Science in the Wild: Episode 21
Understanding systems and their adjacent systems in the wild
Click here to listen to the interview on the UR Business Network
In this episode, Gary and Nathan continue their discussion with Timothy Smith, Ph.D., Program Manager at Chenega Management, LLC about failure analysis and technology development. Tim has consulting experience in materials science, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering from the perspectives of failure analysis and system-level design. In particular, he has extensive experience in the analysis and design of personal and public safety systems.
Tim elaborated on the systems-level thinking one develops in engineering analysis of systems in their context of operation. Part of the systems approach is to consider interactions between components of systems as well as systems in their environment. This has direct implications for testing and, in particular, for the design of test beds or test fixtures that are sufficient to simulate the context of use without unnecessary risk or cost. As an example, Tim talked about his work on the analysis and development of body armor.
In the case of body armor, the human body is an “adjacent system” that influences the performance of the armor. For validity, analysis and design of body armor must understand key physical characteristics of each system as well as the system of systems. An expert in materials science, specifically the structure of body armor than can be designed and controlled, must collaborate with experts in other disciplines, such as biomechanics and physiology, who must cope with human variability and who don’t have much opportunity to influence the mechanical properties of the body.
Tim talked about the engineering judgment or art of designing adequate test beds. These design decisions are replete with tradeoffs involving fidelity, informativeness, risk, and cost. In the case of body armor, key considerations are the use of surrogates for the human body, such as molded clay, that have are replicable and have well-understood properties that lead to repeatable effects. Testing must be performed on individual components as well as combinations of components so that the interfaces between systems also can be included in the design process.
Tim introduced systems engineering as an important set of engineering skills and practices that help managing the interactions among components and subsystems during the development and acquisition of systems to address well-defined requirements. Consistent with discussions in prior programs, systems engineering places a high premium on elegance, that is, descriptions that are at once simple and powerful. Focusing on the interfaces can help achieve elegant descriptions by focusing attention on only those aspects of an adjacent system that have a critical or otherwise noteworthy effect on the system as a whole.
Tim also talked with us about how failure analysis fosters good engineering judgment that identifies and avoids “unnecessary complexity.” Combined with systems engineering, it enables individuals with different subject matter expertise and terminology to collaborate effectively with respect to a common language of requirements and boundary conditions. These engineering practices increase the performance of cross-functional teams, and they help achieve the accountability of small teams. As a life-cycle process, these practices enable fielding of imperfect solutions from which technology development teams can learn about aspects of performance and design options that are difficult if not impossible to model in advance.
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Key Terms and Concepts
· Failure analysis
· Systems analysis
· Test beds or test fixtures
· Boundary conditions
· Modeling assumptions
· Test engineering
· Design engineering
· Systems engineering
· Engineering life cycle
