Bruce Powel Douglass, Ph.D.

In response to my LinkedIn post regarding the release of my latest book Agile Model-Based Systems Engineering Cookbook, some respondents raised the question “Can systems engineering really be agile?” My off-the-cuff response of “well, duh” could use additional clarification. What do we even mean by the term agile in this context? What are the key practices that can make systems engineering agile? What is the relation between agility and model-based systems engineering (MBSE)?

Why software isn’t so soft For something with the word “soft” in the name, software is very hard indeed. Every study I’ve seen has shown that we, as an industry, are terrible at estimating how long it will take to create and not good at all at producing it without defects. There are all kinds of reasons for this, but mostly it boils down to the fact that creating software is far more akin to a craft than an engineering discipline. Each software product is lovingly sculpted fr

Figure 1: Security Analysis Diagram It’s a Brave New World Time was when smart embedded devices needed little or no security. They were, for the vast majority, disconnected devices that performed simple dedicated functions. Now, however, it seems everything is connected over the web. Washing machines are connected over the web[1]. This allows unprecedented capabilities for both consumers to connect and manage their lives and for vendors to improve services, monitor usage patt