David Rousseau

Systems engineering's practice is informed by many hundreds of guiding propositions, but their diverse nature and inconsistent categorization hinder systematic aggregation and refinement. This paper introduces a framework for understanding the origins and evolution of these propositions and proposes a unifying classification scheme. We propose a maturation model that assesses guiding propositions in terms of measures we call scope, authority, and capability. These measures jointly determine the maturity of a guiding proposition. We describe a strategy for systematically improving the maturity of propositions, advancing them from context‐specific patterns to becoming generally applicable principles. We show how the maturation process supports the evolution of greater engineering elegance and greater transdisciplinarity. We argue that such advances will be needed for SE to effectively address the unprecedented challenges likely to emerge in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0.

Systems engineering's evolutionary trajectory has been far from linear, and its future direction is uncertain. We present an assessment and vision of how SE might evolve to enduringly be impactful and relevant, despite growing complexity and radical technological change. We discuss how SE started out focused on achieving technical objectives, then drifted towards a more process and methodology focus, and is now responding to calls to return to its roots under the banner of “attaining elegant solutions to complex problems.” We discuss how SE has always been a transdiscipline, although it was not always so recognized, and how SE is now increasingly recognizing and valuing its transdisciplinary nature. We present our view that the future of SE as an impactful and relevant engineering discipline lies in the strengthening of its transdisciplinarity and an increased focus on attaining elegant solutions to complex problems. We present a framework for understanding the nature of SE and the way in which it evolves in terms of its principles, methods and purposes. We show that SE is informed by, and informs many disciplines and social institutions in a dynamic ecology of discovery, achievement and vision. Lastly, we discuss the value of this framework, and show how it can serve as a basis for developing a common understanding of the value and potential of SE, and support institutions such as INCOSE as they engage in the wider social agenda of building a better and more sustainable world.

Systems engineering has numerous guiding propositions scattered across various publications and classified under different schema, leading to confusion and inconsistency. This paper presents a framework for understanding the origin and evolution of any guiding proposition and developing such a guiding proposition into a principle to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. We argue that following this process will enhance the elegance and transdisciplinary value of systems engineering principles and aid in solving complex problems.

Does human consciousness survive the irreversible death of the physical body? Of all the mysteries about consciousness that continue to challenge science, this is perhaps the most important one. As...

Recent discussion and research in systems engineering have highlighted the need for a principled approach to attaining elegance in engineered systems, in order to enhance product value and reduce life cycle risks. In this paper, we analyse the “elegance factors” pertaining to designed systems from the perspective of the philosophy of value (axiology) and characterize the elegance factors as “systemic virtues,” analogous to philosophical models of the factors pertaining to the “goodness” of persons and scientific theories. We defend the possibility of the existence and discovery of general systems laws that could ground a general theory of design elegance, and report on our strategy and progress in developing methods for discovering such laws and for developing such a theory.