Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems最新文献

{"title":"Authors' reply to David Elms' discussion of ‘Integrating the liberal arts into the body of knowledge for civil engineering systems engineers’","authors":"G. Masterton","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980559","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The author’s reply to David Elms welcomes the supportive comments and offers a visualisation of the body of knowledge required of a systems engineer, building on the ‘T-shaped' person construct. The systems engineer requires a series of pillars of deep domain knowledge, acquired throughout a lifetime of experience, with serial capstones representing the synthesis and integration of that knowledge. Many of the capstones should be from the distant territories of ‘liberal arts' – leading to ‘Stonehenge-shaped people'.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80325534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discussion of ‘Practical wisdom in an age of computerisation’ by David Blockley","authors":"D. Elms","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980544","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980544","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The writer agrees with the main point of the paper which is to emphasise the need for civil engineering systems engineers to have ‘practical wisdom’. Insofar as this is not clearly defined the discussion offers an example from practice where practical wisdom was lacking. Blockley’s paper lists major challenges, including computerisation. The present discussion suggests others as important additions, with the most important omission being the ‘black swans’ of complex and unexpected problems. System thinking is well placed to tackle such issues.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88694067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"BOK and terminology","authors":"D. Carmichael","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980543","url":null,"abstract":"To this writer, it seems that a Civil Engineering Systems Body of Knowledge (‘Special Issue’ – Dias and Jowitt, 2020) cannot progress until there is agreement on the meanings of terms. Mature technical disciplines in the sciences, medicine and engineering have been able to develop because there is agreement on the meaning of terms. More recent disciplines such as popular management are not developing, and perhaps even going backwards, because terms are used differently by different people and differently by the same person within the one context; multiple uses and meanings for terms prevent understanding. Without agreement on meaning, the encoding and decoding present in two-way communication goes awry. Lay usage of terms and the multiple definitions found in dictionaries are not suitable for discipline-specific communication; for example, Carmichael (2016) shows the pitfalls with using dictionary meanings when referring to ‘risk’, Carmichael (2020a) highlights the confusion in using the term ‘objective’, and ‘uncertainty’ and ‘problem’ have different meanings among the Special Issue papers. The multiple meanings for words found in dictionaries are exploited by comedians, poets and playwrights, but inhibit a technical discipline’s development. And where English is not a person’s first language, the situation is exacerbated.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90588482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Author's reply to: David Blockley's discussion of the special issue","authors":"D. Carmichael","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980550","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980550","url":null,"abstract":"Professor Blockley makes a pertinent observation, namely that of the ‘large differences of approach ranging at the extremes from formal (Carmichael) to the informal (Elms)’ within the contributions to the Special Issue. For Civil Engineering Systems to develop as a discipline, it is my belief that some underlying formal structure to knowledge is necessary and this is the thinking behind the BOK Framework proposed in Carmichael (2020). Certainly, not everything can be formalised, individuals will add their informality in any situation, some individuals have an inherent dislike of structure, and many people while maybe clever are not structured thinkers and happily co-exist with shuffled ideas, but an agreed underlying structure will be necessary at some stage in the development of Civil Engineering Systems, as it is in all wellestablished disciplines in engineering. Why not start developing that structure now? Professor Blockley mentions reductionism and emergentism, though the intent of the comments is unclear. Reductionism, to my understanding, attempts an explanation of entire systems in terms of their individual, constituent parts and their interactions. The interactions mean that the whole is not simplistically the sum of the parts. Emergentism, to my understanding, relates to studying systems at their highest level where the properties of the whole are more than the sum of the parts. Systems thinking incorporates reductionism and emergentism as described in the above senses, and this is embodied in the BOK Framework put forward (Carmichael, 2020). Interestingly, the terms reductionism or emergentism appear to be rarely mentioned in any discussion on Civil Engineering Systems, possibly because engineers prefer to explain the relationship between a system and its subsystems in plain terms, unencumbered largely by terms with non-agreed meanings. The historical presence of the terms reductionism and emergentism means that some people lean naturally towards systems-type thinking without any formal education or knowledge in systems. Of course, the terms and practices of reductionism and emergentism can be interpreted in multiple ways.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78538332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"At one with systems","authors":"D. Carmichael","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980542","url":null,"abstract":"A number of contributions in the Special Issue on a Civil Engineering Systems Body of Knowledge (‘Special Issue’ – Dias and Jowitt 2020), refer to education as it relates to systems, and systems thinking. For example, Masterton and Jeffrey (2020), Delatte (2020) and Jowitt (2020). Based on observations over many years, some personal views are expressed here on the topic. The observations have not been processed through the scientific method (Carmichael 2013), but they do have the support of much classroom testing and noting the behaviour of practising engineers. An observation (based on a finite sample) is put forward to generate thought and discussion within the systems community; not everyone may have observed the same or agree with it, while others may think it is self-obvious: Some people naturally think in terms of systems and some people do not naturally think in terms of systems. This has ramifications for systems education, any expectation of systems-type thinking from people, and the place of systems courses in a Civil Engineering programme. It appears that people are either configured or receptive to systems ideas, exampled by the Special Issue papers (even if the detail is not agreed with), or they are not. It also follows in a sort of corollary fashion that those who are not attuned to systems thinking will take issue with the above observation, or not appreciate that there is a difference between systems thinking and non-systems thinking. This is not a nature versus nurture argument. Some people may use the word ‘system’ (often where a more appropriate term