Configuration Management - Configuration management is a process to control and document any changes made during the life of a project. Configuration management provides:

Appropriate levels of review and approval for changes
Focal points for those seeking to make changes
A simple point of input to contracting representatives in the customer and contractors office for approved changes. (Kerzner, 1995)

Decision Analysis - Decision analysis is a structured approach to making decisions. Decision analysis provides a set of methods and strategies to help organize your thinking about decision situations and base your decisions on a solid foundation of clear thinking. The framework of decision analysis can be summarized succinctly by a simple acronym: effective decision makers follow the GOOD-D process (Laskey and Drake, 1997). They understand the Goal of the decision, generate a comprehensive set of Options, and predict the likely Outcomes if each option is chosen. Then they integrate this information to Decide which of the options is best. Finally they Do it! Effective decision makers think carefully about their decision and then are decisive about implementing the course of action the decide is best.

Feasibility Study - A feasibility study is a way to determine if there are workable real solutions to a problem. "In system development, a study to identify and analyze a problem and its potential solutions in order to determine its viability, costs, and benefits." (IBM, 1987)

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Human Factors Engineering - Human Factors Engineering is the branch of engineering devoted to the consideration of human and system interaction. Human Factors Engineering deals with mental and physical needs, capabilities, and expectations of the user.

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Interface - "An interface is a boundary shared by interacting components in a system." (Bailey, 1996)

Need Analysis - "The system cycle and the system engineering process begin with the identification of a need based on a want or desire for something arising from a deficiency (perceived or real)." (Blanchard & Fabrycky, 1990)

Organizational Structure - A major aspect of system engineering management is that of organizing and staffing. Organization...consists of (1) determining what activities need to be accomplished; (2) grouping the identified activities in term of a functionally - oriented structure of some type (unit, group, department, division, section); and (3) staffing the structure with the appropriate personnel skills to perform the designated activities in a coordinated manner." (Blanchard & Fabrycky, 1990)

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Project Management - "Project management provides [a means] to plan, organize, implement, and control [project] activities, resources and people." (Meredith, 1989)

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Prototype - "A prototype is a model suitable for the evaluation of system design, performance, and production potential." (IBM, 1987)

Quality Control - Quality control is the management concept where higher quality, lower cost, and more rapid development are keys for improving the quality-cost characteristics of products, processes, and services. Just designing to meet specifications is not sufficient. Quality losses begin to accumulate whenever a product parameter deviates from its normal or optimal value and it is recognized that quality must be designed into products and processes. (Blanchard and Fabrycky, 1990)

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Requirement - A requirement is a criterion that a system must meet. Requirements can include things the system must do, characteristics it must have, and levels of performance it must attain. Systems engineers develop requirements before a systems is created. As it is developed, the system is evaluated according to how well it meets its requirements.

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Stakeholders - The stakeholders are a group of people for whom a system is being built. Stakeholders include users, owners, manufacturers, maintainers, trainers etc. (Buede, 1996)

System - A system is a set of components organized to satisfy specified objectives. These components may include hardware, software, people, and facilities.

Systems Engineering- Systems engineering is the process of defining, developing and integrating quality systems. Examples of systems are a car, a stereo, the metro, and George Mason University. Whereas other engineering disciplines concentrate on individual aspects of a system (electronics, ergonomics, software, etc.), systems engineers focus on the system as a whole. Systems engineers work with stakeholders to define what the system must do and how well it must do it, analyze cost and performance, and manage the development of the system.” (GMU, 1997)

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System Integration - "System integration is the process through which a number of products and services . . . are specified and assembled into a complete system that will achieve the intended functionality." (Sage, 1992)

System Lifecycle - "A systems engineering life cycle prescribes a number of phases that should be followed, often in an interactive and iterative manner in order successfully to produce and field a large-scale system that meets user requirements." (Sage, 1992)

Validation - Validation answers the question Did we build the right product? "From a purposeful perspective, a system must be tested to determine whether it does what the client really wishes it to do." (Sage, 1992)

The Vee Model - The Vee Model addresses the technical aspect of the project cycle and represents the sequence of project events. The left side of the Vee [is] a representation of the evolution of user requirements into parts and lines of code through the process of decomposition and definition. The downward iterations include engineering studies, requirements understanding modeling, feasibility demonstrations, and with-if analysis, and descend to the level of the system under investigation such as subsystem or piece parts as examples. The right side of the Vee represents the integration and verification of the system components into successive levels of assembly. The upward iterations ensure that the technical baseline, as it evolves, continues to be satisfactory to the user. (Forsberg, 1992, 1995)

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Verification - Verification answers the question Did we build the product right? "System verification is the activity of comparing the product produced at the output of each phase of the life cycle with the product produced at the output of the preceding phase." (Sage, 1992)

REFERENCES

Bailey, R. W. (1996) HUMAN PERFORMANCE ENGINEERING: DESIGNING HIGH QUALITY, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Blanchard, B.S., Fabrycky, W. J. (1990) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND ANALYSIS 2ND Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Buede, D. M. (1995) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DESIGN AND INTEGRATION, Fairfax, VA: Systems Engineering Department, George Mason University.

Forsberg K., & Mooz, H., THE RELATIONSHIP OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING TO THE PROJECT CYCLE, Engineering Management Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3 September 1992, pp. 36-43.

Forsberg, K., IF I COULD DO THAT, THEN I COULD, Proceedings of the National Council for System Engineering (NCOSE) Conference, St. Louis, MO, July 1995.

Forsberg, K., and H. Mooz, APPLICATION OF THE "VEE" TO INCREMENTAL AND EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT, Proceedings of the National Council for System Engineering (NCOSE) Conference, St. Louis, MO, July 1995.

George Mason University, Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering Program Description, Fairfax, VA: Department of Systems Engineering, George Mason University, 1997.

IBM Corporation (1987) IBM DICTIONARY OF COMPUTING, New York: IBM Corp.

Kerzner, Harold (1995) PROJECT MANAGEMENT , New York, NY: International Thompson Publishers, Inc.

Laskey, K.B. and Drake, J. GOOD-D: Lessons for an Interactive Course in Decision Making, Fairfax, VA: Department of Systems Engineering, George Mason University, 1997.

Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J. Jr., (1989) PROJECT MANAGEMENT: A MANAGERIAL APPROACH. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Sage, A.P., (1992) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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