building thesystems engineering

workforceof the future

A COM P L E MEN T TO TH E I N COS E SYSTEM S ENGINEERING V ISIO N 2035

GUIDANCE FOR EDUCATION, TRAINING& DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEM ENGINEERS

P RO F. D I P L .- I N G . H E I N Z STOE WE R M.SC . SAC G MB H , & T U D E L FTDAVID NICHOL S J P L /C ALT EC H

The intention of this White Paper, in view of a shortage ofexperienced System Engineers and the growing need for suchcompetencies, is to solicit the endorsement and application ofits guiding principles by professional organizations, industry,
academia and government agencies.

T H I S G U I DA N CE PAP E R IS AP P LICA BLE
TO A L L T Y P E S OF SYST EMS E.G .
• Hardware-Intensive Systems• Verification & Test Systems• Software-Intensive Systems• Production Systems• Cyber-Physical Systems• Maintenance & Support Systems• Data & IT Systems• Mechatronic/Robotic Systems• Autonomous Systems• Logistics Systems• Small & Large Systems• Operations Systems• Conceptual Systems• Systems of Systems (SoS)• Social Systems

T H I S G U I DA N CE PAP E R IS AP P LICA BLE
TO A L L T Y P E S OF AP P LIC ATION DOMAINS E.G.
• Energy• Government Policy• Business Information• Medicine• Financial• Public Health• Global Change/Climate Assessment• Education• Aerospace & Defense• Infrastructure• Natural Resources Processing• Smart Cities• Chemical Processing• Smart Agriculture• Biological Systems• Sustainability• Social & Economic

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

science & engineering

progress is often a result of the integration of multidisciplinary contributions. Examples are artificialorgans, robotics, and smart cities. At the same time,knowledge is becoming accessible faster than everbefore. Because Systems Engineering (SE) is an
integrative-discipline, these developments havestrong effects upon education in general and SE in
particular.

This white paper provides guidance for development
of SE competencies and for the retention of System
Engineers (SEs). As a complement to the INCOSE SE
Vision 2035, it offers experience-based recommendations to enterprises and educational institutions.

KEY MESSAGES OF THIS WHITE PAPER

Complex systems need well trainedSEs from every discipline at almost
every product tier or service level.
While knowledge of process isimportant, SEs must be able tolead engineering solutions.

As SE education is fundamentally
multi-disciplinary, development
and retention will rely heavily on
continuing education, provided
by enterprises, universities andspecialized training businesses.

SEs most often develop by
expanding from traditional
disciplines such as physics andcomputer/information science,and engineering disciplines, suchas control systems, electrical ormechanical engineering, to broader
systems integration capabilities.

iUN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Identify Broad System Needs

The 17 United Nations SDGs, accepted unanimously by 193
Nations, stand for the transformation of our world, and represent a proxy for human needs. Their realization relies upona broad system approach and global cooperation. Education is
one of the 17 goals.

Industry 4.0 Projects Major Changes
for the Realization of Systems

Industry 4.0 (and Society 5.0) rest on the top of increasingly
complex software and information technology (IT) solutions.
The fourth industrial phase focuses on cyber-physical systems
which integrate advanced technologies for the development
and manufacturing of future products and services. The associated complexity growth and sustainability expectations
need strong SE to ensure viable, socially responsible products.

SE is Practiced at Many Tiers
of an Enterprise

Complex products, such as automobiles, infrastructures,spacecraft, global IT systems, and supply chains, are characterized by several tiers of competencies at Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers, often Small andMedium Enterprises (SMEs). These products are built fromsub-systems, needing special competencies, such as structural, electrical, or software, design, into the system product.
SE competencies are needed at many tiers to ensure productfunctionality and market success.

Technology Advances Affect
SE Solutions, Methods and Practices

The digital and cyber-physical transformations along withtechnology advances profoundly affect the practice of SE.
For example, MBSE, simulations, digital twins, AI, automation,
robotics, and virtualization environments enable faster andbetter SE practices and solutions. They require careful introduction and extensive employee training.

SE Tools Become More Critical and Diverse

Enterprise digital transformation demands more powerful
digital SE tools. Their application requires process adaptations and SE training. The integration of different generationsof often incompatible enterprise tools, such as for systems
modeling (MBSE), product lifecycle management, software
engineering, virtualization, or digital twins, into coherent SE
practices and system solutions requires substantial educationand training.
ii

SE Roles Will Diversify

As system complexity grows, SE education and training will
also need to focus on SE specializations. This creates new
education and training demands for different SE roles such assystems analyst, SE tools curator, ideation engineer, or systemassembly and verification SE. New SE education and training
demands will arise in three areas: digitalization, increasing
complexity of traditional SE specialties, and adaptation toadditional product domains.

Educational Demands for SE Change

Growing multi-disciplinary developments and widely
available knowledge have profound effects upon the
education and training of students and the enterprise
workforce. SE education needs to respond, more than in
the past, by partially integrating technical with social andeconomic disciplines. This integration is needed, along withaspects of project management, at advanced levels of
education or professional growth, to ensure projects success.
Hybrid classes and video supported tools will eventually
become commonplace. SE education must start in primaryschools, continue through universities, and be sustained
during professional careers.

Continuing Education is a Must for
Successful SEs and Enterprises

Digital enterprises and their workforces need to anticipate
ever changing markets, technologies, and businessenvironments. Quality continuing education will hence
become an even stronger differentiation for successfulorganizations. The Airbus D&S and the US DoD are excellent
examples of post-graduate continuing education and training
approaches.

