INCOSE Enchantment: One Model to Rule them All ... and Through Emergence Bind Them

Dec 11, 2024 4:45 PM - Dec 11, 2024 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time

One Model to Rule them All ... and Through Emergence Bind Them

Speaker: Jawahar Bhalla (JB)
Date: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Time: 4:45 PM - 6:00 PM Mountain Time (US)
Venue: Online via ZOOM

Registration: Zoom link is provided in the meeting invitation; contact the POC to request the meeting invitation. 

Abstract:
Models are central to understanding systems and to the engineering of systems. Systems engineers employ various types of models to communicate and establish shared understanding of a system, and employ life-cycle models that enable the transformation of conceptual models to physical models, that are then realized as tangible systems of benefit to society. The recognition of the central nature of models to the engineering of systems resulted in the forming of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) wherein the essence of the system of interest is contained within a system model in contrast to traditional documents. However, the evolution of model-types employed, both to understand and to engineer systems, appears to largely have been a pragmatic activity driven by the needs of the numerous individual engineering and management subdisciplines. This presentation will briefly examines extant taxonomy of systems models used in the engineering of systems and in establishing an understanding of operational systems and considers the question of whether there is a suitable system “meta-model” that naturally “contains” all types of systems models used therein. It will explore this question through a systems-thinking lens, in conjunction with concepts on mental models from biology and philosophy. This analysis gives rise to a framework for systems models and to the proposition that all (systems) models take on one of two forms: as reference models that aid in the engineering of systems or as representative models that aid in understanding operational systems. The concluding proposition being that it is possible to propose an emergent “model of systems models” that combines these two (reference and representative) forms of systems models in an evolutionary way. This construct is offered for consideration and refinement by the systems community.

Bio:
Jawahar Bhalla (JB) is a passionate Systems professional with 30+ years’ experience and president of INCOSE's Australian chapter (SESA). He contributes to the advancement of Systems Thinking, SE and M&S with 27 published papers. He a Fellow of Engineers Australia, with a BE (Aerospace Engineering), a BSc (Computer Science), a Master’s in SE and is a PhD candidate working on a Framework for the Engineering and Assurance of AI-Intensive systems. He has served on the Board of Simulation Australasia and was recognised in 2021 with the “Ray Page Lifetime Achievement Award” for an outstanding contribution to the advancement of M&S in the Australasian region.

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