Frameworks and Models in Engineering Systems / Engineering System Design
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Design Assignments; Exams; Lecture Notes; Written Assignments
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Spring 2007
- Department: Engineering Systems Division, Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Systems thinking for complex engineering systems: the CLIOS process, models, risk and a class project on storing spent nuclear fuel.
Complex engineering systems sit inside social and political contexts, and designing them well means balancing technical choices with many stakeholders. This course teaches systems thinking through a class-wide design project: abstracting a complex system into quantitative models and qualitative frameworks, using them to reach design decisions, and planning how to implement those decisions. The spring 2007 project designed a system for transporting and storing spent nuclear fuel, set against U.S. energy and environmental policy.
What You Will Achieve
- Apply systems thinking to a complex sociotechnical problem
- Represent a system with the CLIOS process
- Compare design alternatives using models, frameworks and risk assessment
- Balance stakeholder interests in an implementation strategy
Program Overview
Systems Thinking
What systems are and why complexity matters.
- Classes of systems
- Sociotechnical systems and complexity
- Uncertainty
- The CLIOS process
System Design
Making good choices among alternatives.
- What is a system design?
- Models and frameworks
- Risk assessment
- Scenario planning and system dynamics
Spent Nuclear Fuel Project
A class-wide design project.
- Representing the spent fuel system
- Design concepts and strategic alternatives
- Implementation and the final report
Course Completion
Job Outlook
Systems thinking is used in engineering management, energy and infrastructure planning, policy analysis and technical consulting.
Good for: Engineering students who want to learn systems thinking by tackling a real, policy-laden design problem.
Keep in mind: A spring 2007 course with lecture notes, project assignments with solutions, review presentations and two midterms; the team meetings and final presentations happened in class, and the policy context is that of 2007.
Bottom line: A strong introduction to systems thinking, anchored in a memorable case study.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the class project?
Designing a system for transporting and storing spent nuclear fuel, such as whether to move it to Yucca Mountain or keep it on site at power plants.
What is the CLIOS process?
A process the course uses to represent complex, sociotechnical systems and move through their design and implementation in stages.
Can I see the midterms?
Yes. The midterm exams from 2006 and 2007 are posted, along with project solutions and review presentations.
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