Systems Engineering Training in Engineering Education

Abstract

The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) emphasizes the role of project management, interdisciplinary projects, and other non-engineering skills that engineers inevitably will use in their careers. An excellent mechanism with which to achieve this goal is to use systems engineering and project management as teaching modules and in metacognitive fashion. This can be done in different ways, but a common thread is required over the period of the engineering course. As a result, students are exposed to engineering skills such as requirements analysis and management, specification practices, behavioral analysis, and project management. Systems engineering, when applied properly, draws together all aspects of engineering, including human, legal, economic, environmental, and other requirements, while project management draws together interpersonal skills. Ethics, entrepreneurship and other soft skills are taught under the same umbrella modules in order to show relevance that has previously been lacking.