INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND RISK MANAGEMENT

DURATION: THREE DAYS
COURSE NO.: 1158

The application of systems engineering, and the managing and controlling risk have become both urgent and required efforts throughout the space industry.  Part I of the Course presents the “A” to “Z” of Systems Engineering, with emphasis on Requirements, Specifications, Systems Integration and Interface Management/Control. For a successful system is to be built, it first requires a complete list of program requirements. Details and analysis of types of requirements and development of requirements into specifications, must be detailed. The path to system design is shown and how requirements into the design are verified and tested. Integration and interface management examines types and definitions of interfaces; control and required documentation; interface compatibility and verification, and Interface Working Groups. Other systems engineering support activities are also covered, e.g., configuration management, mission assurance, mass properties, metrics, cost planning and control, and much more.  Part II of this Course, Risk Management, addresses the four sequential systems efforts for Risk Management and Control: Risk Identification, - listing possible types/sources of risks that must be evaluated in any program and the resulting consequences/impacts; Assessment and Quantification - estimating the probability of a risk occurring and the use of “Risk Scoring Charts”;  Prioritization - categorizing each identified failure and ranking them for required action; and finally, Mitigation, - eliminating or controlling the highest priority risks through formulation of “Mitigation Plans”, documenting which of the various mitigation techniques to use and identifying responsibility for handling the risk, and dates required.  The makeup of a recommended Risk Management Organization and Risk Management Board is also presented.

COURSE MATERIALS:
Includes extensive notes and reference materials and the text Augustine’s Laws.

TUITION: $1,395

This Course is designed for people from all disciplines within the space industry.  Each area of a space project may be involved, in some manner, in Systems Engineering and Risk Management, thus dictating organization-wide understanding of these disciplines. This Course is for management, design, test engineering, selected areas of launch-site operations, quality control, manufacturing and most program support groups (e.g., planning, cost estimating) and, of course, systems engineers. Knowledge of, interest in and/or some experience in space programs will allow attendees to better grasp the systems and risk concepts presented, but the disciplines presented in the Course are generic and widely applicable.  No space industry experience or engineering background is required.

This course is designed to present a well-rounded introduction to the essential elements of systems engineering and risk management and explains why these disciplines are important. The systems engineering portion of the course addresses not only the elements needed for a successful systems function, but for instilling the need for, and advantages of, implementing this discipline throughout the organization. Likewise, the understanding of risk issues and the challenge of controlling them is a most important step toward “mission success”.  An added benefit is understanding how systems engineering and risk management can help all groups, and various other “in-house” functions, with interfacing and working as a team within the organization, as well as with other companies or agencies.

Part I: INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING.

     1.    Introduction and Requirements: Space and Aviation Failures; What is Systems Engineering?; Requirements Definition; Types of Requirements; Development of Requirements.; Allocation Analysis; Functional Flows and Diagrams.

     2.    Specifications: Types of; Specification Trees; Mapping Requirements into Specifications; Specification Contents List; Verification of Requirements into Specifications.

     3.    Program Planning and Control: Elements thereof; Organizations needed; Roles and Responsibilities; Scheduling; Cost Controls; Tracking of Failures and Problems/Correction of.

     4.    Mass Properties: Management thereof; Major Tasks.

     5.    Trade Studies: Why do?; What’s needed; Examples; The Decision Process; the
Kepner-Tregoe (K-T) Trade Study Method.

     6.    System Design: Introduction: the “Musts”; Design Flow/Design Phases; Design Reviews; Design Hints.

     7.    The “ ‘ilities”: List of the Specialties; Major “’ilities”: Reliability, Availability,
Operability, Producibility; Estimating values of.

     8.    System Integration and Interfaces (I/F): Overview; I/F Definition and Control; I/F
Documentation (the I/F Control Document [ICD]); I/F Verification.

     9.    Systems Analysis: Types; A List of; Program Planning; Basic Systems Conception; Compatibility Analysis; Other Analyses.

   10.    Costs in Systems Engineering: Cost Terms; Design-to-Cost; Life Cycle Cost; Cost Estimating; Cost Controls.

   11.    Other Systems Engineering Initiatives:Metrics; Total Quality Management (TQM) and Concurrent Engineering (CE): How Use These and Why.

   12.    Engineering Plans and Other Systems. Engineering Activities: Plans: Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP), Master Program Plan, Configuration Management Plan, Software Development Plan, Risk Management Plan, Systems Safety Plan; Lessons Learned Program; Other Systems Engineering Activities.

   13.    An Introduction to Augustine’s Laws.

Part II: RISK MANAGEMENT.

     1.    Risk Introduction: Risk Happenings/Risk Statements/Some Actual Failure Numbers; Timing of Risk Studies; Sequences; Risk Management Organization.

     2.    Risk Identification: Introduction to Types of Risks; How to Identify Risks: Failure Modes and Effects; Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis, and more; Lists of Risks in Design, Performance, Costs, Schedules, Management, Other.

     3.    Risk Assessment and Quantification: Estimating Probability of a Risk Occurring; Consequence of Failures; Risk Scoring: The Scoring Chart; High/Medium/Low Risks (Samples).

     4.    Risk Prioritization: Steps to Prioritize; Evaluating Highs and Medium Risks for Order of Mitigation Actions.

     5.    Risk Mitigation: Introduction; The Risk Management Organization’s Role; Risk
Handling Techniques; The Risk Mitigation Plan: An Outline, Contents, Sample.

 OVERALL SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: Selected Excerpts from Augustine’s Laws.