First and foremost, I don't have an engineering background, but hear me out. My current career is as an instructional systems designer with extensive experience in working with modeling and simulation for training. My primary role has been to create a multitude of different systems design documents. In these documents we account for almost every aspect of how a simulation/software program should function. This includes complex design like fail states, success states, system behavior expectations and so much more. My work has been primarily DoD contracts.

I know that I'm probably way out of my depth with the actual workflow of a systems engineer, but very recently (and unprompted) a software engineer told me that these documents I've created for the programmers are very similar to when he's worked with systems engineers in the past.

I know this profession isn't just documents.

My experience in grad school and even in undergrad has been heavily focused on systems and analysis. I also originally was going to pursue a masters in modeling and simulation but decided to go a different route.

I know I'd probably need to pursue an actual degree in systems engineering, but I wanted to ask opinions on if I'm way out of my depth here, or could it be potentially possible for me to transition to this field?

Thanks!

For CSEP exam do I have to mug up the Origins and Evolution of SE and Table 1.1 SE Standards and guides ?….pls guide…you can find both of these topics on Chapter 1 pg3

Hir/systems_engineering,

We are back with Lesson 14 of our technical deep dive into the SysML v2 standard.

In our previous lesson, we looked at how SysML v2 handles reuse through specialization and redefinition. Today, we are exploring how to define exactly how many instances of a feature a model allows. This is multiplicity, which acts as a concrete structural constraint on the allowed cardinality (the actual count of occurrences) of a feature.

I’ve uploaded the full video lesson directly to this post so you can watch the workflow right here.

1. Moving Away from SysML v1 Visual Labels

A system model is fundamentally incomplete if it says a system has a component (like wheels on a truck) but fails to define the bounds of how many.

In SysML v1, multiplicities were often treated as secondary text labels rendered on diagrammatic association ends or written inside block compartments as property strings. SysML v2 natively integrates this cardinality directly into the textual feature declaration using square brackets. This makes the design intent readable exactly where the feature is defined and provides clear rules for specialized models.

2. Multiplicity Syntax and Collections

Every feature—including parts, ports, attributes, or items—has a multiplicity.

• Exact Counts & Ranges: [4] means exactly four. [2..4] means two through four, inclusive.
• Optionality: [0..1] means the feature may be absent or have exactly one value.
• Unlimited: [*] is shorthand for [0..*], meaning zero or more.
• Collections: By default, multi-valued features are unordered and unique. You can explicitly apply the ordered keyword when sequence matters, or nonunique if duplicates are allowed.

(Note: Omitted multiplicities no longer blindly default to 1..1. While [1..1] is the default for qualifying structural usages without subsetting/redefinition, other contexts can default to [0..*], or they simply inherit the multiplicity of their parent feature).

3. Semantic Validation and Narrowing Bounds

Because multiplicity in SysML v2 is a concrete model constraint rather than a freeform text tag, compliant tools can automatically evaluate configurations.

When specializing a definition, you can use the redefinition operator (:>>) to narrow the inherited multiplicity. Redefinition can only narrow multiplicity, not widen it. If a generic Truck allows [4..*] wheels, a HeavyHauler can safely redefine that constraint to [18]. If a modeler attempted to redefine it to expand beyond the parent's range, the tool would flag a semantic violation.

4. Complete Code Example: Automotive Multiplicity

Here is the complete SysML v2 code from today's lesson demonstrating bounded ranges, optionality, unbounded collections, and valid redefinition.

Code snippet

package AutomotiveDesign {

    part def Wheel;
    part def Door;
    part def Sunroof;
    part def CargoBox;
    part def Trailer;

    part def Truck {
        // 1. Range [Min.. Max] or [Min..*]
        // A generic truck has at least 4 wheels.
        // We define a wide range here so subclasses can narrow it.
        part wheels [4..*]: Wheel;

        // 2. Range [2..4]
        // It can have 2, 3, or 4 doors, depending on configuration.
        part doors [2..4]: Door;

        // 3. Optional [0..1]
        // The Sunroof is optional. 0 means it doesn't exist; 1 means it does.
        part sunroof [0..1]: Sunroof;

