SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

EDUCATION FOR EAST AFRICA

S. Gebreyohannes, T. Bogale, W. Edmonson*, and L. Worku

*Langley Professor
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Outline
 Introduction
» Motivation
» Economic outlook
 Systems of Innovation
 Systems Engineering
 SE Education in East Africa
 Conclusion
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Introduction
Motivation
 East African countries are having significant economic growth
» 2nd behind East Asia in terms of real GDP 6.3%
 Growth is being spurred by large infrastructure programs, growth in
agriculture, and the desire to grow an indigenous industry in the knowledge
and aerospace economies
 To sustain this growth requires collaboration between universities, industry,
and government to create an atmosphere of creativity, innovation, and
knowledge
» Systems of innovation
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Introduction
Goal
 Explore the need for systems engineers and systems engineering education
that have the capabilities for designing systems over its complete lifecycle.
» Complex systems
» System of systems
 Provide a framework for the design of a systems engineering graduate
program
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

East African Countries of Focus

 Ethiopia
» ~10% economic growth since 2005
» Public investments in infrastructure and industrial parks
 Kenya
» Ave. economic growth 6%
» Expansion in construction, manufacturing, finance, and ICT
 Rwanda
» Economic growth between 6% and 7%
» Services and industry sector leading growth
 Uganda
» Ave. economic growth 5.5%
» Growth lead by industry, services, public infrastructure
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Introduction
African Economic Outlook 2016 – Annual Report
 East Africa growth in GDP is 6.3%
» Highest in Sub-Saharan Africa
» Agriculture remains the largest factor
» Urbanization rapidly increasing requiring investment in:
• Urban infrastructure 2014 2015 1016 2017
• Job creation Africa 3.7 3.6 3.7 4.5
• Environmental management Central Africa 6.1 3.7 3.9 5.0
• Climate change East Africa 6.5 6.3 6.4 6.7
• Transportation
North Africa 1.4 3.5 3.3 3.8
• Waste collection
• Access to energy Southern Africa 2.8 2.2 1.9 2.8
West Africa 6.0 3.3 4.3 5.5
African Development Bank, OECD Dev. Centre, & UN Dev. Programme
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Project Examples
 Ethiopia
» Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
» 6000 MWatt
 Rwanda
» Blood drone delivery system
» 1st Droneport
 African Union Space Policy established Oct. 2016
» To use space science and technology to improve the quality of life and generate
wealth in Africa
» To develop and maintain African infrastructure and capacity to service both African
and foreign markets in a responsible way

https://www.dezeen.com/2015/09/16/foster-partners-droneport-drones-medical-supplies-rwanda/
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025

 AU Vision
“… peaceful and prosperous Africa, integrated, led by its own citizens and occupying the place it
deserves in the global community and in the knowledge economy.”
 Mission
“Reorienting Africa’s education and training systems to meet the knowledge, competencies, skills,
innovation and creativity required to nurture African core values and promote sustainable
development …”
 Strategic Objective
SO 7: Strengthen the science and math curricula in youth training and disseminate scientific
knowledge and culture in society
SO 8: Expand TVET opportunities at both secondary and tertiary levels and strengthen linkages
between the world of work and education and training systems

http://au.int/en/sites/default/files/documents/29958-doc-cesa_-_english-v9.pdf
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems of Innovation
Definition
 Engines of growth
» Technological Change
» Innovation

“ … elements and relationships which interact in the production,

diffusion and use of new and economically useful knowledge”
Lundvall,
NIS, 1992

http://rogerseirug.blogspot.com/2012/07/egypt-has-been-on-precipice-being.html
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems of Innovation
Definition
 National Systems of Innovation
» Economic tool
» Measuring the innovativeness of countries
» Represents a systems view
• Society
• Academy
• Government
• Industry
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems of Innovation
Academy
 Creation of knowledge
» Takes on a systems approach
 Science and Technology Knowledge Base
» Public Dimension
• Documents, patents, books, etc.
» Tacit Dimension
• Competencies, practices, culture, etc.
 Systems Engineering Education

http://rogerseirug.blogspot.com/2012/07/egypt-has-been-on-precipice-being.html
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering
INCOSE Definition
… an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization
of successful systems. It focuses on defining customer needs and
required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting
requirements, and then proceeding with design synthesis and system
validation while considering the complete problem
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

C ult ur al A sp ect
Systems Engineering G oal s
V al ues
E t hi cs
The Culture of Technology - Pacey C r eat i v i t y

 ... as the application of scientific and other Or gani zat i onal

A sp ect
knowledge to practical task by ordered E conom i cs
systems. I ndust r y
L ab or

 Involves the following aspects C onsum er s

» Technology
T echni cal A sp ect
» Culture K now l edge
T ool s
» Organization R esour ces
M at hem at i cs
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering
Importance to Developing Countries
 Understand and integrate systems thinking into solving regions issues
» Requiring multiple disciplines and stakeholders coalescing around a solution
 Develop new or enhance existing products and processes
 Lead to
» Economic sustainability
» Less dependence on imported products and knowledge
» Development of an indigenous industrial and knowledge base economy
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering
Importance to Developing Countries
 Become full participants in the 4th Industrial Revolution – Information Age

Emerging nations … can make better choices about how they

develop. We don’t need to repeat the mistakes of western countries.
Pres. Alpha Conde
Guinea
World Economic Forum Africa 2016
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering Education

Present Status
 A specific SE curriculum does not exist in
countries of study (INCOSE)
» (1) Egypt, (1) Nigeria, and (4) S. Africa
 Might exist in IE
» No cross pollination with other disciplines
 Students get the education/experience in
other countries
» Europe and USA

http://www.incose.org/docs/default-source/aboutse/se-academic-program-directory0231BA07E0A3.pdf?sfvrsn=18
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering Education

Competencies – Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking Model
 Cognitive  Behavioral
» Seeing the big picture and interconnectivity » Knowledge and experience
 Skills  Curriculum must consider:
» Discipline » Regional resources
 Well organized » Social and psychological factors
» Multi-disciplinary
» Culturally specific
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering Education

Curriculum
 Interdisciplinary
 Collaboration – Course Projects
» Industry
» Government
» Community
 Courses consist of
» Foundational Courses
» Practice Courses
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering Education

Curriculum
 Foundational Courses  Practice Courses
» Mathematics » System Architecting
» Decision Theory » Risk Management
» Probability Theory » Requirements Engineering
» Organization Theory » Trade-space Analysis
» Domain specific » Social Sciences
engineering
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Systems Engineering Education

Curriculum
 Model-based Systems Engineering
… the formalized application of modeling to support system
requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation activities
beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout
development and later life cycle phases
INCOSE Systems Engineering Vision 2020
 Systems Engineering for Education East Africa

Conclusion
 To bring about economic growth and sustainability in East Africa requires
innovation with an understanding of the nature of systems
 Particular of interest is in the areas engineering of products and processes of
complex systems
» Agriculture
» Aeronautics\Aerospace
» Infrastructure
 This work investigates the development of an African-centric systems engineering
curriculum to create a region wide system of innovation
» A program that presently does not exist within the engineering curriculum