1. Systems Practice in Engineering
(SPiE): A Developing Research
Agenda
Dr Mike Yearworth
Reader in Systems, Faculty of Engineering
1st March 2011
2. ! Overview
• What is Systems Thinking?
• Systems Centre, IDC in Systems and EngD in Systems
programme
• Framing devices to explore systems complexity and research
directions
• The context for Systems Engineering research and challenges
• The Systems Research Programme
Explore issues arising from needs-driven research
Demonstrate an intellectually rigorous basis for research exists
Describe the existing research programme and activities
Present a set of “Burning Issues” a developing research agenda
Indicative successes
• Conclusions
2
2
5. ! Definitions
SOFT PEOPLE
SOCIAL Phil.
SYSTEMS Soc.
Edu.
Mgmt.
Systems SOCIO-
Research TECHNICAL
SYSTEMS
Focus
TECHNICAL
SYSTEMS
HARD THINGS
CS/IT
Mech
Aero
Civil
E/E
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5
6. ! Definitions
Design
SOCIO-
TECHNICAL
SYSTEMS
Intervention
Analysis
Integration
1. Research Methods
2. Modelling/Simulation
Systems 3. Systems Engineering
Thinking 4. Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs)
5. Leading/Managing Change
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6
7. ! Definitions
1. “Viewing situations holistically, as opposed to
reductionistically (sic), as a set of diverse interacting
elements within an environment.
2. Recognising that the relationships or interactions between
elements are more important than the elements
themselves in determining the behaviour of the system.
3. Recognising a hierarchy of levels of systems and the
consequent ideas of properties emerging at different
levels, and mutual causality both within and between
levels.
4. Accepting, especially in social systems, that people will act
in accordance with differing purposes or rationalities.”
(Mingers and White, 2010)
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8. ! INCOSE SEASON Report 2009
• What is Systems Thinking…?
• …a way of tackling complex problems. It complements
scientific thinking by addressing holism, emergence and
intentionality (Stakeholders and the “Human in the
System”)
• Executive Summary (extract)
• There is a need to improve the standing, recognition and
reputation of Systems Engineering in academia
• Key Axes of Development (extract)
• Improve the Academic profile of Systems Engineering and
Systems Thinking by setting out an agreed, intellectually
rigorous foundation for the discipline
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9. ! The Needs and Challenges for
Systems Thinking
• Brian Collins (EPSRC Systems Workshop
15th February 2011)
• Provocations:-
• New ways of thinking, deciding and gathering
evidence
• Education in decision making and problem solving
• Understanding emergence
• Understanding complexity of decisions and time taken
• Value of modelling and synthetic environments
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10. ! Systems Research at Bristol¶
Focus
• Leading in the application of systems thinking to
create value within socio-technical complexity
Scope
• Faculties of Engineering AND Social Sciences and
Law
Industry Benefits
• High impact research developing solutions for
complex problems
• Competitive advantage
• Motivate and develop future leaders of industry
¶ http://www.bristol.ac.uk/eng-systems-centre/index.html 10
10
11. ! IDC in Systems
• One of 19 Industrial Doctorate Centres in
the UK, funded by EPSRC
• Collaboration with the University of Bath
• Part of the Systems Centre at the
University of Bristol
• Founder member of the Association of
Engineering Doctorates (AEngD)
11
11
12. Number
of
Company
Sponsors
37
Companies
with
>1
RE
11
Total
Research
Engineers
62
Employed
REs
17%
25%
41%
13%
21%
Product/technology development
Sustainability
Decision support
Process development/
organisational change
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14. Context for SE research
• Systems Engineering requirements¶
• Focussed on real engineering problems impact
• Findings exploited through skills development, new
processes, templates, enhancements of the SE ‘toolkit’
• Express the problem such that outputs have generic
applicability in SE
• Academic ‘system’ requirements
• Alignment within the major processes that operate in
academia Peer Review: grant applications, publication,
research excellence (REF), success within university
structures
¶ HENSHAW, M. J., GUNTON, D.J., URWIN, E.N. (2009) Collaborative, academic-industry
research approach for advancing Systems Engineering. 7th Annual Conference on Systems
