ABSTRACT
There are many ways in which we can define and describe systems engineering. It can be described according to structure, function, and purpose. It may also be described in terms of efforts needed at the levels of systems management, systems methodology, and systems engineering methods and tools. We can speak of systems engineering organizations in terms of their organizational management facets, in terms of their business processes or product lines, or in terms of their products or services. We can speak of systems engineering in terms of the knowledge principles, knowledge practices, and knowledge perspectives necessary for present and future success in systems engineering. This chapter takes a multifaceted and transdisciplinary view of systems engineering. It attempts to describe systems engineering in terms of this relatively large number of trilogies. the process view of systems engineering is expanded on in some detail. Within this, a large number of necessary roles for systems engineering are described. A brief discussion of systems engineering from the perspective of each of these necessary roles concludes the chapter. We provide brief discussions on the theme of this handbook: dynamic system modeling.
