2nd Law of Akin´s Laws of Spacecraft Design
System engineering is the art and science of developing an operable system capable of
meeting requirements within often opposed constraints. System engineering is a holistic,
integrative discipline, wherein the contributions of many different disciplines are
evaluated and balanced, one against another, to produce a coherent whole that is not
dominated by the perspective of a single discipline.
The system engineers ensure that the system technically fulfils the defined needs and
requirements and that a proper system engineering approach is being followed. This
involves reviewing and evaluating the technical aspects of the project to ensure that
the system/subsystem engineering processes are working properly and evolve the system
from concept to product.
In summary, the system engineers balance organizational and technical interactions. However, since the entire team is involved in the system engineering approach, in some ways everyone is a system engineer. System engineering is about trade-offs and compromises, about generalists rather than specialists. System engineering is about looking at the “big picture” and not only ensuring that they get the design right (meet requirements) but that they get the right design.