Tutorials

Time: Monday, April 24 08:00 - 12:00

Instructor: Ronald Kratzke, Vitech Corporation

Room: Maisonneuve B

Abstract: Models and representations have always been cornerstones of engineering, systems engineering included. Regrettably, rather than bringing clarity, the rise of model-based systems engineering has brought increased confusion and conflict regarding models and representations. Given the inherent breadth of systems engineering as we connect stakeholders and technical experts, we require the richest representation set possible. Rather than engaging in religious wars, we must continuously seek to expand our engineering toolkit to better understand, analyze, and communicate. And we must seek to integrate these seemingly diverse representations as perspectives of an underlying systems model rather than as distinct products and endpoints themselves. Surveying the multitude of system representations available - SysML and traditional, logical and physical, contextual and technical, systems and beyond - we will connect a diverse set of representations to each other and, most importantly, to the common underlying model. We will highlight various representations, each with their specific content and strengths. These strengths lead to preferred usage contexts and scenarios as part of a continuum of perspectives on the systems model. Understanding the contexts and scenarios, we will review content, notation, usage, analytical value, communication value, and target audiences. Leveraging the strengths of each representation, we will learn the constructive role these representations can play in a customizable, coherent, and powerful toolkit to address the systems challenges of today.

Time: Monday, April 24 08:00 - 12:00

Instructor: Shrisha Rao, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, India

Room: Maisonneuve C

Abstract: New models of computation such as cloud computing, Big Data, and the Internet of Things have fundamentally upended common assumptions about the nature and purposes of computation. One thing that may be said about these and some other such paradigms is that they almost always require computation to be provided as a service to some entity seeking a larger end, rather than regarding the computation as being an end in itself. Services also come with their own set of challenges; e.g., services often require extremely complex systems to work very well, and are also typically more difficult to create and manage well than product creation. Services almost always require humans in the loop in critical functions. Yet, classical thinking and research directions give few insights into how practitioners may understand how computation may be fashioned to work as a component in a service existing in a larger business or social context.

Time: Monday, April 24 13:00 - 17:00

Instructor: Logan Mailloux, Air Force Institute of Technology & United States Air Force, USA

Room: Maisonneuve B

Abstract: This tutorial provides a detailed introduction to System Security Engineering (SSE), a specialty domain of systems engineering responsible for identifying and managing security vulnerabilities through the application of SSE processes, activities, and tasks. An approach to SSE is presented which focuses on integrating security throughout the entire system life cycle based on the recently released NIST Special Publication 800-160 (final scheduled for December 2016). Participants will be taught the basic concepts of SSE with a focus on the applicability of NIST's SSE processes, activities, and tasks for different types of systems. This tutorial is applicable to those involved in systems engineering, and more generally, anyone involved in the acquisition of complex systems.

Time: Monday, April 24 13:00 - 17:00

Instructors: Richard Turner, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA

Doug Bodner, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Yvette Rodriguez, Defense Acquisition University, USA

Jon Wade, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA

Peizhu Zhang, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA

Room: Maisonneuve C

Abstract: Building Learning Experiences with the SERC SE Experience Accelerator (1 day tutorial) Traditionally SEs develop deep knowledge by working for extended periods of time with people from multiple domains, systems, subsystems and disciplines. However, due to changing demographics, it is now more likely that many SEs are young, with little experience, or more mature, but without sufficient specific experience in some domains. It may take years and many projects for a new systems engineer to encounter, consider, attempt to solve and see the results of implemented solutions. The type and depth of the learning experience is constrained by the type of projects and lifecycle phases available when transition begins. The Systems Engineering Research Center's (SERC) Systems Engineering Experience Accelerator (SEEA) project has been addressing this problem through the use of immersive, game-like experiences where a learner can encounter a variety of realistic situations and attempt to resolve them using their existing experience as well as "fail-fast, learn-fast" experimentation. The framework is directed toward rapidly building experience for systems engineers. It builds on and amplifies the mentoring activities of normal technical management by providing new ways to identify, characterize, and transfer experiences from mentor to mentee. The EA software is an open source platform available at no cost in a variety of formats. While there are some experiences that have been developed and shared, to most effectively use the tool, organizations need to understand the framework and tools and be able to create and modify experiences. This tutorial consists of a short introduction to the EA concept, history and operational framework, followed by a hands-on workshop that allows attendees to try out an existing experience and to use the SEEA framework and tools to create a short experience for their own environment.

Time: Monday, April 24 13:00 - 17:00

Instructors: M. Majid Butt, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Irene Macaluso, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Nicola Marchetti, CTVR Trinity College, Ireland

Room: Maisonneuve F

Abstract: The main goal of the tutorial is to introduce the audience to a framework that draws on concepts of an information theoretical and complex systems science nature (e.g., excess entropy, signalling complexity, neural complexity) to underpin a new approach to communication networks. Through this framework we will discuss possible modeling tools to expedite innovation throughout telecommunications, by revitalising thinking in this area through the influx of methods from complex systems science to revamp the conceptualization of wireless networks. Development of our framework will proceed in a layered fashion, with a modelling layer forming the foundation of the framework, supporting an analysis layer. The modelling phase will introduce techniques to capture the significant attributes of telecommunications networks and the interactions that shape them through the application of tools such as agent-based modelling and graph theory abstractions to derive new metrics that holistically describe a network. The analysis phase completes the core functionality of our framework by linking the complex systems science inspired metrics to overall network performance. In order to maximize the relevance of our framework to the telecom research and industry communities, the scenarios and use cases we will discuss are rooted in the most relevant, near-future architectures and use cases in 5G communication networks, such as dense small cell deployments, cognitive mobile broadband networks, Internet of Things and sensor networks.