Naval Postgraduate School SE 3100 1

Naval Postgraduate School

SE 3100

1. In your own words, define what is meant by “system.”

2. What are four characteristics of a good systems engineer?

3. Compare and contrast the system viewpoint of the design specialist and system engineer.  List at least four items.

4. Describe four ways that systems engineering supports project management.

5. What is a benefit that may result from the utilization of systems thinking and engineering?

6. What is a system engineering process?  Identify three different types of SE process models

7. What is the difference between a functional and a physical block diagram?  Describe the effective uses of each.

8. What are three characteristics of a well-defined interface?  Give an example of a well-defined interface.

9. What is the difference between a performance requirement and a functional requirement? List four performance requirements for a personal computer.  List four functional requirements for a personal computer.

10. What are the primary tasks that the systems engineer performs during the concept definition phase?   

11. Identify four tasks that the systems engineer performs during system design.

12. Describe two design pitfalls and how to avoid each.

13. When formulating alternative solutions for a system concept, one often starts with the predecessor system.  Why start with the predecessor system?

14. You are the lead systems engineer designing a laser weapon system that will be integrated onto a ship.

a. Identify four different types of stakeholders. For each type, describe their “stake” in the system.

b. Identify four desires that might be included in the stakeholder wishlist

c.
Below is a context diagram for a laser weapon system. Fill in the external entities that it interacts with, using as many of the letters below that you need.

d. Identify a possible operational scenario for the use of the ship-based laser weapon system.