Technical Report
Systems Engineering Expert Knowledge (SEEK)
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Human Capital Development
Report Number: SERC-2015-TR-112
Publication Date: 2015-12-18
Project:
Systems Engineering Expert Knowledge (SEEK)
Principal Investigators:
Dr. David Olwell
Dr. Forrest Shull
Dr. Jon Wade
Co-Principal Investigators:
This document is a summary of the work that was completed in Part 1 of the SERC Research Topic DO1/TTO2/0127 “Systems Engineering Expert Knowledge (SEEK)” supported by Strategic Initiatives, Office of the DASD (Systems Engineering). The purpose of this research project is to addresses the gap in the systems engineering research literature: the lack of detailed case studies about systems engineering successes and failures. The authors propose to develop a series of case studies tailored to defense education needs. These case studies will support instruction at the Defense Acquisition University and at the Naval Postgraduate School, the federal service academies, and other government education and training providers.
The major research activities accomplished the following:
- Created a set of two companion case studies that: o cover the entire program lifecycle, particularly through Test and Evaluation. o provide contrast: one of the case studies will describe a relatively successful program, while the other will cover one that was not as successful. o provide vignettes for the Engineering 302 modular course to cover specific areas.
Note: Two versions of each were created due to the FOUO sensitivity of the source data.
A variety of sources were used to develop this material, including:
- Program budget and schedule performance, rebaselining activity
- Recorded progress against KPP objective measures
- Operational Test outcomes
- EVM measures
- Prior analyses from Congressional Research Service, GAO, and others
- Program documentation
- Organizational policies (especially when written into contracts)
- Discussions with key government and contractor stakeholders