Capstone Projects Should Become
Building Blocks of SE Education

Learning SE requires, in addition to theoretical knowledge, anunderstanding of how to realize systems. Capstone projects
allow SE students and practitioners, at any stage of theireducation, a transition from book knowledge to practicalunderstanding. They progressively gain confidence for domain
integration challenges and system realization. Customer
review and team presentations should be part of capstone
projects to enhance quality and SE comprehension.
iii

BUILDING THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERINGWORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE
GU IDA N CE FO R E D UCAT I O N , T R AINING A ND DE VE LOPM E NT OF SYST E M E NG INE E RS

Demand is growing enormously for engineering talent,
especially engineers who can steer the development
and operation of large, complex systems composedof mechanical, electrical, biologic, software, human,
environmental and societal elements. These engineers
must be able to integrate technical as well as
programmatic and social issues across the many
disciplines making up the systems of today and of
the future. But in addition to the needs for large
systems, there are many Small to Medium Enterprises(SMEs) that build more limited, but still often
complex, products. These SMEs also have a strong
and growing need for integrative engineering talent.
Systems Engineering (SE) is a discipline, performed
by Systems Engineers (SEs), that applies engineering
analyses, processes, techniques and viewpoints to therealization and maintenance of systems—both social
and technical. The many global factors and trends

1.0

driving the need for SEs are described in the Systems
Engineering Vision 2035 incose.org/sevision.
This white paper is intended to inspire individuals,
educational establishments, and enterprises to reflect
deeply on how to develop SE competencies and toretain SEs in their workforce. As such, it is part of,and complementary to, the INCOSE SE Vision 2035.
It describes the factors influencing the educational
environment for the SE workforce and provides
ideas as to how this workforce can be developed
and nurtured by an enterprise. It also offers someapproaches that educational institutions, as wellas enterprises, can take to enhance the academic
underpinnings and continuing education necessary
to assure a highly competent SE workforce for the
future.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EDUCATION
AND TRAINING ENVIRONMENT

Historian and futurist Y.N. Hirari writes “To develop afuture educational offer for the coming generations ismore difficult today when compared to the past, since
the prospective technologic manipulation of body,brain and soul evades the certainty of being”. (Ref 1).
Fruehwald & H Poeppel, in their characterization ofknowledge in the 21st century (Ref 2), observe thatthe challenge of the future is about complexity andsimplification, which is the essence of SE.
The United Nations seventeen Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) (Ref 3), endorsed
unanimously by 193 nations, address fundamental
human and societal needs necessary to move forward
as a global society. Most of the UN SDGs require
holistic system approaches and well-educated SEs
to support their implementation. They are hence anextra motivation for competent systems analysis
and engineering education. SDG number four focuses
on education. In a world conference, UNESCO

expanded on the educational theme number fourand passed the Brussels declaration, (Ref 4) stating:“Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education andpromote life-long learning opportunities for all.”Figure 1.1 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight quality andcontinuous education as highly relevant to the achievement of many other goals11.1 Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 (and Society 5.0) rest on the top ofincreasingly complex software and information
technology (IT) solutions. Many enterprises
are entering into programs to advance theautomation of ideation, design, realization,
operations, manufacturing, and logistical support
processes, along with business and human capitalfunctions interactions. This enterprise-level digitaltransformation demands an alignment with the
SE workforce and their education. Two specificinitiatives of the past few years- Industry 4.0 (Ref5) and Society 5.0 (Ref 6) have set new goals andvisions for our social and industrial developments
and will shape future education needs. Industry
4.0, a German Academy of Technology initiative,
characterizes the fourth industrial phase, towards
which we are transitioning, as one of cyber-physicalsystems. It envisions the need for the integrationof automation, big data, autonomy, augmented
reality, and other specialties which too often are
constrained to a stovepipe environment (Figure 1.2).

BIG
DATA

IOT

Education and training for SE need to adapt to suchchanging industrial and societal demands. Industry
4.0, Society 5.0, advanced technologies, the digitaltransformation and evolving virtual environments
will substantially change demands for engineering
education. The recently released Digital Engineering
Competency Framework (DECF) developed a logicalstructure for emphasizing five digital competencies
in the SE domain: data engineering, modeling andsimulation, digital engineering and analysis, systems
software, and digital enterprise environment (Ref 12).
This framework describes digital skills that need to be
added to general SE skills.
Multi-disciplinary and IT competencies, as well as
personal and professional skills, will enable students
to cope with new demands and a changing society.
The complexity growth associated with widespread
digital transformation will drive the need for SEs
with broad analytical, technical, and integrativecompetencies to ensure that the resulting products
are viable and conform to sustainability expectations
and regulatory standards.

3D
PRINTING

SOCIETY

5.0

CYBERSECURITY

CLOUD
COMPUTING

recognizes that information will be readily
SYSTEMINTEGRATIONAUTONOMOUS
ROBOTSavailable to the workforce via digital search,and much routine work will be accomplishedby robots and AI, so training must concentrate
on human skills, leadership, endurance, reading

AR

AUGMENTEDREALITY

SIMULATION

INDUSTRY

4.0

Figure 1.2 Industry 4.0 major elements

2and comprehension. Education systems must
support this workforce transition by breaking
down the traditional barriers between STEM
and social science/humanities curricula. (Ref 6)

Figure 1.3 Society 5.0

1.2 Global Access to Knowledge
In today’s world, information and knowledge are
increasing at an astronomical rate. Fortunately, due tomodern knowledge management systems and searchtechnologies, accessing that knowledge is easier thanever. Given the widespread availability of information
today, engineering students no longer need teachers
to lecture them on simple facts because that
information is readily available- and often in moreengaging formats than a typical classroom lecture.
However, exploitation of the knowledge requires acareful assessment. What may appear true today
could be proven to be false tomorrow. Engineers
need to be taught how to process, synthesize, parse,
critically assess, and use information. They needadaptable skills they can apply in all areas of life.
Teaching only ideas and facts, without teaching how
to apply that knowledge in real-life settings, is nolonger enough.

