System Engineering

Most of my professional work was as a system engineer. You can see evidence of this throughout this site.

Complex Systems

The role of a system engineer is to assure balance.

Today’s systems are complex. Development requires teams of engineers trained in many specialties. The system engineer assures that everything works together.

When pushing the state of the art, it is impossible to get everything exactly right from the start. Instead, some elements will turn out better than expected. Others will not. There must be tradeoffs. Resource allocations must contribute to the final product as a whole, not simply address a few narrow issues.

The system engineer views a system as a whole. He adds clarity and focus. He assures that workarounds are always available. He assures the soundness of tradeoffs. He searches for hidden flaws.

Evidence

Here are some evidences of system engineering at this site.

1) I have placed enough attention to probability and statistics to produce meaningful results. I have not put so much emphasis on the precision of calculations as to undermine the reliability of conclusions. [Greater precision requires additional assumptions.]

2) I started by establishing a TIPS-only baseline. This turns out to be a powerful baseline.

3) I developed several alternatives. You can mix them together.

4) I have identified cause and effect.

5) I have identified how to monitor progress.

6) I have identified failure mechanisms. I have identified what to look out for.

7) I have extracted the essence of arcane calculations. I have converted them into commonsense conclusions. I am never satisfied with numbers alone.

8) I have looked at the same problem from a variety of vantage points. This increases confidence.

9) I have developed spreadsheet calculators.

10) I have developed retirement trainers (spreadsheets).

Taken together, this provides a retiree with a solid foundation. He has a variety of tools. The final decisions are his alone. They are unique to his individual circumstances.

Have fun.

John Walter Russell
November 1, 2006