include projects covering disciplines such as signalling, the permanent way, stations, overhead electrification, ticketing, traffic management and other capability improvements are planned within control period 6 within the UK railway industry.  These individual improvement programmes shall lead to a step change in capability that require an integrated and united systems engineering process and migration strategy in order to realise their benefits effectively.

Programme management processes align project outputs to benefits so that benefit realisation can be managed, measured and delivered.  The programmatic, technical, time phasing and assurance approach and benefits realisation should be addressed in an effective Migration Strategy.  The Migration Strategy provides the vision and stakeholder agreed guidance to implement and put into service the new integrated capabilities so that objectives are met within the performance, cost, time and risk parameters agreed by stakeholders.

However, implementation of these route programmes is not merely complicated, it is complex with multiple dependencies, interactions and emergent behaviours, requiring expensive and comprehensive testing programmes to mitigate the impact.

This presentation will highlight these areas of concern and provide systems engineering approaches that complement the programmatics so that major risks can be mitigated and benefit realisation maximised.

The System Engineering approaches covered in this presentation are:

1)  Modelling and Simulation;

2)  Architectural analysis; and

3)  Model Based Systems Engineering

The objective is to show how these methods could be implemented in a manner that is consistent with a route’s business and renewals strategy and are easy to communicate to stakeholders.

The speakers are Mike Morua and Karl King.  They are systems engineers and members of INCOSE and are both currently employed at Frazer-Nash Consultancy as Senior Consultants. Both have experience of the development and delivery of large rail projects involving infrastructure, signalling, telecommunications and rolling stock including such complex upgrade projects as ETCS and CBTC systems.  Mike has experience in defence telecommunications and energy infrastructure projects and has worked in the US and Australia.  Karl has worked on major rail projects, specialising in Command Control and Signalling Programmes, including ERTMS, CBTC and Traffic Management for projects such as Crossrail, Thameslink and the Victoria Line Upgrade Programme.  He has also worked on major railway upgrades in the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique, Guinea, Taiwan, India, Kuala Lumpur, Panama, Brazil, UAE and Israel.

The meeting will take place at WSP House, 70 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1AF (meeting rooms 1-05/06). There is no charge for attendance and the event is open to non-members but places must be booked in advance. To book, obtain directions or to ask any other questions, please contact RIG Organiser, Michael Morua on m.morua@fnc.co.uk or 07763 455171.

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is an international professional society for systems engineers whose mission is to foster the definition, understanding, and practice of world-class systems engineering in industry, academia, and government

 The INCOSE UK Rail Interest Group has been formed:

• To provide a forum for those interested in Systems Engineering in rail to network in a less formal environment, to exchange good practice and to provide mutual support in an area which can require some sustained perseverance;

• To promote, improve and share the practice of Systems Engineering within the rail industry;

• To foster connections with other professional bodies within rail and thereby promote cross fertilisation of knowledge and experience across sectors and community disciplines; and

• To promote awareness of INCOSE UK and encourage membership within the rail industry.

For further information about the RIG, see www.incoseonline.org.uk and follow the ‘Groups’ link.

“The Year of Engineering”

A two-day conference bringing together world-class presenters and practitioners and providing an excellent forum for professional networking. This remains the UK’s premier Systems Engineering event and will feature:

• Keynote addresses will be given on each day
• Technical presentations on contemporary Systems Engineering theory and practice
• Tutorials run by leading Systems Engineering practitioners
• Exhibition of Systems Engineering organisations presenting their products and services
• An academic research showcase poster competition
• The conference dinner, with an after-dinner speaker from the world of armoured defence vehicles.

The ECF will be hosting a meeting for all of its members attending ASEC this year. It will provide an opportunity to meet each other and discuss the Forum's priorities and future plans.

 

The Rail Technical Strategy (RTS) sets the UK’s vision of a technology-driven better railway system for the country, creating a framework for research and development. This is complemented by the recently published Capability Delivery Plan (CDP) defining the specific steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the vision. Similarly, and perhaps surprisingly, our European counterparts are following an equivalent approach with the publication of the Shift2Rail updated Multi Annual Action Plan (MAAP) which includes a vision and a catalogue of railway innovation capabilities and a roadmap defining how to achieve these. In addition, this is mirrored at international level by the UIC producing a research and innovation strategy including a capabilities plan. Can all this alignment mean that we finally can have some joined up thinking on how to carry out research and innovation that is relevant and with real impact? Where does systems thinking fit in all this?