1.3 The Multi-Disciplinary Nature of SE
Complex systems applications will continue
to grow in many fields, e.g., energy, mobility,communications networks, aerospace, smart cities,
biological and health systems, and large construction
and infrastructure projects. Increased domain
specialization, which is necessary, leads to higher
fragmentation of design work and thus the needfor end-to-end system-wide integration to ensure
stakeholder value. Enterprises will require multidisciplinary team competencies to analyze, evaluate,plan, realize, operate, and sustain these systems
within environmental, regulatory, programmatic, andsocially acceptable boundaries. This growing needfor systems specialists complements the trend ofdeep and narrow engineering specializations in many
enterprises of today as well as the future.
As systems become more multi-disciplinary, digital,and smarter, enterprises will need to attract andretain a workforce with an extensive variety of skills,
to support or apply rapidly changing technologies
in response to shifting stakeholder demands. This
workforce will need to provide not only broad andfocused technical and business competencies, but also
engineering and leadership talent, often operating ina muti-site and multi-cultural context, to architect,integrate and coordinate the system of interest to a
specific business. To be successful in the next decade,enterprises, regardless of engineering discipline
focus, will need to shape their workforce to meetthe imperatives as described in the INCOSE Systems
Engineering Vision, Chapter 1. These enterprise
imperatives are:• Competitiveness in global and diverse
environment• Establishment of a sustainability ethic• Development of systems thinking• Anticipation of technology and a cultureof innovation• Supply chain integration andoptimization• Advancing enterprise intelligence,
decision making, and learning• Embracing the digital transformation3

1.4 SEs Need Domain-Specific Bodies of Knowledge
The trends towards increasing automation
and autonomy, ever more sophisticated digital
ecosystems, rapidly changing technologies, andthe need for cyber-secure and trusted systems
have further fueled the need for SE competencies.
Increasing data, the growing availability of AI, selflearning capabilities, modeling, simulation, and virtualenvironments are catapulting systems analysis, SE,and data analytics into the forefront of many social
and industrial undertakings. These trends have also
led to a recognition that depending on
the domain, SEs need to acquire mastery of
specialized complementary areas. Figure 1.4 provides
examples of complementary SE competencies forsome selected domains, illustrating the need for welleducated traditional SEs with deep technical domain
expertise aligned with domain-specific applications.

DATA ANALYTICS• IT, AI, machine learning, software, cloudcomputing and systems analysis.

COMPLEX PROCESSING PLANTS• E.g for chemical production• Require solid fluid dynamics, thermal andlogistics knowledge combined with process,controls, and design competencies.

COMMUNICATION and ENERGY NETWORKS• Electrical, advanced electronics, control,
operations, and communications engineering
along with systems analysis expertise.

AUTOMATED or AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS• Such as automobiles, or harbor/airfield
logistics require skills in IT, software, sensors,communication, cyber security, control theory,
design for safety, security and social scienceskills.
SMALL MEDICAL or SMART HOME DEVICES• Such as blood pressure or body temperature
measurement equipment’s require skills in
sensor, IT, software, and communication fields.
Figure 1.4 Examples of domain-specific knowledge necessary for SEs

4

SEs are also needed with special competencies
in systems of systems, business intelligence, andenterprise modeling.

1.5 SE is Practiced at Many Tiers of an Enterprise
Complex products, such as automobiles,
infrastructures or aerospace are characterized byseveral tiers of design, development, assembly, andintegration. These tiers build up from individual
analyses (e.g., structural) to sub-assemblies to major
subsystems and then the final product. Each ofthese tiers is itself a system, albeit generally limited.
Therefore, system competencies are needed at many
product tiers and often throughout the entire supply
chain such as suspension, electrical, software, or
passenger comfort (a cross-cutting subsystem) for
the automotive example. The domain competence

requirements for most of these subsystems aredifferent, but all need a certain degree of systemcompetence, coupled with software competence, tounderstand specialties such as Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEM) system requirements,
verification and test processes, or interfaces/interactions with other subsystems. Systems
knowledge and education is hence different at thevarious tier levels. On the job progression for SEs
leads most often from assembly SE to subsystem SE
to overall system integration SE.

systems engineers work at many tiers of a product
AU TOM OT IVE SYST E M S• Su s pe n s i o n• E le c t r i c a l• Aco u st i c s /Pa sse n ge r Co m fo r t• Test i n g-Ce r t i f i c at i o n• Pro du c t i o n -Q u a li t y• Spa res / Re pa i r- Log i st i c s• Su st a i n a bi li t y, RA M S, Etc .
• Ve h i c le M e c h a n i c a l• Ve h i c le E le c t ro n i c s /Soft wa re• I n teg rate d Ve h i c le
• Au to n o m o u s D r i v i n g
Ref: H Stoewer, P. Schreinemakers

P U BL IC INFRAST RU CT U RE SYST E M S• C i v i l Co n st r u c t i o n• Ele c t ro/ M e c h a n i c a l Equ i pm e n t• Traff i c Co n t ro l
• S afet y,RA M S• Test i n g a n d Co m m i ss i o n i n g• Pro du c t i o n• Ro lli n g Sto c k• G ro u n d M e c h a n i c s

Courtesy of BMW• Syste m D e li ve ra bles
• A rc h i te c t i n g a n d G e og ra ph i c A re a s• In f ra st r u c t u re Net wo r k• Q u a li t y a n d Ce r t i f i c at i o n

Figure 1.5 Example of product tiers that are the scope of interest of SEs

5

1.6 Continual Innovation and Maturation of Technologies
The digital and cyber-physical transformations alongwith other technology advances enable new products
and services, and profoundly affect the discipline of
SE. For example, MBSE, simulations, digital twins, AI,
automation, robotics, and virtualization environments
enable faster and qualitatively improved SE practices
and solutions. At the same time, they require advances in education and training for SEs. Enterprises andSEs hence need to invest increasingly more efforts
into SE training to stay current and effective.

6

But recognize that SE does not always begin witha clean design slate. SEs are most often challenged
to integrate advanced technologies into systems ofsystems (SoS). Component systems must integratewith separately evolving and managed system elements, such as infrastructure – an example being theplacement of autonomous vehicles into the existing
roadway network.

1.7 SE Tools Become More Critical and Diverse
Enterprise digital transformation is demanding evermore powerful digital SE tools. Their application
requires enterprise commitment, process adaptations
and engineer training, especially for SEs. The integration of different generations of often incompatible
enterprise tools, such as MBSE, product lifecycle management, virtualization, or digital twins, into coherent

engineering practices and thus system solutions is acomplex enterprise undertaking. SE is at the center ofmany of the use cases for these integrated tool suites.
Successful integrated tool suites will themselves be
engineered as systems and accompanied by extensive
education and training. SEs will need to master theuse of these tools. Familiarization and awareness will
not be sufficient.

Figure 1.7. SE design tools evolution

1.8 Specialization of SE Roles
Demands on SEs will grow because of systemcomplexity, automation, and domain diversity
growth. SE education and training will hence become
differentiated into major functional specializations,examples of which are illustrated below:

Moreover, a differentiation for junior, mid-career,senior SEs, and systems architects is an additional
set of distinctions that SE education will need toaccommodate.

