Some of our older(but still relevant) Blog Posts
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I just finished watching the documentary "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Adam Curtis. The entire series of three 1 hour shows is a real challenge. I say this because of the way Mr. Curtis makes such seemly tenuous connections between people and the flow of their ideas across modern history. His assertion is that these ideas together have forged our present day perception of reality. False perception is more like it.
This "documentary" is very thought provoking piece of media. And when my thoughts get provoked I strike back with a long and pretentious blog.
It's time for Systems Engineers to embrace their creativity and lead organizations to greater heights of technical glory. I truly believe that to be a truly great Systems Engineer you need to get in touch with that artistic, creative person that's buried deep in your soul. Will you answer the call and dig that creative part out of you?
Is PowerPoint really EVIL? Edward Tufte thinks so. Is he right? or misinformed? Is there another explanation as to why Systems Engineers turn to PowerPoint to explain the “big picture” of the project or program they are working? Let’s explore this battle of “Style vs. Substance!”
Emergence is an immense mystery for the scientist and the systems engineer alike. It is a profound aspect of the creation process when we integrate disparate elements to make something new. Let us explore this phenomenon by looking at some cultural impacts to the concept.
Do we value failure enough? Sure some failures are very costly - in terms of life, limb, and property. But we should learn from the failures of others. Just so we don’t make the same mistakes. Are you humble enough to learn these “Lessons Learned?”
I am a Systems Engineer at a local DC beltway bandit and College Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). According to Money magazine and PayScale.com, these are in the top three careers in America! At least for 2009. Oh yea, I am living the American Dream!
The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, will make it easier to kill weapons programs that spawn runaway development costs, while taking steps to improve competition in the heavily consolidated industry. It focuses heavily on Systems Engineering as a means to control costs. Let this new era begin.
IEEE Spectrum just publish an article (Nov 2008) that highlights the need for a stronger and more vibrant Systems Engineering profession within the Department of Defense. Discussing the the woes and tribulations of DoD's Weapons Acquisitions System. The article is appropriately called: "What's Wrong with Weapons Acquisitions?" It speaks to my chosen profession and my domain of expertise. Suffice to say, I loved it!
Moore's Law.predicts that number of transistors on an integrated circuit will double approximately every two years. The electronics industry has strives to maintain this law. This means as time goes on you can buy more computational power for less money, but what about the computational power you bought last year? One word: obsolesce
Is our future is in jeopardy because we're facing a "brain drain" in the aerospace and defense industries.?? Oh No!
Are you frustrated by some model convenience when it becomes inconvenient? Who do you blame?
When you look a gas mileage, fuel used, and emissions emitted, sure Prius will come out on top. But what if you took a more holistic point of view?
40 years ago Texas Instruments introduced the first handheld calculator. It could perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Input was with a small keyboard with 18 keys and a visual output that displayed up to 12 decimal digits using a thermal printhead and paper tape. But how do you test this brand new invention??
Marketing is a life blood for Engineers. We need them to explain what the customer wants and needs. But Marketing can let this power get to their heads.
What did our technology today look like from yesterday’s point of view? Was it even close to what actually happen? Suffice to say, predicting the future is way too hard!
The story of how the AT&T automatic time-teller system was decommissioned after many many years of service. A bitter sweet “good bye” should have been planned when the system was first deployed.
Did someone get told?! YES! OH Snap!
Flow charts - a key instrument in the SE Toolbox. Let’s look at a few, shall we.
Back in the late '60s and early 70's, I was Lost in Space junkie. Love the idea of Space travel, ray guns, and when I saw John Robinson fly in that Jet Pack. Man, I wanted to get one of those. Can this extremely dangerous customer product become a reality?
Communications is a major function of any Systems Engineer. But how do you convey technical concepts to a non-technical person? It’s a not a unique problem to our chosen profession. IT has struggled with it for years. Let’s look at how they handle the dilemma.
My 2006 - 2007 experience in becoming an INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional. Was it hard? You bet. Was it worth it? You bet. Read about my 9 months and 11 day journey to SEP Certification.
Is this cloud thing another new fangled fad fleeting about in the firmament only to burn out as more people discover it's just a fancy figment of some marketers imagination? Fads fade fast when their promises are greater than reality — I’m looking at you AI and TQM.
But a lot of serious technologist feel this cloud thing is a concept that is here to stay. Let's do some scholarly research into all this Cloud nonsense and find out if it really matters.