Developing Young Space System Engineers

Abstract

At a fundamental level, system engineering is the process by which engineering efforts are communicated, controlled, and organized on complex projects. The engineers who perform this work well are able to work across multiple engineering and managerial disciplines. They require outstanding technical, personal, management, and communications skills and an ability, based on experience, to work in areas where clean decisions are not possible. Furthermore, within the Space Department (SD) at the Johns Hopkins University - Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), lead system engineers are delegated responsibility for leading the development of the technical baselines and ensuring their performance robustly meets requirements. Success in these areas requires a level of capability and maturity that can only be developed through time and experience.