Michael Dax Garner was a student in the pilot Space Systems Engineering class at The University of Texas at Austin in spring 2007.
That class, as well as his experiences in the Aerospace Engineering Department's satellite design lab, inspired Dax to pursue systems engineering further in graduate school. While a graduate student in UT's engineering master's degree program, Dax was the teaching assistant for the Space Systems Engineering class for two semesters, even teaching some of the lectures and participating in class discussions.
His thesis -Systems Engineering Processes for a Student-based Design Laboratory - became the culmination of his systems engineering learning. This thesis is now available for other universities to use as a reference for their own efforts in student satellite projects.
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Click player above to view and download Gentry Lee's insipiring and informative Systems Engineering Videos.
"Systems engineering is the art and science of developing an operable system that meets requirements within imposed constraints. Systems engineering is holistic and integrative. Systems engineering is first and foremost about getting the right design - and then about maintaining and enhancing its technical integrity, as well as managing complexity with good processes to get the design right." - Excerpt from "The Art and Science of Systems Engineering" Download (PDF)
Welcome to the Space Systems Engineering Website!
Sponsored by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and the Texas Space Grant Consortium.
The Space Systems Engineering website exists to disseminate curriculum materials to interested faculty. The systems engineering materials were developed by Lisa Guerra (NASA Headquarters / Exploration Systems Mission Directorate) and piloted in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. The intent is for the curriculum to be transferable to other universities operating within NASA's Space Grant Consortium. The full systems engineering course, available here, was designed as a 3 credit hour prerequisite to the senior-level capstone spacecraft/mission design course.
The materials accessible on this website include:
• 27 systems engineering lecture modules
• Accompanying example assignments and exams
• Reference documents and handbooks from NASA and other government sources
• Additional recommended readings related to systems engineering
• 2 video lectures on being a systems engineer by Gentry Lee of JPL
• Links to companion websites of interest to the space systems engineer
• Presentations from NASA's Systems Engineering Workshop, which took place in October, 2008
At the undergraduate level, the goal is to teach the fundamentals of systems engineering such that future practicing engineers are familiar with the concepts and processes to be exercised further in the work environment. As stated in the first lecture: the course is not trying to make everyone who takes the course a systems engineer, but trying to give engineering students a systems perspective. The success of that goal is reflected in numerous quotes from the students in the pilot class, such as:
• "It was a ‘big picture' view of what we may be involved in as engineers of the future."
• "Taking this course makes an engineer realize there is much more to engineering than designing a given component to a set specification. This course really teaches all the factors that go into producing a viable space system, and some tools to achieve that end."
• "Everything we've learned will be applied to our jobs, regardless of the engineering position we will have."
As an interested visitor to this website, you are also welcome to add related content and discussion points. In addition, as NASA continues to sponsor the development of systems engineering curriculum, new materials will be included over time.
For additional information regarding the contents of this website, refer to the frequently asked questions section.
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