should be used) and other system-discipline words, draw block diagrams with links, apply linear programming or some simulation package, etc and generally look and sound as though they are thinking systems, but underneath they are not thinking systems. Some publications may purport to be systems-based but they are not. There may also not be a realisation on the part of authors and reviewers that they are not truly systems people, though they may have a self-belief that they are. People who are not systems people seem not to be able to distinguish genuine systems thinking from non-genuine systems thinking, and people who do not naturally think in terms of systems cannot be successfully taught to be systems people. At best, they can be led in a direction. This viewpoint, of course, is difficult to prove because currently there is no accepted measure for systems thinking; this is expanded upon below. To illustrate, consider a parallel with ‘creativity’. People are either creative or not creative, even allowing for creativity manifesting itself in a variety of ways and pursuits. Oscar","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73862091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discussion of Paul Jowitt’s paper ‘Systems and sustainability’","authors":"D. Elms","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980547","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Jowitt’s paper suggests that civil engineering systems engineers require an ethical imperative and a set of specific attributes. The ethics should include a broad understanding of value and values. Attributes of a successful systems-capable civil engineer are listed in a table stemming from an international workshop. They can be summed up in terms of ASK: Attitude, Skills and Knowledge.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75382092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discussion of ‘Integrating the liberal arts into the body of knowledge for civil engineering systems engineers’ by Gordon G. T. Masterton and Paul Jeffrey","authors":"D. Elms","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980553","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980553","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Systems engineers require breadth. Three approaches are discussed. The first is to develop a clear goal in the form of the attributes of a well-educated civil engineering systems specialist (CESS) – what such an engineer would be like. The second, complementary to the first, proposes a goal in terms of what the ideal CESS could do well as a series of tasks or actions. The third is to produce a list of books whose reading would result in a well-educated CEES.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80009134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reply to discussion by D. Blockley of the CEES Special Issue on the body of knowledge for CE systems engineers","authors":"D. Elms","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980558","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980558","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This reply to David Blockley’s discussion addresses the issue of relevant knowledge, the need for an ability to learn, the distinction between types of system, the need to expand our understanding of uncertainty, implications for education and the incompleteness of the body of knowledge referred to in the BOK Special Issue of Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88155585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Response to Discussion by Elms on “Systems and Sustainability”","authors":"P. Jowitt","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980554","url":null,"abstract":"I am grateful to David Elms for his kind comments on my paper and for extending the conversation. While there are some rich systems ideas in areas of “pure engineering” (eg duality and contragredience in the analysis of water, structural, electrical and other networks, and which is captured and revealed by a common – and beautiful – underlying mathematical framework), systems comes into its own when used to address real world complex problems. Not least, sustainability. It doesn’t give the answer, but it provides the framework for finding one. Nothing is hidden. Disagreements can be out in the open. Discrimination – and not to be confused with prejudice – can be used to compare different options. In that sense, yes, my paper was a call to action. And I hope that young teenage girl who was at my lecture in Christchurch in 2010 is now working on the systems level solutions to ensure a sustainable future.","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81437823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CEES special issue – the body of knowledge for systems 2020","authors":"D. Blockley","doi":"10.1080/10286608.2021.1980541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10286608.2021.1980541","url":null,"abstract":"The question ‘What is Civil Engineering Systems – CES?’was posed by the editors not as an attempt to arrive at a set of common definitions but more to foster conversation around the issues. The disparate contributions to this special edition have achieved that goal by exposing very large differences of approach ranging at the extremes from the formal (Carmichael) to the informal (Elms). The editors also ask what constitutes a ‘BOK’ – Body of Knowledge for CEES. This question begs many further questions such as what is ‘knowledge’ anyway when we cannot predict the behaviour of a deterministic non-linear hinged pendulum after just a few cycles? What is the role of science in engineering and how do they both relate to technology in an age when STEM is dominated in the minds of so many people by the S? What is uncertainty when so many theorists deny looking beyond statistics and probability to embrace ambiguity, incompleteness and unknown unknowns? How do we categorise and manage uncertainty to make our systems resilient, sustainable and robust against ‘surprises’ like banking collapses and pandemics never mind the challenges of climate change? How do we learn from mistakes when accidents and disasters like Grenfell follow similar patterns to previous disasters of history? How does CEES relate to the wider world of politics and economics and the arts? Should STEM be expanded to STEAMM to include the arts and medicine? The implied assumptions in the various papers about the questions seem to depend on the experiences of each author and their necessarily partial reading of the massive amount of material available to a modern researcher. That is natural and to be expected – but is incumbent on us all who follow a systems approach to embrace all relevant points of view (particularly the journals relating to civil engineering) and adapt and learn from them. That is the real value of this Special Issue. The editors compared contribution under nine headings (Jowitt and Dias Table 1). I looked at the responses of the authors to some other key system ideas which, for brevity I will restrict to just five – complexity, uncertainty, emergence, interdependence and learning. All authors refer to complexity but only Whyte et al discuss it in any depth although Jowitt differentiates between complicated as rich in detail and complex as rich in structure. No-one refers to the sense-making models called Cynefin which differentiate the complex and messy (high emergent uncertainty, interconnectedness and conflict) from the complicated (highly interconnected but well understood),","PeriodicalId":50689,"journal":{"name":"Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72761854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}