Systems Engineering and Analysis, Fifth Edition,
by Benjamin S. Blanchard and Wolter J. Fabrycky.
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
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CHAPTER 2
BRINGING SYSTEMS INTO BEING
1) A human–made or engineered system comes into being by purpose-driven human action.
It is distinguished from the natural world by characteristics imparted by its human
2) Interfaces between the human–made and the natural world arise from human–made
products, systems, and structures for the use of people. An example interface is a system of
3) A watershed in its natural state is a natural system that receives rainfall, absorbs some
rainwater, and accumulates and discharges runoff. This system becomes human-modified if
4) Every engineered system provides a product, either tangible or intangible. The product (or
prime equipment) is not the system, but is a component thereof. It is the result of successful
5) Student exercise. Reference: Section 2.1.2 (pages 25-26).
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9) The overarching factor in engineering for product competitiveness is the requirement to
meet customer expectations cost–effectively. Competitiveness is the assurance of corporate
10) System life–cycle thinking necessitates engineering for the life cycle. This is in contrast to
engineering as historically practiced, in which downstream considerations were often
deferred or neglected. Life–cycle thinking can help preclude future problems if emphasis is
placed on: (a) Improving methods for defining system and product requirements; (b)
11) The first life cycle involves technological activity beginning with need identification and
23) Some organizational impediments to the implementation of systems engineering include:
(a) the dominance of disciplines over interdisciplines, (b) a tendency to organize SE in the
same manner as the traditional engineering disciplines, (c) an excessive focus on analysis at
24) Some of benefits that accrue from the application of the concepts and principles of systems
engineering are: (a) Tailoring involving the modification of engineering activities applied
in each phase of the product or system life cycle to adapt them to the particular product or