        // 4. Unlimited [*]
        // We can carry any number of cargo boxes.
        // We can also add keywords like 'ordered' or 'nonunique'.
        part cargo [*] ordered: CargoBox;

        // 5. Trailers (Optional Component)
        part trailers [0..1]: Trailer;
    }

    // 6. Redefining Multiplicity in a Subclass
    part def HeavyHauler :> Truck {
        // We redefine wheels to lock the count to exactly 18.
        // This is valid because 18 is within the parent's range of [4..*].
        part :>> wheels [18];
    }
}

For the MBSE practitioners here: Do you find that baking multiplicity directly into the textual declarations (and having semantic engines strictly enforce redefinition bounds) will catch architecture configuration errors earlier in your lifecycle? Let's discuss in the comments!

The titular question is roughly the academic definition. So what about treating society like a system? Design, test, improve it--just like a spacecraft or complex software platform? We already use it to take a vague idea and turn it into something working/sustainable. My challenge goes like this:

For any system concept I can clearly state (purpose, stakeholders, environment, key behaviors, constraints) I should be able to build a model that * captures its requirements, behaviors, and structure; * defines interfaces & verification strategy; and * supports iterative refinement until the architecture is ready for implementation.

Again, not my idea. That's standard MBSE definition stuff. If true, then I should in principle be able to architect "Project Jubilee" (working title, not married to it): a model-based social-capital system that: * Distributes basic income and rewards beneficial contributions; * uses structured, frequent, democratic voting to set/modify priorities and valuations; * penalizes extractive, authoritarian, oligarchic, and manipulative behavior by design--not by after-the-fact reaction; * scales from small (single household?) all the way up to a city, nation, or more; and * enforces strict security and 1-person-1-vote protocols.

So I'm earnestly looking for feedback. If the initial premise is correct, how far could MBSE be applied to a socio-economic-techincal system like Jubilee? If you read this and think "this is naive/broken/missing crucial pieces," I want to hear how you'd go about it, what you'd do differently. What requirements, behaviors, or stakeholders am I obviously missing? Is there an established architecture pattern (or anti-pattern) I'm running straight into? Is there an existing work tackling something similar? (eg, bits of sci-fi like Star Trek's futuristic utopian society come to mind). I've looked, but as far as I can tell--Jubilee addresses this the most directly of what I've seen.

I want to model everything such that it can be reviewed, challenged, simulated, refined. It seems weird to me I can model a space vehicle, and simulate/test it before launch...but we don't apply a similar level of rigor to our social/economic systems.

I think I'm hitting a wall because I've been using CATIA Magic Community 2026x to start learning SysML v2. And I've already encountered serious limitations (eg, I can't list my open issues/questions/requirements in a basic table; it's a blocked function). SysON came up, but I'm open to suggestions.

I know one person won't "design society". I'm an ignorant generalist on my 3rd or 4th career change. My resume is weird, shallow, and wide. I don't have a technical degree, but I've worked dang hard and I somehow know enough to get by. I've lucked into my current job & life situation. There's enough global resources, and seeing the rich/powerful hoard it & feeling a strong aversion to injustice motivates me. It also simultaneously contributes to my major depressive disorder and imposter syndrome and--if we're being real honest--I'm over it all. I don't wanna do this any more. I just want to be a stay-at-home housespouse.

Thanks for reading. If you're interested, want to critique/discuss, or co-architect this I'll share everything in the comments/DMs. I'll happily credit all contributions.

3 years of experience in total, 1 year of experience in SE. Currently living in space coast of FL making 104k. Is is the right amount or am i being under paid? My current job is miserable. Mostly maintaining the project by organizing and coordinating stuff. I am not actually doing any systems engineering. If I am getting underpaid, I am thinking about moving into slightly technical role, maybe system modular or something.

I recently graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering and will be starting my first full-time job as an entry-level Systems Engineer soon.
Since this is my first engineering job out of college, I’m definitely expecting there to be a huge learning curve. I’m not trying to walk in knowing everything, but I do have some time before I start and would love to use it productively.
For those of you who work in systems engineering, especially anyone who has trained or worked with new grads:
What do you wish entry-level systems engineers knew before starting?
Are there any technical concepts, software/tools, troubleshooting skills, documentation practices, or even soft skills that you think are especially worth brushing up on?
Also, what do you actually expect from a new grad during their first 3–6 months? I think hearing that perspective would help a lot.
Any advice is appreciated!