• ARCHITECTING & IDEATION• RISK ASSESSMENT & DECISION ANALYSIS• BUSINESS ENGINEERING• MODELING (MODEL CREATION, CURATION, & EXPLOITATION)• MANUFACTURING• INTEGRATION, VERIFICATION & VALIDATION• OPERATIONS• VALUE ENGINEERING• SYSTEMS ANALYSIS & OPTIMIZATION• MAINTENANCE & SERVICE

7

2.0

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGHLYVALUED SYSTEMS ENGINEERS
2.1 Competency and Behavioral Models

Competency in SEs can be assessed in several
dimensions. In addition to basic engineering anddomain competencies, four useful viewpoints are:1) mastery of the knowledge associated with thetechniques and methods of SE; 2) the systems
mindset and related proficiencies associated withsystems thinking and complex problem solving; 3)interpersonal skills and behaviors associated withthe ability to work effectively in a team environment
and to coordinate across the problem domain andsolution domain; and 4) technical leadership skills
and behaviors associated with the ability to guide adiverse team of experts toward a specific technicalgoal. These are defined in detail in the ATLAS 1.1 model
created on the HELIX project (Ref 13).

The Chartered Professional Engineer programs
prevalent in many countries are another example ofprofessional knowledge certifications. The practice ofSE, however, goes beyond just mastery of knowledge.
It must be applied in real world situations involving
complex team structures and dynamic programmatic
environments. Mastery is also determined byorganizational forces, the three most important of
which are work experiences, mentoring, and lifelong
education and training. These forces are generated
by a combination of personal and organizational
initiatives – initiatives that reflect the maturity of theindividual business and enterprise culture.
The ability to lead and to provide value to theenterprise in these circumstances is determined
not just by technical competency, but by the mixof behaviors exhibited by the SE. To illustrate thelatter -- in 2005 a study was conducted at NASAto determine the behavioral competencies of highperforming SEs. These behaviors are used to formulate training programs, as well as guide career andsuccession planning. See Appendix A. The study madethe following overall observations:

The International Council on Systems Engineering(INCOSE) Competency Framework provides a set of
36 competencies for SE within a tailorable frameworkthat provides guidance for practitioners andstakeholders to identify knowledge, skills, abilities,
and behaviors crucial to SE effectiveness. (Ref 7).
This competency framework is linked to the SE
Certification offered through INCOSE.

“

The… systems engineers studied typically view the system orsubsystem as a non-linear web of connects or disconnects to besolved. They have the ability to view the big picture, zoom in
to pinpoint the disconnect, and then zoom back out to the big
picture, while at the same time looking at the interrelationships
and patterns in the system or design. They have a high degreeof curiosity mixed with self-confidence and persistence andare achievement oriented. They may describe themselves as
having extraordinary physical insight to see the connections andinterrelationships between what they are doing and the world
around them. They are drawn to the challenge of solving complex
problems and are creative, in the midst of numerous constraints.

8

8

“

Figure 2.1 NASA Mars Rover Descent Vehicle

2.2 Typical Training and Career Paths for Senior Systems Engineers
The growth of engineers from domain specialists to
SEs is well illustrated by the “T Model of Systems
Engineering Skills” in Figure 2.2. The basic underlying
idea is that engineers are in the first instanceeducated in a special discipline, e.g., mechanical,
electrical, physics, biological, controls, or other. Somedevelop further within the knowledge and skills baseof their disciplines. Others want to understand more
about neighboring disciplines, thereby developing
an ability to analyze issues across several disciplines.
They are then on their way towards becoming SEs.
The more they learn about other (engineering)disciplines and the more they can interact with amultitude of engineering and programmatic disciplines(schedule, cost, finance, planning, leadership,
markets, etc.), the more they grow to become senior
SEs or system architects. Moreover, mastery of SE
competence specialties, described in Section 1.7, will

become a differentiator
for junior, mid-career, senior SEs, and systemarchitects. Education and training will need toprovide access to those specialties.
Subject matter expert and management careers
traditionally develop in parallel. The usual enterprisemanagement promotion and career progression
criteria is dominated by size of budget and extent
of staff supervision responsibilities. However, someorganizations have created parallel expert career
promotion tracks. With this model, senior specialists
in important technical or administrative domains
can have separate career paths and remuneration
progressions in parallel with management, at least
up to certain levels in a hierarchy. Advancements
to Chief Engineer, Chief Architect, Chief Technical
Officer (CTO), or Project Manager (PM) typicallyFigure 2.2 The “T” model of systems engineering skills

education and career development for system engineersin small & medium enterprises

jr. engineer
U

niv

ersit

sr. engineer

system integrator
chief engineer
project managery(arrows are occasionally associated with training units)

Figure 2.3 Systems engineer development in small and medium enterprises

9exist along this path. In small to medium enterprises(SMEs) career progression is often simply from juniorengineer to senior engineer to roles such as System
Integrator, Chief Engineer, or Project Manager. Figure
2.3 illustrates, in an oversimplified manner, thefundamental steps of career development in SMEs.
As illustrated in Figures 2.3 and 2.4, career tracks
for SEs often lead to a project management (PM)role. The SE and project management disciplines areheavily intertwined (Figure 2.5) due to a significant
interdependence of responsibilities and overlapof concerns. These disciplines traditionally havedifferent educational paths, and alliances withdifferent professional societies. However, because
they depend on each other, just as both depend on
many other disciplines in the engineering, business,or manufacturing fields, they need to work in multidisciplinary teams to derive the desired solution(s)and viable products. Their continuing education,
methods and implementation practices needalignment, consistent with the strategic direction of
the enterprises they support.

education and career development for system engineersfor very large enterprises
Jr. Project Manager

U

niv

ersit

Sr. Project Manager

Jr. Systems Engineer

Sr. Systems Engineer

Jr. Engineer

Sr. Engineer

ASEP

CSEP

Chief EngineeryJoint Industry
University Projects

Certification

ESEP(most arrows are occasionally associated with training units)(steps from jr. to sr. positions are occasionally accompanied by an additional degree in a related field )Figure 2.4 Engineering, systems engineering, and project management development options in larger enterprises

Figure 2.5 Project management and systems engineering have significant overlap of concerns

10

3.0

OVERVIEW AND ROLE OFEDUCATIONAL MODELS

Both formal as well as continuing education are extremely important for
the education and growth of SE talent. Each has a crucial role to play.

