Heinz Stoewer, industry and academia, for contributions to systems engineering design, planning and management especially as applied to space systems. John Velman, Hughes Space Communications Co., for leadership in the management and promotion of systems engineering processes. Wayne Wymore, University of Arizona, for pioneering systems engineering education and research on the theory of systems engineering. Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary process that ensures that the customer's needs are satisfied throughout a system's entire life cycle. This process is comprised of the following seven functions.
S tate the problem.
Stating the problem is the most important systems engineering task. It entails identifying customers, understanding customer needs, establishing the need for change, discovering requirements and defining system functions. I nvestigate alternatives. Alternatives are investigated and evaluated based on performance, cost and risk. M odel the system.