The SERC 2009 Annual Report provides an overview of the SERC and the universities participating in the SERC, the SERC Research Vision, Research Reports, Operations, and Leadership.

Evaluation of Systems Engineering Methods, Processes and Tools on Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Programs.  December 15, 2009

This report describes the results from the second in a series of related efforts to address systems engineering shortfalls in projects characterized as quick response, networkenabled, or emergent. The objectives of this task were to 1) Gather additional information on methods, processes and tools (MPTs) associated with the environment identified in Phase 1 of this work and develop a taxonomy of MPTs identified; 2) Investigate the use of micro-process modeling techniques to support the definition and evaluation of MPTs; and, 3) Provide implementation guidance on the three MPTs recommended in Phase 1.

Investigation of a Graphical CONOPS Development Environment for Agile Systems Engineering.  October 30, 2009

This report investigates the current approaches to Concept of Operations (CONOPS) development in use in various DoD and commercial organizations with the goal of understanding why CONOPS creation is such a lengthy process, and how the process can be made more agile. A number of CONOPS are cataloged and analyzed to understand which parts of the current standards are used by the creators of a CONOPS. Traditional CONOPS creation processes are discussed based on literature and face-toface interviews with those involved with creating CONOPS in both traditional and nontraditional domains. Based on these findings, an agile CONOPS process that emphasizes stakeholder involvement and expedites shared mental models development is put forth. Additionally, current and emerging technologies that might be applicable to creating a graphical CONOPS are discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research to develop a toolbox for creating graphical CONOPS are presented.

DoD programs need effective systems engineering (SE) to succeed.  DoD program managers need early warning of any risks to achieving effective SE. This SERC project has synthesized analyses of DoD SE effectiveness risk sources into a lean framework and toolset for early identification of SE-related program risks.  Three important points need to be made about these risks.

• They are generally not indicators of "bad SE."
• Analyses have shown that unaddressed risk generally leads to serious budget and schedule overruns.
• Risks are not necessarily bad. If an early capability is needed, and the risky solution has been shown to be superior to the alternatives, accepting and focusing on mitigating the risk is generally better than waiting for a better alternative to show up.

Evaluation of Systems Engineering Methods, Processes and Tools on Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Programs.  Phase 1 Technical Report.  September 30, 2009.

This report describes the results from the first in a series of related efforts to address systems engineering shortfalls in projects characterized as quick response, networkenabled, or emergent. The objectives of this task were to 1) identify methods, practices and tools (MPTs) considered viable in the Sponsor’s environment; and 2) identify gaps where no useful or viable MPTs could be identified. Based on these products and their internal expertise, the team recommends three MPTs as most likely to increase effectiveness in the Sponsor’s environment: Scrum, rapid prototyping, and continuous integration. Primary gaps identified were decision management, stakeholder requirements definition, and sustainment. Further research was recommended in three areas: mitigating environmental constraints, refining the definition of the current state of systems engineering practice, and accelerating MPT adoption.

Development of 3-Year Roadmap to Transform the Discipline of Systems Engineering - March 31, 2010

This report documents the results of an eight month Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) research task. The task created a 3-year research roadmap to transform Systems Engineering into a discipline capable of addressing current and emerging critical system challenges.