The Systems Engineering
Started in the Middle

Terry Bahill
Systems and Industrial Engineering
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0020
terry@sie.arizona.edu
http://www.sie.arizona.edu/sysengr/slides/middle.ppt
© 2001-04 Bahill

In the textbooks, the systems engineering process usually starts at the beginning of the project and most of the systems engineering effort occurs during the first two phases of the system life cycle, namely, stating the problem and investigating alternatives However, in the real world, the systems engineering process often begins somewhere in the middle of the project, for example it may start two years into a five-year project. Naturally, the systems engineering process should be different for a project where systems engineering starts in the middle versus a project where it starts at the beginning of the project. This paper presents a consensus of senior systems engineers and project managers of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and Raytheon Missile Systems Company about how systems engineering should be done when it starts in the middle. We call this the systems engineering started in the middle process.

Reference: [78]. This seminar is designed for engineers and project managers. This talk requires a zip disk drive, PowerPoint and a computer projector and/or an overhead projector. This talk takes one hour.