ABSTRACT
Although born in the defence industry, the science of systems engineering (SE) has reached a level of maturity in which it is increasingly being applied in the commercial aircraft industry. For example, Petersen and Sutcliffe (1992) discuss the principles of SEas applied to aircraft development. In addition, major professional societies have techni(!al committees and other activities devoted to the study of the SE process. These societies include the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AlAA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (lEEE). The Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) has developed in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a set of certification guidelines, ARP 4754 (1996), which incorporate SE principles. The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is devoted entirely to the development and application of the SE process.
