INCOSE eNote: News and Notes from the INCOSE Network
Vol 1   Issue 1 – 5 June 2004

Systems Engineering Handbook 2a Released. Behind the leadership of Terje Fossnes, Cecilia Haskins, and Kevin Forsberg, INCOSE has greatly improved the handbook by reducing redundancy, improving consistency, and removing US and DoD-specific terminology while retaining all material that supports the SE Certification exam. Version 2a of the handbook provides a description of the key process activities performed by systems engineers, the purpose for each process activity, what needs to be done, and how it can be done. Whether a new systems engineer or a more-experienced SE looking for a convenient reference, you will find enough information to determine whether a given process activity is appropriate for your and how to go about implementing the process activity.

Members may download the handbook free of charge from the Members' Area of the INCOSE website (http://www.incose.org/members/). Hardcopies of the handbook are also available for purchase from the INCOSE Office.

INCOSE Products Area Expanded. Through the efforts of Dick Wray and the INCOSE Technical Community, INCOSE has classified and published all existing INCOSE Systems Engineering Products, making them available in the Products Area of the INCOSE website (http://www.incose.org/tb_products.html). Materials such as the INCOSE Technical Products, technical data from many technical committees and working groups, and all of the Liaison Advisory Statements (e.g. ISO, IEEE, NDIA, etc.) are now on-line.

Members can look forward to receiving a product CD containing these materials and more later in 2004.

Calls for Papers. Final preparations are in progress for the 14th INCOSE International Symposium in Toulouse. The technical program promised something of value to each participant. How about sharing your knowledge and experience at a future INCOSE event? Calls for papers are currently open for the following INCOSE events:

• INCOSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference (MARC), November 2-4 in Crystal City, Virginia, USA. Draft papers are due July 19.
• Systems Engineering/Test and Evaluation Conference 2004, November 8-10 in Adelaide, Australia. Abstracts are due July 5.
• Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), March 23-25, 2005 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Abstracts are due October 1.
• INCOSE 2005, July 10-15 in Rochester, New York, USA. Tutorial proposals are due October 30. Draft papers must be submitted by November 1.

Time to Renew. Have you renewed your INCOSE membership for 2004-2005? Renew now to ensure you don't miss a single issue of the Journal of Systems Engineering or INSIGHT. With the addition of a new INCOSE product CD, the chance to collaborate in person and via the new INCOSE website, plus all the local and regional events, membership in INCOSE means more than ever.

Members can renew their membership and update their membership profile online using secure credit card processing. Visit the online renewal page and renew today.

Updates to INCOSE Top 5. Visit the Members' Area to learn the latest on INCOSE's Top 5 for 2004. Get a sense of SE Handbook v3 by reviewing the requirements, outline, and frequently asked questions. Review the Technical Vision Workshop Report. Find out more on the certification program (and if you still have questions, forward them to certification@incose.org).

Web Policies. As INCOSE prepares to roll out the new website at the International Symposium in Toulouse, we are updating our web policies. Members are encouraged to review the latest privacy policy and terms of use to understand our efforts to maintain a safe online community for the exchange, discussion, and critique of ideas.