An Experiential Approach for the Training of Systems Engineers

摘要

For the last five years, the California Institute of Technology Industrial Relations Center has provided systems engineering training for engineers from the Northrop Grumman Corporation. The program has evolved over this period and is recognized by the participants and Northrop Grumman management as an effective means of training prospective systems engineers. The course includes seven class meetings over a period of six months with an instructor-defined class exercise. The class of typically 24-28 students is divided into two teams. The exercise requires each team to develop a system with a number of pre-defined steps that are described by the instructor tutorials. The exercise originates with an instructor-written Operational Requirements Document and culminates with a student-prepared Preliminary Design Review and life cycle cost estimate. The tutorial material prepares the students for each step in the system development process. Each 8-hour, monthly class meeting involves a tutorial by the faculty as well as student team reports on their progress with the exercise.