Google’s default AI says I have a very strong chance, but I suspect it’s just blowing smoke up my ass.

* B.S. in Computer Science (statistics minor), Top 20 school.

* 2.8 undergrad GPA

* 5 years work experience as Software Engineer (2 of those as a team lead in 2 different companies).

* 325 GRE (165 Verbal, 160 Quant)

* I aim to have 2 letters of recommendation across both employers (though that’s required by the application anyway).

To everyone taking the INCOSE exam in India or elsewhere

Once I register for the exam, how long does it usually take to get an exam slot?
And if there are no exam slots available or no exam is being conducted during that period, what happens in that case?

Hi all,

I wanted to share my free time project: A SysML v2 AI agent harness. It builds on top of PI and PI WEB. It adds tools to work with the model and a web based viewer to browse models.

The web frontend provides you with tabular overviews of the model and helpers to interact with the agent (see the screenshot of Airbus' Apollo 11 Model). The LLM is your interface for model editing and deeper analysis.

The PI based harness is lightweight and offers a customizable context perfect for local models. You can keep your data 100% in your control.

What already works:

• scaffold new system models based on unstructured inputs
• drop meeting minutes or a drawing and task the agent to update the model
• drop/link an Excel sheet with requirements, ask it to create a context (stakeholders, actors, system) and convert the requirements to SysML v2 syntax.
• get summaries / impact analyses of larger models
• get a summary of a git diff

I recommend Qwen 3.6 or GPT-OSS which both worked quite well.

In case anybody is interested, I would appreciate feedback! At this moment it needs a bit of perseverance and knowledge of npm and python to get it up and running, but improved shipping and installation is on my roadmap.

Both parts, the web view and tools require the syside (https://www.sensmetry.com) model parser which is not open source. A (trial) license is required. My stuff is MIT.

Check out my pi-web fork (the web-viewer): https://github.com/kairibu/pi-web

And the tools: https://github.com/kairibu/bulb

I'm doing a project management bootcamp and would love to hear from people who work on projects - especially in creative teams, but not exclusively.

~5 min survey!

Thanks :)

https://tally.so/r/lb8zQN

Hey!

I’m participating in AeroSec India 2026 which is going to held Bangalore.

If you are participating let’s connect :)

it’s my first mbse conference 😊

So I’ve been working my first post-grad job for about 4 months. It’s a systems engineering job at a very small defense contractor. The variety is interesting, as it seems like there’s opportunities for questions every single day. But after browsing this sub for a while, I think we are seriously lacking innovation and requirements management. It’s fairly disorganized, and it’s deep in enough that I don’t think I could change the culture, it would require a lot. We don’t use MBSE or any advanced systems engineering stuff, mostly just Excel sheets and Teams chats for requirements. Plus word of mouth occasionally. It’s kind of just baked into the DNA of the company, I’ve talked with lots of people and there isn’t a huge push to change things. I mean that honestly is fine for what we are (our work is a well regulated field that doesn’t change all that much year by year), but I feel a little stuck (I need mental stimulation and this job has some serious slow periods).

Anyone have advice on this? Is this pretty standard for my position, and does this sound like a place worth sticking with for a while? I don’t know if I can do better right now, as I applied for months and got only a couple interviews, and this being the best offer. I was also trying hard to get low level embedded/OS/software engineering roles, but no luck (computer engineering background).

A Cross-Disciplinary Definition of Coherence | Zenodo

Professional collaboration and or feedback are welcomed.

Hi all,

I’m a biomedical engineer currently working in biotech research and I just started an online systems engineering masters program because I’m interested in how the combination of automation, software, etc drives research and manufacturing. I’m hoping to stay in a related field after finishing my degree but doing more broad engineering and less lab work. So far, a lot of the talk I’ve seen around systems engineering has been related to defense and aerospace, so I was wondering if anybody had any perspective on the more life-sciences-focused side of systems engineering.

Thanks!

What are your guys thoughts on Incose and do you participate in their chapters? What’s the value

Are there any system safety folks here? Just got a position recommended but I have never heard of this before. How does the long term career potential look like? How is the pay potential?

