UK Chapter

The Scottish local groups next meeting has now been arranged and will be held in Glasgow on the 18^th April. There has been some new interest in the group and so likely to be some new faces, all are welcome.

The main focus on this meeting will be around how we take the local group forward, focusing on what systems engineering means to each of us.

Light refreshments will be available.

Please note that due to building restrictions it’s necessary to provide citizenship information in advance of the meeting. Therefore if you have not already done so before please provide this information and your name in an email to paul.wylie@uk.thalesgroup.com.

Agenda

·         General discussion

·         Review updated sections of Handbook for Services

·         Stakeholder analysis

Ahead of a Institute of Rail Signalling Engineers (IRSE) conference in April, Adam Rixon (WSP) and Kevin Gedge (Network Rail) will look at how requirements engineering is used within the rail industry.

Adam will focus on how requirements engineering can be taught to non-systems engineers with a dry-run of an interactive workshop and a discussion on how domain specialist engineers can be encouraged to write and recognise good requirements.

Kevin will look at how Goal Structured Notation (GSN) has been used in the context of requirements engineering within Network Rail projects.

Network Rail's Manchester office is easily accessible from Manchester Piccadilly station and light refreshments will be provided. If you intending to arrive by car, please email Receptionsquareone@networkrail.co.uk 48 hours before the meeting with their name, car registration and the meeting details (Room 3.7/3.8, INCOSE NWG, Starting at 18:00 on 15th March).

Our speaker is Matthew Dent.  He is a Chartered Engineer with a Masters in Systems Engineering from Loughborough University, and is now an independent consultant with recent experience implementing MBSE in the defence industry.

In this talk he will summarise a research paper he presented last summer at the 27th Annual INCOSE International Symposium (IS 2017) in Adelaide, Australia. It focuses on the application of MBSE and the development of a Knowledge Model to manage and integrate complex capability, across disparate stakeholder groups within a large organisation. He will also discuss some of the key insights from IS 2017 and he hopes to promote discussion on some of the MBSE adoption challenges that we face today.

Main Items:

Feed back from ASEC 2017

Headings/skeleton for Guidance for Systems Engineering for Services

Populating the Guidance

Notes on previous meetings on the Service Systems Engineering Wiki

The Annual Systems Engineering Conference (ASEC) is INCOSE UK's flagship annual event and brings together a wide range of professionals from a variety of backgrounds, with the common interest of building upon their Systems Engineering (SE) knowledge and sharing ideas with their peers.

INCOSE UK hosted its first annual conference in 2010, with the aim of creating the premium annual SE conference in the UK. Now in its 7th year, ASEC has indeed grown to become the UK’s foremost SE conference.

This years theme is "Pushing the Boundaries of Systems Engineering".

For more information please visit www.asec2017.org.uk

The 4th industrial revolution embraces issues around automation, digital, data exchange and “smart” systems. It includes cyber-security, virtual representation and the Internet of Things. It is claimed it will revolutionise and change the world.  This talk will explore and discuss how the fundamental systems principles of understanding functionality, connections and emergence will still apply.  Systems will become more complex rather than merely complicated, and their scope and impact will expand. This implies an evolution in Systems Engineering practice. At the core of this will be the need to apply Systems Thinking well, and so there will be an even greater need to overcome the barriers to Systems Thinking.

Richard Beasley joined Rolls-Royce in 1986 and after working on Integration Aerodynamics, Safety, Reliability and Life Cycle Engineering, became the Global Chief of Systems Engineering and in 2011 was made a Rolls-Royce Associate Fellow in Systems Engineering.  Richard is a great champion of Systems Engineering and from 2014 to 2016 was President of INCOSE UK.

Dear all,

This event is in partnership with the IET

About this event

Discuss the challenges associated with developing architectures for complex multidisciplinary systems that are diverse and heterogeneous in nature. In particularly the design approaches that consider emergent behaviours and aim to achieve particular system level attributes. I’m especially interested in scenarios where architectures are typically developed independently by discipline but there is a functional relationship apparent at the system level e.g. the performance of a modern F1 race car may be dependent on the interactions of aerodynamics, handling, power and the control philosophies. How can these diverse and complex disciplines be managed to achieve the optimum integrated system level
performance?

Speakers

Our speakers for the event include:

• Mike Wilkinson - Niteworks
• Stuart Mitchell - Yorkshire Water
• Jonathon Holt - Rolls Royce
• Professor Visakan Kadirkamanathan - Sheffield University
• Tim Rabbets - QinetiQ

To registration for this event please go to the IET website site

Dr. Steve Wright is a senior lecturer in Avionics, Systems, and Electronics in the Engineering Design and Mathematics Department at the University of the West of England, with special interest in drone technologies.

Steve will explain how the evolution and convergence of a number of separate technologies allowed for a revolutionary step change in consumer/prosumer drone capability and affordability.

