Using system engineering techniques to accelerate your next project

Matthew Torgerson, Paul Durazo, Todd Langley, and Vira Ragavassamy, Intel Corp.
embedded.com (October 20, 2013)

System engineering techniques can be applied in product development to improve the design cycle time and reduce risks during end customer development and integration. This application requires understanding complex end customer needs at the system level and then translating them into product requirements and system architecture.

This article describes system engineering that make use of form factor reference designs unique to the automotive industry, with real case examples including design and validation aspects. The automotive industry has unique aspects which add complexity and risk to product development and integration. For example, very long qualification cycles and stringent regulatory requirements. This complexity requires tighter risk management to prevent late findings and subsequent late product launches.

System Engineering (SE) is a multi‐functional approach to engineering development with a strong focus on the holistic “big picture” of how the entire end product is brought together, deployed and supported. System engineering has been utilized and developed in various industries for many years and grown into its own specialization within the engineering field. In the past, SE has been adopted only on large scale complex programs with multiple functional domains and multiple suppliers. An extreme example of a program of this magnitude is the International Space Station developed over time with NASA and other national space agencies. This system has multiple modules each with its own mechanical, aeronautical, electrical, thermal, structural, propulsion, and other systems that all must interact successfully.

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