Systems Engineering for Physicists

During Systems Engineering (SE) course for applied scientists, you will learn and discover the art behind designing, building and managing complex systems. You will get to master the SE tools and methodologies as well as developing management capabilities. A great learning experience for anyone with an Research&Development ambition!

Every week you will learn the theoretical aspects of SE during an interactive lecture. Step-by-step, you discover the process and the tools that we can use to design a complex system. You can apply the knowledge from the lecture to design your own system. As we find important to offer the students the opportunity to put own creativity into practice, you will define own system to solve a day-to-day problem or a societal challenge. A few systems will also be shown as an example, providing inspiration for your own idea.

Together with a team of ~ 5-7 peer-students, you will work together for 10 group project sessions on your system of choice. The steps you will follow are:

1. Define the problem you will solve and the system your will design: Problem Statement and choice of a system

2. Define the requirements of the system: Requirements specification

3. Define questions and interview possible stakeholders

4. Define the functions of the system: Functional Decomposition

5. Discover possibilities to fulfil the requirements: Means and Morphological Analysis

6. Decide the best designs for your system: Decision Making

7. Perform a risk analysis for your system

8. Model and Design your System: use 3D CAD modelling software and physical modelling

We do not aim to build a prototype of the designed system, rather you will design your system by using a software modelling (Fusion 360) and a physical model.

This SE process will be implemented to design and build a complex system during the AP3841 Systems Engineering company project (2nd year Master | AP3841).

The final grade is a combination of the following components:

Group Grade

1. Final Presentation (30%)

2. Final Report (30%)

Individual Grade

3. Weekly chair Presentation and Report (40%), with equal contribution of the weekly presentation and weekly report, respectively

Please Note:

1. You will need a grade of 5.0 or higher for each component and an average of at least 6.0 to pass the course. For non-pass grades, you need to fulfil an additional assignment at the end of the course related to your team project or take a resit for the course.

2. Participation/contribution to discussions to SE lectures is expected

3. Participation/contribution to team brainstorming, preparation for the weekly presentation and report is expected

4. Participation/contribution to weekly presentations is compulsory

5. You can receive a bonus/penalty for your team contribution of maximum 1 point