In Architecture of Complex Systems, a five-week online course, you will discover methods and techniques for scaling up small-team thinking and individual problem-solving to manage larger complex systems.
This course teaches learners to think differently about systems engineering by understanding architectural decision-making, the role of the architect, and the phenomena of change propagation. While making good architectural decisions is difficult—given the uncertainties inherent in complex systems—it is possible. Systems architecture is the “DNA” that provides the basis for good decision-making, and competitive advantage.
The course is well-suited for engineers and other professionals in the aerospace, automotive, defense, consumer appliances, manufacturing, and related industries; as well as systems engineering professionals, directors, or senior managers looking to innovate and optimize their operational, manufacturing, and design systems.
The courseware features video lectures, real-world case studies, interactive projects, and optional group work, and includes ungraded practice activities throughout to provide opportunities for learners to check their understanding. Forward-thinking Action Plans provide a framework for learners to apply course concepts to their specific fields. Instructor- and TA-lead webinars provide a forum both for learners to pose course-related questions to experts and for the experts to share their own experience of current systems engineering challenges and solutions.
The focus of the course’s first weeks will be defining the fundamental concepts of Systems Thinking and Function & Emergence, as well as introducing the basics of systems architecture and documentation considerations. Learners will apply the basic tasks of systems thinking to a simple real-life system, learning to identify the elements of the system.
In the course’s middle weeks, the focus will expand upon systems architecture decisions and modeling with design structure matrices, as well as process flow and change management.
The final weeks of the course will deeply investigate the role of a System Architect. You will expand your analysis of a more complex, real-life system—examining and decomposing the system to review its change propagation properties. By stepping into the role of the architect, learners will implement the key lessons of this course in the final project.
For more information, please visit the following resources:
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