Each of these technologies and how they are integrated will be described, as will the emergent challenges for system reliability. In particular, the difficulties posed by the different technical heritage these drones have compared to conventional aerospace.

We hope to provide both a static and flying display of a selection of drones.

Please note this event will be held at BAWA, and not our regular venue.

Presenter: Niki Jobson

Presentation title: Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering - Same but Different?

Presentation  synopsis: The presentation will explore the role of systems thinking (ST) in developing a shared understanding of a complex, dynamic, multi-stakeholder problem space and characterising the nature of the challenges in order to provide a firm foundation for solution development.  It will seek to tease out the similarities and differences of applying ST during problem understanding and system engineering, and will provide a high level overview of underpinning ST concepts, laws, methods and tools and an emerging competency framework.  

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There is currently a whirlwind of excitement and anticipation around innovation related to intelligent infrastructure, internet of things and smart cities. Much of this is technology-led and predicated on ‘more data equals more benefit’.

Whilst an element of this future is reliant on more open and shared data, other fundamental keys to unlock benefits quickly reside in vision, outcomes and business models. 

In this presentation, Rakesh Gaur of Transport for London explores how the skills to resolving these parameters are positively aligned to those who can apply a whole systems engineering approach; focusing on key requirements, understanding trade-offs, managing risk and knowing how to deal with the unintended. 

He will describe how the Transport for London approach blends both challenge and vision-led innovation and explores the potential consequences when a systems approach is not followed.

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Kindly hosted by

Systems and Control Research Centre
School of Mathematics Computer Science and Engineering

City, University of London

Bio

After starting his career as a train driver, Scott Meadows moved into operations and performance at Network Rail where he worked with cross-industry groups to improve the industry’s safety and reliability performance. He is currently a principal consultant at Altran, working on the Programme and Systems Integration team for the Thameslink programme. Drawing on the doctoral research he started at Leeds University at the Institute of Transport Studies, he has written a systems model of power based on his experiences in the UK Railway Industry.

Synopsis

Power is like gravity and electricity. We know it exists through its effects; we often however, explore its consequences rather than the medium itself. We all work in or for organisations where the perception of power is distributed among many actors and, when we get that distribution wrong, the effects are adverse.

How do we explore power, its nature and basis, then? Can we use systems thinking to understand the power environment and to predict and prevent problems that may arise from the perception of power distributions?

The answer is yes: through system dynamic modelling. Here we can start to model our power environment, explored through three recognised faces of power, how power is developed and exercised. But we can also add a fourth face of power, in terms of system feedback, an element that is often overlooked.

This is the Special Theory of Holes. It is a systems dynamic model of the exercise of power, taking the inputs to ‘A’ who exercises (Overt, Covert and Latent power), over ‘B’, who has power exercised over them, to achieve something, classed as an output. However nothing exists in isolation. ‘B’ sometimes responds in ways we don’t account for or fully understand: this is their feedback to the system of power exercised by A. If we want to improve working conditions and the efficiency and efficacy of our organisations, dismissing system feedback can be costly. It is here where modelling the power environment can help us understand the exercise of power in play, and identify if it is reducing our overall capability.

Scott hopes that the presentation will offer systems thinkers a vision of how they may be able to use their skills to deal with problems at work that they previously thought that systems thinking could not reach.

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The need for the MOD to set out the future strategic context was articulated in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. To meet that requirement, the Strategic Trends Programme was started in 2001 and the first edition of Global Strategic Trends (GST) was published in 2003. Subsequently, GST, along with the Future Operating Environment have been key elements of the MOD’s contribution to both the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review – and we expect them to play similar roles in the future. 

GST is the first step in a series of MOD long-term planning activities. By providing a global context, further work will then be able to examine its implications and develop policy and capability options to meet the resulting challenges. While GST is produced principally for MOD it has utility for others involved in long-term planning. The program has benefited from considerable engagement with those outside MOD – from academia, business and government both domestically and internationally. In so doing, we have deliberately attempted to avoid a single, subjective perspective.

The presentation will discuss the starting point for the next version of GST and the way trends are being identified. It will discuss some of the analysing techniques used and the process upon which the next version of GST is being produced.

Paul Norman

Paul currently works for the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre as the Technology lead for the strategic trends program. He received aMaster of Physics degree from the University of Manchester in 2000. After graduating he worked in the finance industry where he was promoted to the head of the offer and completions department within Alliance and Leicester. In 2003 Paul decided to change career and began working for the Defence Ordnance Safety Group where he worked as a numerical modeller and explosive effects scientist. In 2009 Paul studied for a Masters Degree in Explosive Ordnance Engineering at the Defence Academy. After graduation Paul decided to stay at the Defence Academy where he now works within the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre.

