Getting Started
Welcome to the MITRE Systems Engineering Guide (SEG)
The SEG has more than 500 pages of content and covers more than 100 subjects. It has been developed by MITRE systems engineers for MITRE systems engineers. Systems engineering is a team sport, so while the SEG is written "to" a MITRE systems engineer, most of the best practices and lessons learned are applicable to all members of a government acquisition program team, whatever their particular role or specialty.
The primary purpose of the SEG is to convey MITRE accumulated wisdom on a wide range of systems engineering subjects—sufficient for understanding the essentials of the discipline and for translating this wisdom into practice in your own work environment.
How the SEG is Organized
The SEG is grouped into five sections. The first two sections set the context for the guide, followed by three "meaty" sections partitioned into topics and articles.
- The Evolution of Systems Engineering provides a working definition of the discipline and traces its evolutionary arc into the future.
- The Essence of MITRE Systems Engineering introduces how our sponsors perceive MITRE systems engineering roles and responsibilities, and how we at MITRE interpret those expectations.
- Enterprise Engineering explains how to take a comprehensive view of systems engineering activities at different scales of the customer enterprise, offers techniques for engineering information-intensive enterprises that balance local and global needs, and covers how to provide systems engineering support to governance activities.
- SE Life-Cycle Building Blocks is organized around the fundamentals of setting up engineering systems regardless of the specific life-cycle methodology used by the supporting sponsor or customer.
- Acquisition Systems Engineering is centered on how MITRE systems engineering fits into and supports government acquisition programs.
Systems Engineering Competency Model
The SEG organization and perspective were inspired by and based on the MITRE Systems Engineering Competency Model. Each article in the SEG contains a brief MITRE Systems Engineering Roles & Expectations statement distilled from the competency model. An expanded version of each article's systems engineering roles and expectations can be found in the competency model.
How to Use the SEG
- Read the two expository sections—The Evolution of Systems Engineering and The Essence of MITRE Systems Engineering—in their entirety the first time you access the SEG.
- Take some time to familiarize yourself with the content of the SEG by reading the section-level introductions and sampling a topic or two and a few articles.
- Then come back to specific topics and articles in the SEG as needed to support your work program or SE educational activities.
What You Will Find in an Article
The articles are written as if the author is speaking directly to a MITRE technical staff member involved in an FFRDC-related systems engineering activity on a government program or to someone who wants to learn more about a particular systems engineering perspective. The authors are MITRE systems engineering practitioners with substantial experience in a particular subject area.
Each article attempts to convey where MITRE systems engineering typically fit in the big picture of government participants and commercial contractors and clarifies how MITRE's role differs from that of the other players.
Each article follows the same basic construct:
- First, the authors asked, "What are the common problems, pitfalls, conundrums, and tight corners that MITRE systems engineers are likely to find themselves in when working in this subject area?"
- Then, for each problem or conundrum, the authors posed the question, "What wisdom is there to convey to avoid or mitigate problems or enhance the likelihood of success?"
- The wisdom is conveyed in a set of succinct best practices and lessons learned.
- When an important conundrum is identified, when possible, potential approaches are suggested for solving the problem.
- Finally, each article cites references and resources for additional reading. Be sure to check them out if you are interested in more details.
What the SEG is Not
The SEG is not intended to provide guidance on every possible issue under the "systems engineering sun." A complete discussion on even one topic could probably fill volumes. Nor is it intended to serve as a compendium of Systems Engineering 101 tutorials. A rich set of resources, within MITRE and beyond, can be tapped into for educational purposes. And while the SEG is based on the collective experience of MITRE systems engineers across the company, it is not intended to serve as a resource on detailed sponsor- or customer-specific systems engineering policies, practices, or processes.
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