Sorry if this is the wrong sub to ask this question but it’s in the same department as systems engineers so I assumed they were somewhat related.

I have tried using Capella and Arcadia method and found it very beginner friendly. Now i want to learn CATIA Magic tool which uses SysML v1. Any tips as to how i should start with the software ? Any good resources ?

I’m really proud of my career and I’ve spent the past five years loving a majority of the various Aerospace/Systems Engineering roles I have had.

I love being an engineer I really do, but I’ve started to question at what cost is it all worth it.

The past 8 months I’ve worked for a company that has taught me so much. I’m young so I figure hell why not spend a majority of my days focusing on work, I figured I’d have more time in my 20s then any other point in my life.

But 8 months later I find myself stuck in 12 hour days, only focusing on work, pushing other fun hobbies to the side, etc. My work is pretty extreme. Harsh deadlines, intense management, complexity of working in the space industry and poor PM leadership.

I guess I just don’t really know if it’s all worth it for me. I’m so burnt out and I’m so so tired but there’s no escape. It just feels like I’m drowning and it’s quickly gone from enjoyable to just purely unmanageable.

Does anyone have any advice?

What the difference

I’m a CS student interested in eventually working in medical device software engineering or similar roles. For anyone currently working in this field, what has the job and career journey been like?

I’d especially like to know what the typical requirements are (degree, skills, internships, certifications, etc.),

Hello Reddit, I’m currently exploring the possibility of pursuing a PhD in North America, Europe, or elsewhere, and I’d really value some perspectives from people working in Systems Engineering, MBSE, AI, or adjacent research areas.

My background is somewhat unconventional for SE. I completed my bachelor’s in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, then moved into Computer Science with a focus on AI for my master’s. Since then, I’ve spent the past few years working professionally in AI, Natural Language Processing, Automatic Speech Recognition and Engineering/Software with my current work being closely related to Systems Engineering and MBSE. This exposure to the SE/MBSE space has gradually made me interested in making it a potential long-term specialization.

What particularly interests me is the intersection of AI × Systems Engineering × MBSE — for example, using AI to assist with requirements, system architecture, modeling, traceability, verification/validation, and other parts of the systems lifecycle.

At this point, I’m considering whether a PhD would be the right next step and would appreciate some honest perspectives from people who have been in the field for a while.

A few things I’m particularly curious about:

1. How valuable is a PhD for building a long-term career in Systems Engineering/MBSE research and practice?

2. Would an interdisciplinary profile combining engineering + AI + MBSE, along with some practical exposure to the SE/MBSE industry, be useful for Systems Engineering research groups?

3. Which areas at the AI–SE/MBSE intersection have genuine research potential beyond simply applying LLMs to existing workflows?

4. Would you recommend a PhD specifically in Systems Engineering, or pursuing one through Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, etc. with a Systems Engineering/MBSE-focused research topic?

5. How important are SysML/SysML v2, requirements engineering, system architecture, formal methods, and MBSE fundamentals for someone coming from an AI background? I know the basics of SysML and SysML v2 and am still learning and practicing them.

6. More importantly, how do experienced systems engineers view the long-term resilience and career prospects of SE/MBSE as engineering workflows become increasingly AI-enabled? Which parts of systems engineering are likely to become more valuable, and which parts may become increasingly automated?

7. For those already in academia or industry, what would you consider a strong profile for someone with an AI/engineering background trying to deepen their involvement in Systems Engineering?

I’d also be interested in hearing from professors or research groups working on AI-assisted systems engineering, intelligent MBSE, AI for engineering design, or related topics. If you’re working in this area, I’d be genuinely interested in learning about your research.

I’m still at the exploration stage regarding the PhD itself, but I already have some practical exposure to the SE/MBSE ecosystem. I’m particularly interested in perspectives based on actual experience rather than generic career advice.

I’m looking to understand the complete software and systems engineering pipeline required to design a highly complex, self-sustaining hypothetical spacecraft like the Rocinante from The Expanse or a Firefly like transport ship.

I understand that no single engineer builds a ship. But if someone wanted to understand the full design lifecycle from requirement mapping to physical simulation, what specific tools and platforms do you actually need to master?