 

The talk will have two distinct parts. It will introduce and explore the aspects described above, followed by an overview of a practical example linked to one of the capabilities identified in these strategic plans. Specifically, an overview will be presented of a current UK research project developing a new braking system concept for overall system capacity improvements.

 

Roberto Palacin has 20 years experience as an academic working on research related to rail and transport systems. He is currently leading a Railway Systems Research Group at Newcastle University as well as being degree program director for mechanical and systems engineering. Roberto has been involved in research projects on subjects such as strategic development of transport systems, energy efficiency of urban and mainline rail systems, urban mobility and sustainability, development of innovative railway concepts, energy optimisation of rail systems, intermodality of the European rail network and development of modular concepts for high-speed. Roberto’s research interests revolve around two main aspects, application of a systems approach to energy conservation and human-systems interaction and include mobility and mass-capacity in the context of MaaS (urban and long distance), improving railways energy efficiency, connectivity and the development of ergonomic and design-led railway environments.

 

Complex projects are becoming the norm, interdisciplinary projects coupled with advanced digital technologies are making the assurance landscape more challenging.  From managing requirements and assuring system interfaces to providing proactive integration, verification and validation of the solutions; only progressive assurance, unifying the suppliers and client in joint delivery, provides the necessary guarantee of success.

 

Tim Whitcher is Solution Lead (Digital Railway) for WSP UK. He brings more than a decade of professional engineering experience within safety critical industries, from assistant tester to technical authority having led, managed and delivered advanced, and SIL-rated, control and infrastructure implementations valued in the low thousands to the multimillions.

 

The meeting will take place at TfL’s offices in 55 Broardway, London SW1H 0BD. There is no charge for attendance and the event is open to non-members but places must be booked in advance. To book, obtain directions or to ask any other questions, please contact RIG Organiser Karl King on k.king@fnc.co.uk or 07403 293935.

 

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is an international professional society for systems engineers whose mission is to foster the definition, understanding, and practice of world-class systems engineering in industry, academia, and government

 

The INCOSE UK Rail Interest Group has been formed:

 

• To provide a forum for those interested in Systems Engineering in rail to network in a less formal environment, to exchange good practice and to provide mutual support in an area which can require some sustained perseverance;

• To promote, improve and share the practice of Systems Engineering within the rail industry;

• To foster connections with other professional bodies within rail and thereby promote cross fertilisation of knowledge and experience across sectors and community disciplines; and

• To promote awareness of INCOSE UK and encourage membership within the rail industry.

  For further information about the RIG, see www.incoseonline.org.uk and follow the ‘Groups’ link.

 

1700H Doors Open, 1725H-1845H Event

Finding people with the right skills to perform railway Systems Engineering (SE) is a challenge that is frequently discussed at RIG meetings. The INCOSE SE Competence Framework cannot solve that problem but it can contribute to a solution by providing an objective means of assessing SE competence which, in turn, can underpin recruitment and staff development.

The Framework was originally developed by organisations in the defence sector but is being increasingly applied in the rail domain. This event will provide an opportunity for those curious about the Framework to understand not only what it is and how it works but also to learn how it can deliver value, what the challenges are and how these challenges may be overcome.

Kevin Gedge of Network Rail and Jane Sanders of Bombardier Transportation are both involved in deploying the Framework within their organisations, They will introduce the Framework, describe their experience of using it, outline some of the challenges that their organisations have faced and describe how these challenges have been overcome.

Ian Presland of Charterhouse Systems is Professional Development Director at INCOSE and a key member of the INCOSE International Competency Working Group. Ian will introduce the recently-released internationally-agreed version of the Framework, describing how it was developed and a pilot project to use competency as a basis for assessing applications for Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) status.

This event is being allocated a slightly longer slot than normal to allow others to contribute their experiences and views with the aims of starting to form an industry view on the Framework and to establish a network of people interested in the Framework in order to foster further exchange of experience. 

The meeting will take place at SNC-Lavalin Atkin's offices in Euston Tower 286 Euston Road London NW1 3AT.  There is no charge for attendance and the event is open to non-members but places must be booked in advance.  To book, obtain directions or to ask any other questions, please contact RIG Organiser, Michael Morua at m.morua@fnc.co.uk or call 07763455171.

