SYS 625
Sys 625 you ask... well, technically the name is Fundamentals of Systems Engineering. This is my first graduate class and is the foundation of my Graduate degree.
Luckily for me, I came into the class with some experience through the Summer Institute I took last year (it's in last June's blog for those of you who remember it!).
The class is based on identifying the needs, requirements, uses, etc of a stakeholder. In a nutshell, I like to think of it as looking at a system as a whole by trying to address the problems, not focusing on a solution until the end of the process so it doesn't limit the system parameters.
According to the website, SYS 625 "discusses fundamentals of systems engineering. Initial focus is on need identification and problems definition. Thereafter, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation activities during conceptual and preliminary system design phases are discussed and articulated through examples and case studies. Emphasis is placed on enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of deployed systems while concurrently reducing their operation and support costs. Accordingly, course participants are introduced to methods that influence system design and architecture from a long-term operation and support perspective."
Below is a picture of a wiki the group has to make to present data for our final project [regarding the SSE website]. Our wiki has got a lot of other cool stuff too (maybe I'll attach some more pictures in a later post).
Fun fact: Our team name is Team Greek because the 4 members of our group are all undergraduate students (concurrently all getting our Master's as well) who are part of a sorority on campus.
The class is over in the beginning of July (Summer Session 1), but we've still got a ways to go to complete our project.
SYS 605
Sys 605 is my first online class for my Master's. It is called Systems Integration. It is another key class for the degree I am hoping to get.
According to the SSE website, the class is "designed to provide students with an understanding of Systems Integration (SI) process, approaches, drivers, tools and techniques required for successful SI, critical success factors, and best practices. The objective of the course is to provide the students an understanding of the issues involved in systems integration. Systems integration process is illustrated over the life cycle concept of projects - during design, development, implementation, testing and production. Case studies and examples from the Information Technology (IT), aerospace, and defense industries will be used to illustrate the concepts discussed. The students will learn the theory and practice of business process integration, legacy integration, new systems integration, integration of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, interface control and management, and testing."
Again, I am working on a project with other students in the class [about DARTII]; however, the peers in my group are people working in the job place already.
It's definitely an interesting experience to take a class online and have group members who are not my own age, but I am absolutely learning a lot about the material through their input and the professor.
Since it's an online class (offered through WebCampus), it lasts the entire summer. I am sure to blog about it again at some point in the future!
Nice article related to System Engineering.
Posted by: Ron Smith | June 20, 2009 at 07:27 AM