Engineering Research (CSER 2009). Loughborough, UK. 14
14
15. Potential conflict?
• Systems modelling of the systems research
process developed and reviewed
• Research workshop with REs in the Systems Centre
• Systems Centre SAB
• Systems Research Group at Bristol
• TTCP workshop
• Pro VC Research
• EngD Centre Directors Advocates
• EPSRC Team forming the Systems Forum
• INCOSE
• CSER 15
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17. Kuhn vs. Popper – July 31st
1965 “…As science has acquired more secular power, it has
tended towards the self-perpetuation of existing
regimes, as dominant research programmes are
pursued by default, a situation that the sociologist
Robert Merton has dignified as the ‘principle of
cumulative advantage’… all scientists working in the
same paradigm are equal, but some are more equal
than others. These are the ‘peers’ whose opinion
always seems to matter in the ‘peer review process’
used to fund and evaluate scientific research…the
acculturation of novices into a scientific paradigm,
since thereafter the novice’s mind is set to plough the
deep but narrow furrow laid down by her senior
colleagues as normal science”
¶ FULLER, S. (2006) Kuhn vs Popper : the struggle for the soul of science, Thriplow, Icon. 17
17
18. Observations
• High impact, industry needs-driven research in
systems is in competition for resources and attention
with ‘traditional’ academic research
• Systems research requires practical application and
pedagogical development to take place
simultaneously
• Systems research in engineering lacks coherency and
is widely diffuse
• Systems theory and systems practice continuously
create each other§
§Checkland, P. (1999) Soft Systems Methodology: a 30-year retrospective. Summary
18
notes of plenary address to 1999 system dynamics conference.
18
19. “Agreed, intellectually
rigorous foundation…”
• Brown¶ draws a related causal model
addressing academic reputation of SE research
• Methodology as a “process”, not contributing to
methodological literature i.e. lacks a critical
stance
• Lack of intellectual rigour undermines SE
research as a credible academic discipline
¶BROWN, S. F. (2009) Naivety in Systems Engineering Research: are we putting the
methodological cart before the philosophical horse? 7th Annual Conference on Systems
Engineering Research (CSER 2009). Loughborough, UK. 19
19
20. Rigour addressed
• Within the EngD Projects
• Research Methods an essential component of the
EngD programme
• Increased emphasis on publication, quality of
publication and target conferences/journals
• Across the EngD Programme
• Contribution to methodology development within SE
research
• Access to a large data set!
• Broad scope of research questions
• Definition of a new and developing research agenda
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22. Existing research agenda
• Systems Practice in Engineering (SPiE)
• Safety Critical Systems and Risk
• Theory of Socio-Technical Interactions
• Performance of Complex Socio-Technical
Systems – Process Improvement and
Decision Support
• Sustainable Systems
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23. Progress with EPSRC
• EPSRC Systems Engineering Research Group
• Systems science through to engineering workshop –
15 February 2011
• Showcasing EPSRC’s portfolio in systems research
• Bringing together researchers and users from
different areas of systems to promote knowledge
transfer and to identify any generic systems research
needs and opportunities
• Exploring where the UK is well positioned to lead and
benefit from systems research in an international
context
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23
24. EPSRC systems portfolio
descriptors
• Systems of systems • Systems science
• Systems design • Holistic systems
• Coordination of systems • Human Integration
• Interacting systems • Systems operation
• Whole systems • Dynamic systems
approach • Technical systems
• Embedded systems • Emergent properties
• Systems thinking • Emergent Behaviour
• Systems Engineering 285 Grants/£220M
• Systems Integration large grant portfolio
3@UoB 24
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25. “Burning Issues” – A
Developing Research Agenda
1. Systems Architecting 2. Interdisciplinary and Knowledge
Value Chain Issues
1. A Systems Approach to Engineering 1. Understanding Organisational
Design Structures and Identifying Key
2. Designing for Appropriate Functionality Expertise
and to Deliver Value 2. Coping with Change, Interoperability
3. Using Complexity Science to Inform and Through-life Issues
Engineering 3. Systems Approaches for the Effective
4. How to Enable Effective Concurrency Management of Data
4. Development of Model-based Systems