3.1 Formal Education
Formal education at the elementary, high school anduniversity levels will play an ever-increasing role in the
education of the SE workforce by laying the groundworkfor systems thinking and systems analytics. In fact,
INCOSE has established the SysTEAM initiative with themission of promoting the integration of system thinking
and SE skills into educational curricula across the globe,
at all levels of education (Ref 14).

3.1.1

Primary and Secondary Education

A key mission of primary and secondary education is
to teach the fundamental skills necessary to function
as an adult in contemporary society, which we canrefer to as “21st Century skills.” While the specificskills deemed to be 21st Century skills may be defineddifferently from person to person, place to place,or school to school, the term does reflect a general,
if somewhat loose and shifting, consensus. The
following list provides a brief illustrative overview of
the knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits
commonly associated with 21st Century skills (Ref 8).

By 2035, systems thinking will be embedded inearly education to complement learning in sciences,
technology, engineering, and mathematics. Early
school education will develop systems thinking andteam skills to create multi-disciplinary solutions
that respond to pre-defined problems andconstraints. Secondary education will teach basic
systems engineering concepts, such as soliciting
and understanding stakeholder needs, developing
requirements, identifying, and evaluating conceptual
alternatives before arriving at a solution and digitalsystem design.

• Critical thinking, problem
solving, reasoning, analysis,
interpretation, synthesizing
information• Oral and written
communication, public
speaking and presenting,listening• Research skills and practices,interrogative questioning• Leadership, teamwork,
collaboration, cooperation,
facility in using virtual
workspaces• Creativity, artistry, curiosity,
imagination, innovation,
personal expression• Perseverance, self-direction,planning, self-discipline,
adaptability, initiative• Information andcommunication technology(ICT) literacy, media andInternet literacy, datainterpretation and analysis,computer programming• Civic, ethical, and socialjustice literacy

Figure 3.1 21st Century skills• Economic and financial
literacy, entrepreneurialism• Global awareness, multicultural literacy, humanitarianism• Scientific literacy andreasoning, the scientificmethod• Environmental andconservation literacy,
ecosystems understanding• Health and wellness literacy,
including nutrition, diet,exercise, and public healthand safety11Students will need to be motivated to acquire therequisite mathematical, scientific, IT, and social
knowledge to support systems analyses and decisionmaking. For this motivation, teaching and mentoring
will be practical, based on real-world experienceswith hands-on projects, in cooperation with regional
industries, when possible.
Generation Z (individuals born between 1997 and2012) is the first generation of students “living theirlives largely digital.” Knowledge for these individuals is
assumed to be readily and publicly available, challenging
educational institutions to guide students beyond thebasic competencies of their selected study direction
to find and critically evaluate, adopt, and assess thetrustworthiness of relevant information. Students areusing digital technology in learning and are fluent inprogramming languages beginning at an early age.
Interactions between and among educators and students are thus enriched through digital technologies.

Figure 3.2
Generation Z
is growing up
and are now
beginning topopulate thehigher education system

3.1.2 University and Postgraduate Education
Many universities worldwide offer degrees in SE(Ref 9), playing an important role in the training andeducation of the SE workforce. These programs arechallenged to continuously adapt their curricula to the
future of knowledge being readily available digitally, as
well as the changing industrial and societal demands
as described in Section 1. As a result, universities are
destined for substantial change. The Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), theWorld Economic Forum, the global Engineering Deans
Council gedcouncil.org along with others, are calling fora profound change in the university-level engineering
education sector. Their call is for fast-paced initiatives

12

to enhance curricula for key enabling technologies,that should include manufacturing and processes. They
foresee a major shift in higher education’s responsibility
and purpose. They also envision a move towards:

Socially relevant
engineering curriculathat offer students
more choiceIntegrating engineeringknowledge with humanities, economics, and social
sciences in the form ofinterdisciplinary learningand education

SE will diversify along specific needs by various stakeholders into different specialties, as described in Section 1.7. Postgraduate education programs are and willcontinue to be critical in supporting such in-depth SE
specializations. Further examples of such specializations
are AI, machine learning, software verification methods,
autonomous systems, sensors, edge computing,cyber-security, and communications.
Balancing domain and multi-disciplinary education will
be just one of the challenges for university-level education. Engineering, social and science programs, e.g.,business, computer science, electrical and mechanicalengineering, management, social sciences, etc. will increasingly include systems-oriented courses, especially
focused on systems thinking and end-to-end systems
analysis. Broadening curricula will advance the skills ofdecision makers as systems thinkers.
Postgraduate education programs will provide the SEsof 2035 broad multi-disciplinary learning opportunities.
These will include, in addition to sound scientific andtechnical education, socio-technical leadership andentrepreneurship programs to enable engineers to copewith non-deterministic complex systems that span abroad range of applications and involve large teams
as well as a large industrial supply chain. SE curricula
specifically will expand to include socio-political andsoft skills. These curricula will also feature broad digitalmodeling, simulation, virtualization, and tools skills,
incorporating modern processes and methods.
In addition to the discipline training characteristicof traditional engineering departments, universities
also play a central role in teaching the foundations ofsystems analysis. Techniques such as risk assessment,
applied probability and statistics, operations research,decision theory, complexity theory, formal softwareverification, reliability, modeling and simulation, andanalysis of alternatives are important tools for SEs
to understand emerging behaviors and probability ofsystem success. These skills are necessary to work withtechnical specialists and project/program managementin understanding, avoiding, and mitigating risk.

learn and re-learn continuously along their careers. An
element of life-long learning is the ability to recognizethat some knowledge continues to be superseded by
new science and that consequently the need to let goof outdated knowledge becomes part of the continuous learning process.

Closer university-industry collaboration will create a
fluid transition from university to industry or government agencies and vice versa. Early exchanges anddialogue between academia and industry, regarding
domain and systems curricula, will become the norm.
Practical industry support to university teaching or
mentoring will expand to achieve a “real life” insightand facilitate students seeking industry employment.

