Spring 2009

Below are the two, scheduled systems enginneering courses offered this term.
For other courses important to the systems engineering degree, please visit schedule.
For other programs. the PSU Schedule of Classes may be found at: https://sa.pdx.edu/so.
Exact dates for registraion and start of class are given in the PSU Academic Calendar

SYSE 573: Requirements Engineering (4 credits)
Dorothy Mckinney 
David Carswell

This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to translate needs and priorities into system requirements, and develop derived requirements, which together form the starting point for engineering of complex hardware/software systems. The student will develop an understanding of the larger context in which requirements for a system are developed, and learn about trade-offs between developing mission needs or market opportunities first versus assessing available technology first. Techniques for translating needs and priorities into an operational concept and then into specific functional and performance requirements will be presented. The student will assess and improve the usefulness of requirements, including such aspects as correctness, completeness, consistency, measurability, testability, and clarity of documentation. Case studies, many involving software-intensive systems, will be used. Prerequisite: SYSE 591 Systems Engineering Approach or SYSC 513 Systems Approach or Consent of Instructor. See Syllabus for more details.

To gain web access, contact the instructor or Herman Migliore
Cost: $1700
March 30 to June 13, 2009 
Course Reference Number (CRN) -- 63528

SYSE 575 : Reducing Risk in Decision Making (4 credits)
Ike Eisenhauer 

This course will examine the concepts, techniques and tools for managing risk and making decision as key components of the systems engineering process. In this course, risk connotes a measure of the probability and severity of an undesired event. This course begins with an overview of the risk management (identifying, assessing, monitoring, and mitigating) and decision process. Differences between mission critical and non-mission critical programmatic risk will be emphasized. Other topics include the limits of expected value-based risk analysis, decision making strategies such a max/min, min/max and regrets. Formal methods in risk analysis, elementary decision analysis and decision trees, multi-objective decision making, pareto techniques, optimality, and trade-off analysis will be covered. Risk and decision techniques will be contrasted with the interfacing processes of program management and software engineering, from both the government (DOD) and industrial perspectives. Syllabus for more details. 

To gain web access, contact the instructor or Herman Migliore
Cost: $1700
March 30 to June 13, 2009 
Course Reference Number (CRN) -- 64321

Other Courses
As part of the degree in Masters of Engineering in Systems Engineering, sixteen credits of electives are required. Past students have taken elective courses mostly from three programs: systems engineering, engineering and technology management, system science. For the SYSE masters degree, it is possible to choose electives from other programs as part of an approved study plan. Please note that most other PSU courses are on-campus and not intended for distance learning. Three systems engineering courses are not scheduled before the term and are arranged by the program director: SYSE 590 (Integrative Workshop) and SYSE 506 (Project) and SYSE 505 (Reading and Conference).