ABSTRACT
Motivation and Background Modern mathematics, science, and engineering enjoy the benefit of thousands of years of human thought, experience, and practice. And over the past century, with the advent of large-scale systems that today are commonplace, systems engineering has emerged as a distinct engineering discipline, but from any historical perspective, it must be considered still young and maturing. When compared with mathematics, science, and the historical academic disciplines of engineering, we see that
Mathematics uses ◾ Formal logic (the predicate calculus) for description − Logical methods and mathematical induction for reasoning −
Science uses ◾ Mathematics (a formal language) for description − Models and experimental methods for reasoning −
Engineering uses ◾ Science and mathematics for description and reasoning − Methods, tools, and prototypes for design and decision −
The languages, tools, and formalized methods of systems engineering are beginning to emerge. Because the systems viewpoint seeks to reconcile the differences between stakeholders, collaborative systems engineering and design methods are becoming more prevalent. Figure 2.1 depicts the Collaborative Visualization Environment (CoVE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which has enjoyed significant success as an academic environment for research in collaborative systems engineering and design. Most large aerospace companies today have collaborative systems engineering environments with substantial visualization capabilities.