University-level education will be a catalyst in the shift
from traditional “design-build-test” to “analyze-model-simulate-build” approaches by introducing students
to new methodologies. This will often include newindustry processes such as “agile,” concurrent, or “iterative” SE to cope with or improve emergent behaviors
which are difficult to characterize during early definition and design phases – especially with large-scale
smart systems.

Instructional methods will predominantly be guided byproblem definition, finding suitable solutions, and cultivating team productivity. For instructional problem sets
to be application oriented, universities will frequently collaborate with industry in addressing real-world
needs. This broad move to problem/project-based
education in both traditional and on-line education will
become the norm as complex problem-solving experience requires a project-based experience.

The use of high-fidelity modeling and simulation coupled with digital twins will enable students to more
effectively experiment and understand how engineering decisions and trade-offs are made and implemented as well as support model-based project reviews.
Similar processes and techniques will be applied tounderstanding operations, maintenance, and servicing
designs.

Educators will learn to reinvent themselves; to un-

3.1.3

Capstone Projects

While individual study and traditional book-based (oron-line) learning will continue to be essential, it willin no way eliminate the value of intense team interactions in education. In fact, learning and teaching SE
cannot be accomplished through theoretical in-classknowledge transfer. SEs best comprehend theories byapplying knowledge in teams working on representative real-life projects, often termed “capstone projects”.
This applies to secondary education as well as forpostgraduate and professional training. The complexity
and orientation of team projects depends upon theexperience of the student/teacher teams as well as theresources offered by a particular institution. Bringing
in customers or target hiring enterprises for projectreview roles helps develop a market/customer orientation and provides feedback on product value. Suchroles can be simulated from within a team or by a realcustomer from an enterprise. Structured system design
environments will become common place in such educational exercises.

Figure 3.3 Teaching and mentoring will be based on real-world experiences andcase projects- University of Central Florida Senior Design Showcase

133.2 Continuing Education
3.2.1

Workplace Training

Employer-sponsored continuous learning programs,
prioritizing practical experiences, will expand. Recognizing that university education can be the first step for
graduating SEs, employers must bridge the transition
from university education to industrial practice - bothgeneral and enterprise-specific. Continuing education
can focus upon either SE competencies such as evolving
methods, technologies, and processes in the fields ofdigital engineering or non-deterministic systems but
can also include domain-focused competencies suchas software engineering, cyber security, or autonomy.
In real life, SE career developments will need advancements in domain, technology, and systems competencies. Early to mid-career training and education, provided by internal universities or academies, will be focusedon enterprise practices, tailored to the systems, technologies and enterprise specific practices and standards
used in that organization. Additionally, and perhaps
alternatively, enterprises will take advantage of complementary formal training programs such as summer
schools, short course offerings, certificate programs, orformal postgraduate programs for systems thinking,design, development, and analysis.
Enterprise competitiveness requires continuous adaptation of technologies, products, manufacturing, services,and processes in ever more rapid cycles. Actively engaging staff in life-long learning is hence a prerequisite
to also mastering the changing SE work challenges andthe transition towards digital enterprises. Continuous
training and staff development will become indispensable to ensure alignment with: 1) digital transformation
initiatives and infusion of technologies; and 2) an enterprise’s changing product, supply chain, or mission.

DEGREE

Certification programs can play a role in supporting
validation and self-assessment of SE competencies andthus support graduate and postgraduate education
initiatives as well as employee career growth. They canprovide benchmarks for knowledge and proficiency
assessments along an SEs development path. INCOSE,
for example, has three different kinds of certificationsfor SEs for different stages of developments. (Ref 7)
Airbus Defense and Space (ADS) has improved their SE
competencies and capabilities over the past 20 years
via a continuous education and training program. A
short description, courtesy of ADS, found in Appendix
B, can serve as a benchmark for continuous learningadvancement for SE.
Additionally, the US Department of Defense has created a model for officer training through the career continuum (see Appendix C). The fundamental ideas in thismodel are easily extended to continuous education forengineers in general and SEs specifically.

CO NTI NUI NG
E D UCAT I O N

LECTUR E

14

In view of the increasing need for life-long learning,commercial SE training providers will serve as gap
fillers for teaching both broad and deep SE-related
subjects. Training providers should employ experienced
system instructors, who have applied SE in industry or
government real-life projects, and can flexibly react tochanging enterprise needs, new technologies, or new
methodologies.

T UTO RIAL S

GOA LSRESEA RCH

This thinking is consistent with that of Jack Welch,
CEO of General Electric Corporation, who aptly stated“when the rate of external change exceeds the rate ofinternal change, the end of your business is in sight”.

O N L IN E
MAT E RIAL S

V IDEO
L ESSO N S
L E ARN IN G

3.2.2On-the-job training

Most practicing SEs do not have a formal SE
education but learned it on the job. The reason forthis is that SEs generally establish knowledge in a
specific domain and then build on that knowledge
while expanding the breadth of expertise.
For early and mid-career SEs, certain roles withina system life cycle can provide a greater training
opportunity than others. System validation roles
provide insight into how a design meets its intended
objective and how individual design decisions either
support or detract from customer satisfaction.
Integration and testing roles allow an engineer
to experience first-hand the results of making

4.0

subsystems work together and identify the root
causes of failures associated with independent subsystem viewpoints and implementations. Operations
experience allows an engineer to personally see theresult of architecture and design decisions made in thevery early phases of a project and make connections
that can be applied in later design assignments.
These integrative roles are invaluable for thedevelopment of high-performing SEs and therefore,
enterprises pursuing career path experiences fordeveloping SEs would do well to place a priority on
providing these opportunities.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Systems analysis and engineering competencies,
like many others, will need continuous nurturing
and career development to ensure that theworkforce remains current with technology,
tools and methods, regulations, and many otherdevelopments. Digital enterprises moreover needa systems approach to unite and correlate thedifferent value streams of their operations andensure that their business models and products
are resilient.
Changing SE development needs apply
to industry, educational institutions, andgovernment organizations, especially to those
involved in high-tech, often complex, programsor acquisition and supply chain interactions. All
need to advance their traditional approaches tocope with the demands of digital enterprises andremain current in 2035. This will require major
investments in human capital.