Engineering Approaches for
Management of Knowledge
5. Dealing With Lack of Hard Knowledge
6. Integrating Engineering Perspectives:
The “-ilities”
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26. “Burning Issues” – A
Developing Research Agenda
3. Organisational Issues 4. Issues of Methodology, Ethics and
Pedagogy
1. Systems Failures Resulting from 1. Application of Knowledge to Tailor
Cultural and Socio-Technical Failures Generic Systems Approach
2. Stretched Goals, Budgets, Schedules 2. Systems Engineering Methodology and
and Resources Tools
3. Systems Engineering and 3. Development of Interdisciplinarity and
Organisations Soft Systems Approaches
4. Systems Pedagogy – From Primary to
4. Re-engineering Organisational
Tertiary Education
Approaches to Enhance Collaboration
5. Recognition of Systems Engineering as a
Serious Discipline in Academia
6. Behavioural and Psychological Barriers
to the Use of Systems Thinking
7. Interdisciplinarity and Ethics
8. The Value of Systems Engineering and 26
Benchmarks for Excellence
26
27. Indicative REF Successes
• ~£646K Research Income from Industry through the EngD in
Systems Programme
• DAVIS, J., MACDONALD, A. & WHITE, L. (2010) Problem-
structuring methods and project management: an example of
stakeholder involvement using Hierarchical Process Modelling
methodology. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 61(6),
pp. 893-904. [4*]
• PREIST, C. & YEARWORTH, M. - SYMPACT: Tools for assessing
the systemic impact of technology deployments on energy use and
climate emissions (EP/EP/I000151/1) (TEDDI call Part 1) [£332K /
2 years]
• TRYFONAS, T – Forensics Tools Against Illegal Use of the Internet
(ForToo) (ISEC 2010 action grants) [€256K / 3 years]
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29. ! Observations…
1. Systems theory and systems practice continuously
create each other crucial point!
2. Pedagogy and systems research must develop
simultaneously very short time constant
3. Conflicts exist between the “university system” and the
best way to develop systems research in engineering
cf management schools
4. Developing intellectual rigour in methodology, a new
focus on quality of published output, and researching
our own programme offer a pragmatic way forward
hence SPiE
5. Defined research agenda huge space, needs
funding, we need to take a significant share! 29
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Hinweis der Redaktion
Systems thinking research - principles and methodologies to grapple with complex real world problems Dr Mike Yearworth, Adrian Terry, Professor Patrick Godfrey, Dr Gordon Edwards Systems Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, UK ABSTRACT Topic – Systems thinking (see the INCOSE UK Z7 Guide) provides a common language for needs driven process integration. We take the thinking further and present the principles and methodologies used by the Systems Centre to integrate research processes drawn from fields as diverse as physical and social science, engineering, and business management, and use case examples to demonstrate how they can be applied in engineering systems where ‘soft’ institutional, cultural, people related and process integration barriers can be key drivers of complexity. Points – i) From recent work between Research Engineers and practitioners a unifying framework for highly effective systems thinking research has been developed founded on seven principles: purposefulness; balance of breadth and depth; harnessing diversity; clarifying boundaries; building confidence and momentum for change; communicating in the language of stakeholders; and stimulating further learning. ii) These principles underpin the development and teaching of practically oriented systems research methodologies by the Systems Centre, which allow problems associated with complex real-world systems to be addressed. iii) Industry partners are the Systems Centre stakeholders and each project undertaken by a Research Engineer is driven by stakeholder needs and guided by these principles and methodologies. iv) The Systems Centre now has 4 cohorts of Research Engineers comprising a total of 50 research projects with 30 companies covering a wide range of topics including sustainability, process improvement and decision support, safety, and new product development. These all have an emphasis on solving real world systems problems in a rigorous fashion in timescales appropriate to the needs of our industrial partners. Examples will be given to illustrate the approach. Keywords – Systems Research, Systems Thinking, Systems Engineering, Systems Practice, Holism, Purpose, Stakeholder Needs, Alignment, Research Methods, Pedagogy, Engineering Doctorate.
