Engineering of Complex Systems in the 21st Century

A U.S. Navy-initiated annual workshop program for promoting wise technology investment in the engineering of complex systems in the 21st century, especially in systems engineering technology, is described. Descriptions of the first two workshops held in 1994 and 1995, including some general results that were obtained by the focus groups, are given. Because of fundamental changes in the way the Department of Defense (DoD) currently acquires goods and services, the third workshop is designed to couple the focus group discussions and expectations closely with the DoD mandated concepts of Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) and Integrated Product Teams (IPTs). Primary focus group tasks related to practices to improve the engineering of complex systems within the IPPD context are discussed. Some characteristics of complex systems are presented. A few recent studies on engineering and management processes and DoD and industry experiences related to engineering of complex systems outside of the workshops are reviewed. Human resources and the changing role of the engineer are discussed.