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OLIVIER de Weck: About
five years ago, we

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started thinking about our
classes in the area of aircraft

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systems and spacecraft
systems in the department.

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And we started
realizing that there

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was a particular class
that we didn't have,

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and something that seemed
very important to us,

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and also very important
to people in industry.

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And that is a
general introduction

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to systems engineering.

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Systems engineering is
essentially the art and science

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of coordinating and
putting together

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the different
disciplines in order

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to create safe, efficient
flying systems--

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not just flying systems,
but systems in general.

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And so we decided to create
a six-unit class, which

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is a half class,
that would focus

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on the methodology
and the processes

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in systems engineering,
which is going all

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the way from stakeholder
needs and expectations,

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all the way to a
functioning system that

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can be deployed in the field.

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This class, 16842, is really
a door-opener to the world

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of systems engineering.

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And what we use in the
class to orient everybody

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is the classic V-model
of systems engineering.

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Now what is the V-model?

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The V-model takes you
step-by-step through the life

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cycle of a system, starting
with the left side of the V,

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which is, why should the system
exist in the first place?

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Who are the stakeholders?

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What are their expectations?

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How do you formulate a concept
of operations for a system?

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And then go step-by-step
through the V,

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through the requirements
definition, concept generation

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and selection, driving the
system design, all the way

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to the details, to every little
part, and piece, and component,

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and then moving
up the right side

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of the V, where you
integrate all these pieces

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into subsystems and modules.

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You do verification,
validation, testing.

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You commission the system
and bring it into operations.

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And even then, the
job isn't done.

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You have to accompany the
system throughout its life cycle

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through maintenance,
upgrades, repair,

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making sure the system
is really operating

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as efficiently as it can.

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So what the class does is
take students systematically

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through every portion of the
V, so that at the end of it,

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they have a good overview over,
what is systems engineering?

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And what are the key steps in
the life cycle of a system?