System Engineering Competency: The Missing Course in Engineering Education

Abstract

is an engineering textbook author, instructor, and consultant for Wasson Strategics, LLC, a professional training and consulting services firm specializing in systems engineering, technical project management, organizational development, and team development. In 2006, Wasson authored a new systems engineering text entitled System Analysis, Design, and Development: Concepts, Principles, and Practices as part of the John Wiley & Sons' System Engineering and Management series. The text received the Engineering Sciences Book of the Year Award from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in Paris, France. As an internationally recognized author and instructor in system engineering and its organizational application, he is an invited guest speaker and panelist at professional meetings and symposia. Wasson champions the need to strengthen undergraduate engineering programs with a course in the fundamentals of system engineering. He holds B.S.E.E. and M.B.A. degrees from Mississippi State University and a certificate in systems engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. His professional affiliations include the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the International Council on System Engineering (INCOSE), and the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Adapting a strategic foresight framework to reuse integration

“…A Chi Square Test for Association was conducted to determine which of these issues were associated with integration success. Four of 22 the five, issues 1, 2, 4, and 5, were found to be associated to integration success at the 95% confidence level. These four issues were used as the basis to formulate four considerations that should be reviewed when trying to integrate reuse components and subsystems into complex systems to avoid violating the principles of integration 10 :…”

Assessing Problem-Solving Strategy Use by Engineering Undergraduates

“…Working backwards involves a mental search for equations that will solve the problem, but with little conceptual understanding of the nature of the problem, little strategic decision-making, and little metacognitive self-reflection and regulation of the solution process. Wasson [20] described plug-and-chug as "a traditional engineering teaching model in which students Plug a value into an equation and Chug out an answer." Truax [21] suggests that "The plug and chug approach to completing assignments does not require the student to really understand what they are doing, and even protects their limited knowledge of the subject from being exposed.…”

The Systems Engineering Conundrum: Where is the ENGINEERING?

“…• Cowper and Smith, 2003• Dixit and Valerdi, 2007• Emes, Smith, and Cowper, 2005 • Griffin, 2010 Johnson, 2002a, 202b, and , 2013• Ring, 2017• Slegers, Kadish, Payton, Thomas, Griffin, and Dumbacher, 2012• Wasson , 2010, 2012…”

“…• Slegers, Kadish, Payton, Thomas, Griffin, and Dumbacher, 2012 Wasson , 2010Wasson , , 2012Wasson , , 2018Wasson , , and 2019…”