Since information will be digitally and rapidly
available in most all fields, education of SEs
needs to focus more and more upon “truth ofknowledge” and the integration of competencies
across various engineering and programmatic
domains. SE will continue to evolve, and its
education will be adapted to respond to changing
stakeholder and digital transformation needs ofthe 2030s.
Key for successful enterprises in the 21stCentury are people, their education, knowledge,
and effectiveness. Ensuring their continued
competency development and motivation will beessential to attracting the best employees andretaining them.

15

APPENDIX A
B E H AV I O R S O F H I G H LY SU CCE SS FU L SYST E M S E NG INE E RS AT NASA

These behaviors have broad applicability for SEs, regardless of industry
domain. An abridged version of the behaviors identified by the study are:

LEADERSHIP
•
•
•
•
•

Influences others
Works well with a team
Trusts others
Communicates a vision andtechnical steps needed to reach
implementation
Mentors and coaches

ATTITUDES & ATTRIBUTES••••COMMUNICATION•••

Advances Ideas
Communicates throughstorytelling and analogies
Listens effectively andtranslates information

Possesses self-confidence
Has an objective andcomprehensive view of the job
Is intellectually curious
Manages change

PROBLEM SOLVING &SYSTEMS THINKING•••

Uses critical thinking
Manages risk
Exhibits proper paranoia - anabiding focus on what might gowrong

For detail, see Ref 10:
nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/behavioral_competencies_highly_
regarded_nasa_systems_engineers.pdf

IAPPENDIX B
A N IND UST R I A L E XA M P LE FO R POSTG RA D UAT E S E E DU CAT ION A ND T RA INING :T H E A I R B US D E FE NS E A ND S PACE COM PA NY

A remarkable continuous education and training
program for SEs has been developed in the past
two decades by Airbus Defense and Space (ADS).
This company’s program features various stages ofdevelopment for SEs in line with the need for growing
skills, depth and breadth for them to master broader
competencies.

Through this program and additional initiatives, ADS
has improved their SE competencies and capabilities
over the past 20 years. A short description, courtesyof ADS, can serve as a benchmark for continuous
learning advancement for SEs.

THE AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SYSTEMSENGINEERING LEARNING PATH
Airbus Defence and Space (AD) promotes set oftraining and programs in Systems Engineering learning
path as recommendations for future Systems, Lead,and Chief Engineers.
For newcomers in the field of Systems Engineering,
many e-learnings are available, providing a first
introduction to Systems Engineering.

II

For future Systems Engineers with about three
years of professional experience, AD recommends
the “Systems Engineering Training for Defence
and Space (SET4DS)” program. This is a two week
training, consisting of lectures on Systems Engineering
Fundamentals and a Show Case Project, to practicethe content of the lectures.

At any time, the engineers shall attend individual
specialized SE trainings like Processes, Methods andTools, Technical T epics / Specialty Engineering basedon the needs of their project.
For future Systems Engineers with about 7 years ofprofessional experience, AD recommends the “Systems
Engineering Qualification (SEQ)” Program, which isan Airbus Defence and Space transversal program
consisting of 6 technical modules of one week eachand a set of technical online lectures, 3 social skills
modules of two days each, a Kick-Off event, a Final
Presentation and a real life project that the SEQ
students have to execute in parallel. SEQ is a Call for
Nomination Program, i.e. the participants have to be
nominated by their line manager and HR Business
Partner.
After about 10 years of professional experience,the engineer can specialize in one of the Architect
Development Paths (ADP):•

Military Aircraft (Mil. A/C) & Unmanned Aerial
System (UAS) Architect Development Path: 11
modules of one week each,•Space Systems Architect Development Path: 7
modules of 3-4 days each.

•

System-of-Systems (SoS) Architect Development
Path: 2 modules of 3,5 days each,•

Connected Intelligence Architect Development
Path, a set of e-learnings and classroom trainings
composed individually.

All ADPs are Call for Nomination Programs.
Finally experienced Systems, Lead and Chief Engineers
meet in the “Advanced Practices for Systems
Engineering” training workshop: a forum to learn anddiscuss about future trends in Systems Engineering,
to see how Systems Engineering is applied in otherindustries and to discuss topics coming from theirown projects.

III

APPENDIX CO FFI CE R P RO F E SS I ONA L M IL ITA RY E D U CAT ION CONT INU U M

The US Department of Defense has created a model for officer
training through the career continuum. The fundamental ideas
in this model are easily extended to continuous education forengineers in general and SEs specifically.

For detail, see Ref 11:
jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Library/Instructions/CJCSI%201800.01F.pdf

IV

CREDITS

5.

SpaceTech Masters Programme, Technical University of Graz, Austria,
tugraz.at/en/studying-and-teaching/degree-and-certificate-programmes/
continuing-education/part-time-masters-programmes-and-universityprogrammes/space-systems-and-business-engineering-spacetech

6.

USC – Boeing Engineering Management and Systems Engineering
Program emse.mst.edu/boeing

7.

E. Gill, G. Chiocchia, B. Escudier, M. Lisi, H Stoewer, F. de Bruin –Integrated Postgraduate Space Education and Training, International
Conference of Education, Research, and Innovation (ICERI), Madrid,
Spain, 17-19 November 2008

8.

H Stoewer, Space Systems Engineering, The Key Discipline for Successful
Products from Space – SpaceTech, a new international postgraduate
Masters of Space Systems Engineering Programme, Academic Forumof the 6th Annual International Symposium of INCOSE at the MIT,
Cambridge, July 18, 1996

9.

H Stoewer, End-to-End Systems Engineering: The Key to Successful
Products and Services, INCOSE INSIGHT Magazine, Spring 1999

10.

Airbus Defense and Space: Dr. Uwe Kuehne, Dr. Colin Hamilton, Dr.
Stefan Brueggemann – Introducing Agile Methodology into advanced
Systems Engineering Training – Regular paper for ERTS 2020, publishedon HAL Archive

11.

INCOSE Graduate Reference Curriculum for Systems Engineering (GRCSE)
incose.org/products-and-publications/se-graduate-reference-curriculum

12.

