Seeing that this is the first newsletter of the year, I would briefly like to thank the efforts of Eric Belle, Lee-Ann Seeling and our newest newsletter Editor, Sallie Piccorillo. Eric Belle, this year’s Vice President and the Editor for the last two years has done a superb job in keeping this newsletter as a valued chapter product. Lee-Ann Seeling, our newly elected Communications Director, and her husband, Tom Seeling, are the publishers of the newsletter. Sallie Piccorillo has transitioned very well into the position as Chapter Newsletter Editor, compiling, organizing, proofreading and laying out the great articles that seem to never cease. These three outstanding volunteers dedicated their time and effort to deliver us the December 2007 issue and our first issue of the year.

As systems engineers, you the readers, have just quickly thought about the process of creating and publishing a newsletter; and now you say to yourselves, “more power to them” and then each of you sighs a breath of relief and a “thank you”. If you have the interest and time to spare, I encourage all of you to get involved with the Chapter operations at some point in time, if not but just once.

With this bit of a lead-in, I would like introduce myself as your 2008 Chapter President. My name is John David Boyd, and most refer to me as David. I graduated with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Reflecting back on my 17 years out of school, I realize that I have done most everything except Aerospace Engineering! Though I am a Sr. Software Systems Engineer with Science Applications International (SAIC), I am enjoying my role as a test engineer on Boeing’s C-130 Avionics Modernization Program where I work with Systems Engineers, Software Engineers and Program Management in completing a rigorous requirements-based qualification test effort. I have had the opportunity to have contributed to two milestones since May 2006: First Flight of the avionics upgrades in 2006 and a subsequent “First Flight” of a second rollout in 2007.

I have realized that as each day passes, I use the Systems Engineering experience that I unknowingly gained while working my first post-college job as a Nuclear Test Engineer at DOD-NAVSEA’S Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. I learned what Systems Engineering really meant before I or my peer group even knew of the phrase. It was a place where the projects were large and complex but the teams were integrated and well defined. The Project Manager and Chief Engineer shared a responsibility in the Project Initiation and Project Planning, the Chief Engineer and his or her team of engineers defined the requirements based on the work scope, created the work plans and procedures, the test plans and procedures, and the verification and validation plans and procedures. All of these efforts involved a core group of stakeholder oversight: Naval Reactors representative, the supplier of the nuclear reactor, the Ship’s engineering representative, and the Chief Engineer. The Chief Engineer relied on a core group of engineers and support staff to develop and define the project requirements and decomposes these into manageable work tasks. The tasks were mapped to the technical requirements of the project, so on and so forth. All efforts culminated into an integrated effort that involved radiological controls, quality assurance, shop personnel, finance personnel, staffing support, naval support, non-Nuclear engineering support, and test support.

Seventeen years ago, I would not have been able to describe an overhaul of a Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier’s nuclear power plant in the way that I just did and without explaining the technical details of just a small part of the project. The point being that Systems Engineering, no matter what the domain, has a basic framework of how to accomplish work in support of delivering a product or process that meets and most often exceeds a customer’s expectations. I learned and continue to learn about this framework through my involvement in INCOSE. INCOSE has given me exposure to this knowledge that is generally gained through many years of experience and lessons learned.

In 1999, I first learned about INCOSE from a former Los Angeles Chapter President, Mike Krueger, but it was not until 2004 that I actually attended an INCOSE monthly speaker meeting. I felt that it was time to immerse myself in a group of practitioners and experts before deciding whether or not to pursue an advanced degree in Software Engineering or Systems Engineering. Since that first meeting, I have had the opportunity to volunteer and work with many dedicated Systems Engineers who comprise this Chapter to deliver value to its membership of this Chapter. My chapter involvement includes: Mini-conferences, CSER 2006, CSER 2008, Secretary and Vice President.

It is my hope that others have similar experiences to share regarding the value gained from INCOSE. 2008 will be a busy year for our Chapter as we build upon the successes from last year. We have an extremely capable Board of Directors and team of dedicated members who have stepped into appointed positions such as Newsletter Editor. We have a new look to our website and your suggestions are welcome. We are seeking to improve upon last year’s successful pilot webcast capability. We are planning to deliver more tutorials this year in addition to joint speaker meetings with societies such as PMI, AIAA, IEEE, and SPIN. Eric Belle is working toward generating INCOSE-LA interest and local participation in a National robotics competition. And of course, we are supporting USC in its Annual Conference on Engineering Research (CSER 2008) in April. CSER 2008 directly benefits our chapter through participation in papers and presentations, new and continuing membership and the promotion of INCOSE in the Los Angeles area.
In closing, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my message and the articles that are presented within this newsletter. I look forward to meeting many more of you as we all work toward meeting this year’s goals and objectives.