Systems Engineering Principles and Practice

by Alexander Kossiakoff, William N. Sweet, Sam Seymour

This classroom-tested approach is based on a successful course at Johns Hopkins University, originally developed to serve the needs of Westinghouse Co.
* Provides an excellent entry-level approach to understanding how to minimize complexity and maximize efficiency in industry and business.
* Each chapter will be accompanied by a set of problems to aid understanding.

Genres: Textbooks, Computer Science, Engineering, Technical, Nonfiction

488 pages, Hardcover

Published December 2, 2002

Reviews

[Olegas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of Systems Engineering, may be your first book on the subject. However, it is a tough reading - a lot of theory, description of SE processes on a quite detailed level. There is a lot of interesting examples - on SE application, on the quality attributes of the complex systems, on the commercial considerations related to complex system construction (especially in defense and airspace industries).

It could be not so detailed, I think. It could be less academical. But in general - good enough to start on SE.

[Deniss Ojastu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a textbook by university professors on the subject of hardware/software systems' conceptualisation, design, planning, construction, testing and maintenance.

I liked the fact that it covered the whole life cycle of a system's life. Of particular interest for me were the chapters on difference between software-intensive and hardware-intensive systems engineering, functional analysis (including functional block diagrams), basics of UML and SysML, models of decision making (including trade-off analysis).

However, I did not find useful the so-called "Systems Engineering method" which was being presented throughout the book. In essence, it meant the same activities for every stage of systems development - and thus, felt repetitive and confusing. The amount of sentences including phrases like "this requires a thorough planning", "the best strategy to avoid problems is to plan ahead", "planning is the cornerstone of risk management" was also overwhelming at times. The examples were not too many - and those present were mainly either from defence or from air traffic.

All in all, this book was informative, at times enlightening, very systematic, but somewhat... too systematic and dry to my taste.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best introduction to the subject that I encountered over my 35 years in the trade.

[Mark Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of what systems engineering is all about. Enjoyed the read...kind of dry though.

[Mikhail Filatov · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not convince me that there is really a "system engineering" discipline -something outside of Project/Product management, Engineering and System analysis. Maybe for complex "hardware" projects, but as the book is updated with a lot of software examples - we don't have such discipline in software.
Still some interesting examples, but not enough to justify word "Practice" in the title.

[Jeff Moreau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took 600 pages to say what could have been accomplished in far less, in my opinion. I was reading this for a Master's course I'm taking and although there were many helpful things, I found it to be overly repetitive and unnecessarily wordy for much of it.

[Philroy Hinds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read cover to cover twice throughout the duration of a graduate level SE course -- it's a great tool to build a SE foundation when paired with lectures that dive deeper into the theory presented via text, and equally useful as a reference.

[tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Textbook for System Engineering Course.

[Pat Cooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could really benefit from more explicit and efficient representations of the concepts and processes rather than relying on expansive and rather abstract passages.

[George Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

New edition of the 2003 publication used as a textbook and reference guide by practicing systems engineers. A welcome and timely addition to the art. The new authors for this issue are Sam Seymour and Steven Biemer. Well done!

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to follow. Walks you through the whole life cycle. Good exercises in each chapter.

[S]

http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/noteboo...

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was a great review of the profession for beginners and has a lot of information to get a new Systems Engineer started.