SE Education and the worldwide Directory to SE education; incose.org/
academic-affairs-and-careers/se-education

13.

ABET criteria and accreditation of Systems Engineering abet.org/
accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineeringprograms-2020-2021

14.

Aldert Kamp, TU Delft: Navigating the Landscape of Higher Engineering
Education - Coping with decades of accelerating change ahead, (ISBN:
978-94-6366-242-0, Delft, April 2020) and aldertkamp.nl

15.

The University of the Future (2019), Dan Remenyi, Kenneth A Grant,
Shawren Singh (Editors); | ACPIL; 2. Edition (6. August 2020), ISBN-10:
1912764652; ISBN-13: 978-1912764655

16.

CNN Money survey of 2009 money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/
bestjobs/2009/snapshots/1.html ranked system engineers from amongst
50 most desirable jobs in America as the number one!

17.

Global Employability Skills. www.researchgate.net/profile/Isra-Sarfraz/
publication/324579805_An_exploration_of_global_employability_skills_a_systematic_research_review/links/5b9f00de299bf13e6037c57e/Anexploration-of-global-employability-skills-a-systematic-research-review.
pdf

18.

SE for Public Infrastructure. www.nyas.org/media/24240/nyas-infraarch-framework-v10-1.pdf

19.

ESI is an innovation research center that addresses Systems Engineering
Education esi.nl

This “White Paper” was compiled and edited by Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Heinz Stoewer,
M.Sc. SAC GmbH, and TU Delft, and co-edited by David Nichols, JPL/Caltech.
Contributions from the Vision 35 Core Team: David Nichols, Paul D. Nielsen,
Sky Matthews, Chris Oster, Chris Davey, Sandy Friedenthal, Garry Roedler,
Taylor Riethle, Paul Schreinemakers, along with numerous comments from
reviewers of the Vision 2035 drafts are much appreciated. Dana Nichols
provided valuable editing and proofreading support.
Inspiring comments and suggestions to the first draft of this White Paper ofJune 2022 were received from many colleagues of the global SE community.
These comments were greatly appreciated. Notably:
Prof. Eberhard Gill and Aldert Kamp, TU Delft; Prof. Olivier de Weck, MIT;Prof Greg Parnell, University of Arkansas; Prof. Alex Levis, George Mason
University; Prof. Yoshi Ohkami, Keio University; Prof. Dinesh Verma, Stevens
Institute of Technology; Dr. Uwe Kühne, Christine Pohl-Winkelmann, Harald
Diegruber, Airbus Defense and Space; Frederic Teston, ESA/ESTEC; Dorothy
McKinney; Prof Robert Kenley and Prof Kirsten Davis, Purdue Univ.; Prof
Donna Rhodes, MIT; Marilee Wheaton, Aerospace Corp.; Bill Schindel, ICTT
Systems Sciences, Prof Marcello Roma, Univ of Torino; Prof Alessandro Golkar,
TU Munich; William Miller, Stevens Institute of Technology; Tom Strandberg,
Syntell; Kerry Lunney, Thales; et al.

RE FE R EN C ES
1.

Y. N. Harari, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”

2.

W Fruehwald & H Poeppel, “Knowledge in the 21st Century” ISBN: 978-37705-3676-4

3.

United Nations Sustainable Goals for 2030 sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

4.

en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/2018-12-07_brussels_declaration.pdf

5.

Industry 4.0, original Acatech report: bmbf.de/files/
Umsetzungsempfehlungen_Industrie40.pdf

6.

Society 5.0, e.g. researchgate.net/publication/330500307_Japan%27s_
Society_50_Going_Beyond_Industry_40
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-2989-4_7

7.

incose.org/products-and-publications/competency-framework8.

edglossary.org/21st-century-skills

9.

List of Universities offering a Systems Engineering curriculum.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_systems_engineering_universities

10.

Derro, Mary & Williams, Christine. (2009). Behavioral competenciesof highly regarded systems engineers at NASA. 1 - 17. 10.1109/
AERO.2009.4839712.

11.

US DoD Officer Professional Military Training Policy, CJCSI 1800.01F, May
15, 2020 jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Library/Instructions/CJCSI%20
1800.01F.pdf

12.

SERC (Systems Engineering Research Consortium) Digital Engineering
Competency Framework (DECF) sercuarc.org/decf-review/

13.

HELIX/ATLAS. Characteristics of Highly Valued
Systems Engineers: urldefense.us/v3/__helix-se.
org/__;!!PvBDto6Hs4WbVuu7!d4jHk9ZTy0WCKu320lmH5MGZK_
nrfuNLiQBuxJEw_3UeT2S_1dkNAjc6_HhNWGN4nsd92InWYQ$14.

INCOSE SysTEAM Initiative incose.org/systeam-initiative

L I ST O F P H OTO G R A P H Y / I L LUST R AT I O N S
Page i: Sustainable Goals ©United Nations. Augmented Engine ©Gorodenkoff /Shutterstock. Car- Courtesy of BMW Page ii: Engineer Team ©Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock, Page 1: Sustainable Goals ©United Nations. Page 2:
Industry 4.0 ©Taylor Riethle. Page 4: Digital Cloud©Blackboard /Shutterstock. Global Communication ©TechSolution /Shutterstock Page 5: Car-Courtesy of BMW Page 8: Mars Descent-Courtesy of NASA. Page 11: Girl Learning©Metamorworks /Shutterstock. Page 12: Computer Baby-AFIS Page 13:
Capstone Robot- UCF Senior Design Showcase. All other royalty free images
courtesy of Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels.

SE L EC T ED BAC KGRO UN D RE A D I N G
1.

NAE Grand Engineering Challenges engineeringchallenges.org/challenges.
aspx

2.

WEF_Future_of_jobs_2020.pdf and weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/
davos-agenda-2021-society-and-the-future-of-work-skills-gap-jobsof-tomorrow-diversity-inclusion-worker-well-being/jteg.ncms.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/02/JTEG-USAFDigitalEnterprise-Harmer-003.pdf

3.

Brynjolfsson and McAffee (2014), For further reading on sharing tasks
between humans and machines see also (WEF_Future_of_jobs_2020.pdf)
Figure 21 et al

4.

MIT System Design and Management Program sdm.mit.edu

V