The Architecting of Complex Systems
Mike Wilkinson, Niteworks
Abstract
Traditional Systems Engineering inhabits a tidy world where effects are clearly linked to causes, system evolution is predictable and similar starting conditions will lead to similar endpoints. This is not the case in all systems, including those relying on human beings for their operation, and systems methods such as architecting are increasingly being called upon where the old certainties do not apply. This paper explores that nature of systems complexity, the role that architecture can play in taming complexity, and how that role can be realised in practical terms using architecture and architecting methods.
Biography
Mike Wilkinson is Technical Director Niteworks, on secondment from Atkins. He has a first degree in Physics and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from King’s College London. He is a past president of the UK branch of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and was previously their Academic Director. He is Co-Chair of both INCOSE’s UK and International Architecture Working Groups. Within Atkins he is a Technical Director and was Chair of the Atkins Systems Network. He is a visiting professor at the University of Loughborough, where he is associated with the Engineering Systems of Systems (ESoS) group.
Join Mike at the upcoming Architecture for Complex Systems event taking place in Derby on 19 September 2017 at the Rolls-Royce Leisure Association. Register now online!