ENGR 333 Chapter 2

What is the difference between and open and closed system?

1. A closed system is one that is viewed as self-contained 2. An open system interacts with and adapts to its environment.

What is the integration principle of a system?

1. For a system to perform effectively and achieve its goal, all of its elements must work in unison. 2. Designing, implementing, and operating a system to achieve pre-specified objectives and requirements through the coordinated functioning of its elements and subsystems is called system integration.

What are the 8 system concepts and principles?

1. Goals and Objectives 2. Elements and subsystems 3. Attributes 4. Environment and Boundary 5. Constraints and Conflicts 6. System structure 7. Input-process-output relationship 8. Open Systems and Closed Systems

What are the three differences between natural and human-made systems?

1. Natural systems came into being by natural processes (e.g., animal organisms and planetary systems). 2. Human-made systems are designed and operated by people 3. Projects exist for the purpose of creating or enhancing human-made systems (or altering natural systems).

What is the system modularization of systems engineering?

1. SE addresses the system's structure and elements—its functional and physical design. - System elements and subsystems are designed to perform the functions necessary to satisfy stakeholder objectives and requirements. - The design effort focuses on how the system will meet the requirements.

What are the three dimensions of systems engineering?

1. System modularization 2. System life cycle 3. Multidisciplinary team

What is the elements and subsystems principle of a system?

1. Systems can be broken down into smaller parts. 2. These parts in combination form the assemblage of parts that constitutes the system. 3. The smallest part of a system is an element. 4. The parts of the system might themselves also be systems; these are called subsystems.

What is the constraints principle of a system?

1. Systems constraints are limitations imposed by the system's environment that inhibit the ability of a system to reach goals and objectives (e.g., time and money.)

What is the attribute principle of a system?

1. Systems, subsystems, and elements each have distinguishing characteristics called attributes 2. These describe or express the condition of system, subsystem, or element in qualitative or quantitative terms. 3. In human-made systems, many of the attributes are designed into the system so that the system performs as required.

What is the environment and boundary principle of a system?

1. The relevant environment refers to anything that influences the behavior or outcome of the system yet lies beyond the decision maker's or stakeholder's ability to control. 2. The system is separated from its environment by a boundary. The boundary might be somewhat obscure, and it might be difficult to distinguish the system from its environment.

What is the system life cycle dimension of a system?

2. SE takes into account the way the system will be produced, operated, maintained, and finally disposed of—the entire system life cycle. - This helps insure that the system will be economical to develop, build, operate, and maintain, and friendly to users and the environment.

What is the multidsciplinary team dimension of systems engineering?

3. SE is a multifunctional, interdisciplinary, concurrent effort. - Systems engineers work with the system's stakeholders to determine their needs and what the system must do to fulfill them. - The needs become the basis for defining the system requirements, which specify what the system will do

What is a conceptual model?

A conceptual model depicts the elements, structure, and flows in a system in terms of a schematic diagram or mathematical formulation. Example: population dynamics schematic

What is a model?

A model is a simplified representation of the world; it abstracts the essential features of the system under study.

What is a physical model?

A physical model is a scaled-down abstraction of the real system. It includes some aspects of the system and excludes others. Example: model airplane

What is a subsystem?

A subsystem is a system that functions as a component or part of a larger system

What is a system?

A system is an organized or complex whole; a group of parts interacting in a coordinated way 1. The parts of the system affect the system and are affected by it: Holism 2. The group of parts does something: exhibits behavior 3. The group is of particular interest

What is the smallest part of a system?

An element

What type of actions does a system approach avoid?

Avoids actions that focus exclusively on parts of the system, since such actions are suboptimal for the total system.

What does the systems engineering process look like?

Creating a system concept that will satisfy requirements involves a series of steps to define the subsystems and elements of the system. The process is an iterative cycle of: 1. top-down analysis of details (decomposing the system into smaller parts) 2. bottom-up synthesis (building up and integrating the parts into successively larger parts) 3. evaluation (checking to see that results meet requirements)

What is the system structure principle of the system?

Elements and subsystems are linked together by relationships. The form of the relationships is referred to as the structure of the system.

What is the goals and objectives principle of a system?

In designing a human-made system, the place to start is by defining the goal of the system and a hierarchy of objectives that relate to the aspects the system.

What is the process of removing conflict between the objectives of subsystems called?

Integration

What is the system life cycle?

System life cycle is the pattern of change or evolution that similar kinds of systems follow.

What is systems development cycle (SDC)?

The basic life cycle of human-designed systems is the series of logical, structured steps called the systems development cycle.

What are the phases of the systems development cycle?

The cycle has the phases of: 1. conception 2. definition 3. design 4. development 5. fabrication 6. testing 7. installation or launch 8. production 9. operation and maintenance 10. enhancement, replacement, or termination.

What is the conflict principle of a system?

The objectives of the subsystems sometimes conflict with each other, which reduces the ability for them or the overall system to realize their objectives.

What is systems engineering?

The prescribed stages or phases for large-scale development projects is called systems engineering.

What is the systems approach?

The systems approach is a methodology for solving problems and managing systems that accounts for: 1. The objectives and the performance criteria of the system. 2. The environment and constraints of the system. 3. The resources of the system. 4. The elements of the system, their functions, attributes, and performance measures. 5. The interaction among the elements. 6. The management of the system.

What are the two ways that most systems, including projects, can be conceptualized?

hierarchal and network