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This podcast takes a deep dive into a presentation made to the INCOSE Chesapeake chapter in July 2022. The presentation/paper explores the creation of a postgraduate systems engineering course designed to cultivate “outstanding” systems engineers. The study employs a systems approach, analyzing various pedagogical methods and identifying key skills and knowledge requirements. It introduces a framework categorizing systems engineers into five types based on their problem-solving abilities and proposes a competency model for assessment. Prototyping

This podcast takes a deep dive into a 2023 webinar presentation by Professor Joseph Kasser who argues that the traditional approach to writing system requirements is fundamentally flawed and proposes an alternative: Object-Oriented Systems Engineering (OOSE). OOSE replaces text-based requirements with object properties managed within an Integrated Information Environment (IIE), aiming to improve communication, reduce errors, and increase project success rates. The presentation details OOSE’s four-stage system development process and highlights its advantages over existing

This podcast takes a deep dive into a case study presented online to a Serverless Toronto meeting on September 16, 2024. The autobiographical details Dr Kasser’s application of systems thinking to improve postgraduate systems and software engineering education. He describes eight systems thinking tools he developed and employed to address challenges in curriculum design and delivery, including benchmarking other universities’ programs. The case study tracks his iterative approach, evolving from traditional lectures to blended and

This podcast takes a deep dive into Joseph Kasser and Bruce Lerner’s  pdf handout “Resolving the-8.pdf” for an INCOSE Oak Café meeting in 2024 analyzes the inconsistent definitions of “system” in literature. The authors examine numerous definitions, revealing a lack of consensus stemming from the context-dependent nature of “system”. They propose focusing on the System of Interest (SOI) instead, arguing that this clarifies the ambiguity by specifying the system under discussion. The document illustrates this using examples, such as a

This podcast takes a deep dive into a video that outlines the two most common mistakes students make in essay exams: failing to fully answer the questions asked, and including irrelevant information. The video proposes using three tools to avoid these errors: the STALL method (carefully reading the question), a compliance matrix (a table to track answered question parts), and an answer template (structured response based on the question’s format). The video uses a sample exam question to illustrate these concepts,