What's a Systems Engineer?

"LARGE-SCALE PROBLEM SOLVER"

That's the easiest definition to share with peole who haven't a clue of what a systems engineer is. That was the defintion a keynote speaker shared at one of the conferences I attended in undergrad and it's stuck with me ever since. Pretty simple and accurate in my opinion, but of course there's more to it then that. There always is.

Systems engineers are responsible for design, development and management of engineering systems throughout the duration of their existence (i.e. lifecycle). A system is defined as a combination of people, places,  and/or things  that together produce a result that they alone could not produce. For example, a car is a system. One of its components is an engine. By itself,  an engine can't do much, but when integrated with a car frame, gears, wiring, etc. an engine powers the car (one hopes). Systems engineering involves A LOT of integration amidst multiple fields of engineering, analysis and finance. There's overlap galore.

GMU '14 BSSE Graduates

Some systems engineers have one or more technical specialties that allow them the ability to further understand complex systems. For example, a systems engineer with a background in computer science should be able to better understand the software compenents of a system. Most systems engineers that I know of go into industry as analysts or project manangers and that ultimately suits my career goals.

So there you have my "off the cuff" definition of Systems engineering. Hopefully I didn't miss anything major. If I did I'm sure my engineering friends will let me know and I'll make the appropriate adjustments. But, I think this definition will suit most. Stay tuned to learn more once the semester starts because I genuinely love this major!