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The application of requirements management to civil engineering-led, rail related, multi-disciplinary design and build projects has had varied success in recent years.  Key UK Rail clients have their own requirements management processes and the challenge for designers has been to find the right processes to facilitate demonstrating compliance of design, for more than 10 different disciplines, with swift approvals, fixed construction deadlines and without introducing significant addition cost.

In this presentation, Anne Bearne of Arup shares her experiences in delivering requirements management which meets the needs of client, and project managers and which design teams can efficiently embed within their design processes and outputs. This entails a tailoring of requirements management processes to respond to the way in which railway projects, and in particular largely civils based railway projects, are delivered.  

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Workshop to develop framework that covers/relates major aspects: lifecycle, process, artefacts, stakeholders, lines of development etc.

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The railway system is continually developing and changing. In long-established infrastructure systems, like the railway system of Great Britain, development is often complex. Innovation in these systems is both important and difficult to understand; it comes in many forms and through many different routes. This presentation is on research into how mature infrastructure systems develop and change; using social science theories on socio-technical systems the case of Great Britain’s railway system is examined. Privatisation of this system, initiated outside the railway system, has led to a series of different organisational arrangements directing system operation and development over a relatively short period. Examining these developments using socio-technical systems theories highlights ways in which innovation can be, deliberately and unintentionally, shaped and it shows connections between the social and the technical forces in play. Reflecting on privatisation and its aftermath can provide lessons for directing future development in the railway system. Improved understanding of processes around system development can be valuable to both practitioners and policymakers concerned with generating, or responding to, innovation.

Dr Kat Lovell is a Research Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex. Having trained in Engineering, Kat began her work on railways as part of a project on railway systems within the Rail Research UK consortium. This work inspired her PhD in Innovation Studies at Imperial College Business School researching the case of privatisation of Great Britain’s railway network. Kat’s research at SPRU is part of two interdisciplinary and interuniversity projects on UK infrastructure: International Centre for Infrastructure Futures (ICIF) where Kat’s work looks at business models for infrastructure development and ITRC-MISTRAL (Multi-scale Infrastructure Systems Analytics) researching infrastructure governance and development at different scales. Kat’s research focuses on infrastructure systems and how they change and for the future she is working with SPRU colleagues to develop ideas around inclusive infrastructure.

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Abstract: Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model is a cybernetic tool for modelling organisational structures and assessing their viability. It has been described as a conceptual tool for understanding organisations, redesigning them and where appropriate supporting the management of change.

The VSM is supported by a set of concepts and methodological tools which assist in the understanding of organisational complexity. The application of these tools is not trivial. While many of the concepts are simple in theory, their application relies heavily on shared understanding between groups of stakeholders with a variety of interests and degrees of commitment.

An evaluation of the VSM was conducted using the engineering capability of a major aerospace developer as a subject.  The study coincided with organisational restructuring allowing a comparison of recommendations and an assessment of the utility of the model and methods.

The results of the study show that while the VSM can be challenging to employ, due largely to its conceptual content, it has proven to be a useful tool for understanding the regulatory functions of organisations of this type.  

Author: Peter Holloway is an employee of Rolls-Royce plc. He has worked for the Engineering Capability sub-organisation and its predecessor for the last five years, specializing in the engineering of design & simulation systems for gas turbines.  He has worked for a variety of engineering firms in the United Kingdom: from technology start-ups to top tier defence suppliers. His postgraduate studies include robotics and cybernetics. Prior to joining Rolls-Royce he spent six years in the MoD where he applied systems principles to socio-cultural research in operational theatres.

The first North West Group event of 2017 will be a double header exploring the application of Systems Engineering in the rail sector:

Kevin Gedge will talk about how Systems Engineering is being used on Network Rail's Major Infrastructure Projects.

Andy Jenkins (Systems Engineering Manager - Thales) and Alan Knott (Principal Professional Associate - WSP|Parsons Brinkerhoff) will explore aspects of Systems Engineering applies to the Manchester Metrolink Extension Programme.

Refreshments (including pizza) will be provided from 1800 with the prograsmme getting underway at 1830.

Square One is most easily accessed from Manchester Piccadilly railway station.

Competencies for Services

Findings and Conclusions from Case Studies

Stakeholder analysis - applying to Services via the Case Studies

Expanding the groups' participation

Does Services use the same processes but different language?

In this family lecture Professor Jon Holt will be exploring the power of science and numbers and the impact that they have on Engineering, our everyday lives and why they are so important for STEM. Take a walk through a typical Systems Engineering project and learn how we can use science and numbers to predict the future, read minds and influence our lives. Explore how we can also use numbers for the greater good and not-so-greater good! Expect an evening of wonder with plenty of audience participation, terrible jokes and some mind blowing magic. This performance is suitable for children and adults of any age.

All this, plus a special appearance by the Engineer in the Hat!