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is an international professional society for systems engineers whose mission is to foster the definition, understanding, and practice of world-class systems engineering in industry, academia, and government

The INCOSE UK Rail Interest Group has been formed: 

• To provide a forum for those interested in Systems Engineering in rail to network in a less formal environment, to exchange good practice and to provide mutual support in an area which can require some sustained perseverance;
• To promote, improve and share the practice of Systems Engineering within the rail industry;
  
•  To foster connections with other professional bodies within rail and thereby promote cross fertilisation of knowledge and experience across sectors and community disciplines; and
  
• To promote awareness of INCOSE UK and encourage membership within the rail industry.
  

For further information about the RIG, see www.incoseonline.org.uk and follow the ‘Groups’ link.

UK Healthcare is facing many challenges: an ageing population with increasing complexity of multiple long term conditions; improvements in medical care which can treat a larger number of conditions, and continued budget pressures and raising expectations. Healthcare is a complex socio-technical system, and identifying and devising interventions with clear net benefits is a challenge: a classic ‘wicked problem’. 

This talk is a presentation of a paper by Johnson, Harding, Smith and Beck that recently won Best Paper award at the 2018 INCOSE International Symposium in Washington DC USA.  It covers an outreach project that took place last year to support, through a series of facilitated workshops using systems approaches, a multidisciplinary project led by the NHS in Shropshire to improve services for the frail elderly.  It will explain the context, the nature of the workshops and techniques applied, and the outcomes, including a coherent prioritised work programme, with buy-in from all stakeholders.   The approaches used included, Systemigrams, Causal Loop Modelling, N2 Diagrams, Class Diagrams and others.

The presenter, Julian Johnson (INCOSE CSEP), was one of the 3 strong outreach team.  He has been an active member of INCOSE since 1997 and contributed to OMG Systems Modelling Language (SysML). From 1987-2015 he held roles in BAE SYSTEMS focussed on systems process improvement He is now Director of Holistem Ltd., a systems engineering consultancy focussing on early-phase systems engineering activities.

 

Following the successful launch of the Interest Group in April 2018, this will be our first working meeting.

 

If you would like to attend this meeting, please contact us via email on Michael.Gainford@es.catapult.org.uk

 

Review of Service Systems Engineering Handbook

- Where have we got to where are we going

- Definitions of Characteristics

- Guidance for early Lifecycle Stages - taken from ASEC18 paper

The Viable System Model (VSM), created by Stafford Beer over 40 years ago, has become one of the best known and widely used cybernetic and systems thinking approaches.  It is a powerful tool for the practical process of diagnosing problems in organisations, and helping to improve their functioning. 

 

Trevor Hilder, our speaker, is a long time Systems Thinker and VSM practitioner and has worked in, owned and managed businesses in the field of ICT since 1974.  He has applied the VSM in a wide variety of roles; ranging from training programmers, systems programming, creating one of the first database products to run on PCs, writing manufacturing systems, to building an Enterprise Resource Planning system for a convenience store chain.

 

Trevor had the good fortune of knowing Stafford Beer well, and was given the great complement of being told he is among the finest communicators of the concepts that underpin the model; including Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety.

 

Building on and going beyond the VSM, Trevor has developed his own approach to understanding organisational and individual behaviours and relationships he has called the Moral Modality Framework.   This talk is an opportunity to learn about this powerful new approach as well as the VSM and to gain practical insights into their application.

Presenter: Gary Smith, Airbus

Synopsis: Bio-mimetics have often provided a useful means of inspiration for engineering design, for instance in the fabrication of materials for aerospace. One more recent area of interest, from the perspective of cyber security has been in the remarkable ability of the immune system to cope with the diversity and evolution of threats such as bacteria and viruses. The focus of this talk reflects on the architectural parallels between biological systems and engineered solutions in defence and security. Systems thinking and conceptual modelling are the tools utilized in examining the architectures and the capabilities of the biological systems such as anticipation, adaptability and self-respect. In performing such an examination, greater understanding arises with implications for system science and systems engineering.

Time will be allowed for Q&A after the presentation

Prerequisites: In order to attend please send the following information to TJRABBETS@qinetiq.com no later than COP Thursday 14th June 2017:

- Full name;

- company affiliations; 

- contact telephone number;

- contact  email;

       

Bring along photo ID (e.g. driving licence or passport) on the evening.

 

Attendees are requested to turn up after 18:30 for a 19:00 start

 

Agenda

- Review paper for ASEC 2018

-Use of Architecture Frameworks

-Definition of Characteristics

Updates to draft handbook

 

Agenda

 

·         General discussion

·         Review updated sections of Handbook for Services

 

·         Stakeholder analysis