Part A
You have been promoted to the role of Systems Engineer by your company and are directed to work on a major new system development effort that involves new technology*. Obviously, this represents a major technical (if not programmatic) risk area for your employer. What activities would you recommend early in the system development effort to mitigate such technical and/or programmatic risks**? For each mitigation activity, explain whether the activity will lower the likelihood of the risk, or the consequences of the risk, or both. [70]
Part B
While the techniques you discussed in Part A focused on mitigating system risks, other Systems Engineering (SE) concepts and techniques can be employed to enhance system safety. One of those concepts is the architecture of the system.
The SE Management team overseeing this project has also asked you to explain how the concept of system architecture can be used to enhance the overall safety of systems like the one you considered in Part A*. [30]
Assessment Criteria for Part A
The student’s answer for Part A should clearly demonstrate that the following concepts have been understood in relation to the specified problem and (where required) applied in a logical manner:
A1) Risks which can arise during the development of the type of system being described and how those risks are evaluated in terms of their likelihood and consequences, [15]
A2) How technology readiness is assessed and the impact of technology maturity on the success of the type of system being described, [15]
A3) The mitigation activities that should be performed in order to address the identified risks in the type of system being described, at what stage(s) in the development of that system they should be performed, and the extent to which those activities will lower the likelihood and/or the consequences of the identified risks. [40]
Assessment Criteria for Part B
The student’s answer for Part B should clearly demonstrate that the following concepts have been understood in relation to the specified problem and (where required) applied in a logical manner:
B1) The architecture of the system being described should be chosen according to the intended purpose of that system, [10]
B2) How the architecture of the system being described affects its non-functional requirements (specifically, the safety of that system). [20]
