ENGLISH COMUNICATION

WORKSHOP 5

Reading plan
1. Identifying cognates
2. Global Reading
3. Glossary
4. Main ideas
5. Write your own version of this text

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING:
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Beni Suranto Department of Informatics, Faculty of Industrial Engineering,
Universitas Islam Indonesia

This paper is concerning about systems engineering which has strong relationship with software
engineering field both in the concepts and in the practical aspects. This paper starts with the
explanation about some important concepts in systems engineering such as definitions,
characteristics, and real practice examples. The next part of this paper will discuss about the need
of systems engineering and the professional competencies of systems engineers. The last part of
this paper will discuss about the benefits of teaching systems engineering to software
engineering students. Keywords: competencies, software engineering, systems engineering 1.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING CONCEPT INCOSE (2006) stated three representative definitions for
systems engineering . The first definition defines systems engineering as a profession, the
second definition defines systems engineering as a process, and the last one defines systems
engineering as a perspective. From those definitions, there are some important keywords to
define what systems engineering is : wholeness, iterative, interdisciplinary, and sociotechnical. To
understand the concept of systems engineering we must first understand systems thinking.
Systems thinking is the basis for the systems engineering perspective. It occurs through some
enriching processes such as diagnosis, learning, dialog, and discovery that allow engineers to
sense, model, and discuss about the real-world so they can have a better understanding to define
and work with large or complex systems. Systems thinking can be considered as a unique
perspective about the “wholeness” of systems (INCOSE, 2006). Engineers with a good systems
thinking will be more aware of the “wholeness” aspect of systems and how all elements in
the systems interrelate. Engineers with a good system thinking always know exactly how their
systems can be integrated in the larger context of daily life. They also completely understand
about their systems’s behaviors and how to effectively manage them. Systems engineering is
different from traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical, computing & software,
mining, electrical, petroleum, or aerospace. With the “system as a whole” perspective, systems
engineering emphasis the system’s total operation. Systems engineering concerns with not
only engineering design but also external factors of the system and the interactions between
the system with the environment (Calvano, 2004). Also, it’s not only aware about the inside
view but also the outside view of the system. Systems engineering can be understood as a
concept that bridges all traditional engineering disciplines involved in a big, large, complex project.
Furthermore, systems engineering inherent some important aspects of the project management
concept that concern with the engineering effort in the project, setting the mission or objectives
of the project, guiding the project’s executions, and evaluating the project’s results (Klatt,
2009). 2. THE NEED OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING The aerospace and defence industries are two
major fields where systems engineering is intensively used, but this concept are also used in
many other fields. Rouse (2007) mentioned that every organization is complex and can be
considered as a system. Systems engineering is a primary need for improving organization and
is a powerful weapon to defeat “the three evils of engineering” : complexity (underestimating
the complexity of the project), lack of understanding (of the objectives of the project, the
relationships within elements of the system, solutions of problems occurred during project life
cycle) and communications problems (between engineers in the team, between organizations,
within the project). Systems engineering is becoming increasing prevalent and important,
especially in the projects that aim to produce large or complex systems. By applying
appropriate systems engineering methodologies, the project team can effectively manage
complexity and change during the system life cycle. The need for systems engineering also driven
by the fact that in the past 50 years the delivery time of a new product (from prototyping phase to
market penetration phase) has dropped dramatically by more than a factor of four. The delivery
time of products in the last century (INCOSE, 2006) An innovation always affected by
complexity and today’s products (i.e. systems required to solve specific problems) have longer
life cycle phases because most of them use the incremental improvement methods (Klatt, 2009).
An appropriate systems engineering principles and processes becomes critical for the industries in
order to establish and maintain their competitiveness level. By applying systems engineering
principles and processes, the industries can quickly penetrate the market and deliver high
quality products to their consumers in an efficient way. Systems engineering offers offers a
rigorous process of requirements management that is very helpful for the project team to produce
high quality requirements (i.e. well-defined, have adequate levels of traceability, consistent and
verifiable). By producing high quality requirements, the project team can ensure that the design
of the system accurately reflects the user requirements and the time-consuming changes or
modifications to the system requirements in the later phases can be minimized.
Furthermore, the project team can reduce the delivery time of the system. Beside reducing the
delivery time, successful applications of systems engineering also allowing the industries or the
project teams to gain significant life-cycle cost (LCC) savings. Well-defined and well-organized
systems engineering processes can be very useful for the project team to save their money in
some important phases, including the construction, operational use, system support, and the
disposal phases of the system life cycle. Honour (2004) conducted a survey to study about the
impact of systems engineering practices as perceived by INCOSE members and by NASA
employees. The survey used more than 40 questions associated with some important aspects of
organizations and complex system projects such as cost, schedule, risk, value, demographic, and
so on and so forth. The survey investigated two things. The first one is about the overall impact of
systems engineering practices on complex systems projects. Second, the survey investigated
about the impact of software engineering practices on the cost of the projects. 3.
COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS FOR SYSTEMS ENGINEERS Kasser (2010) stated that a good systems
engineer must have competencies in three areas: a. Knowledge. A good systems engineer must
have an adequate knowledge of systems engineering principles and processes and the
application domain of the systems they develop. b. Cognitive characteristics. A good systems
engineers must be able to identifies, thinks and solves the problems during the system life cycle
both in the conceptual and real-world domains. c. Individual traits. A good systems engineers
must be able to works wirk, communicates with, influences and leads other engineers in the
project team.

REVIEW

El verbo get se utiliza en varias construcciones y tiene significados diversas. “se usa

para todo” dicen algunos. Bueno, la verdad es que no se usa para todo pero si lo
usamos mucho y en gran parte cuando estamos hablando.

GET puede funcionar como alternativa de varios otros verbos.

Abajo hay una lista de los verbos más usados en este contexto.
Get puede sustituir a los siguientes Los verbos correspondientes en
verbos español.

acquire adquirir
arrive to / at llegar
buy comprar
bring traer
charge cobrar
earn ganar
obtain obtener
receive recibir
take coger / coger
understand entender

Presente Pasado Participio

 get got got (UK)
(la tercera persona singular acaba en s) gotten (USA)

Get puede sustituir acquire. (adquirir)

 She got / acquired a lot of paintings from her uncle. - Adquirió una gran

cantidad de cuadros de su tío.

Get to puede sustituir arrive at. (llegar a)

 We have to get to / arrive at the meeting point on time - Tenemos que llegar al
punto de encuentro a tiempo
 What time does the train get to / arrive at the station?- ¿A qué hora llega el
tren a la estación?

Get puede sustituir el verbo buy. (comprar)

 Can you get / buy some bread and milk at the shop? - ¿Puedes comprar pan y
leche en la tienda?
 Jane is getting / buying a new car next month week. - Jane va a comprar un
coche nuevo el mes que viene.

Get puede sustituir el verbo charge. (cobrar)

 How much do you think I could get / charge for my old van? -  ¿Cuánto

piensas que podría cobrar por mi furgoneta coche viejo?

Get puede sustituir el verbo earn. (ganar)

 I get / earn extra money when I work on sundays. - Gano pagos extras cuando

trabajo los domingos.

Get puede sustituir el verbo obtain. (obtener / conseguir)

 They got / obtained very good results in the exam. - Consiguieron muy buenos

resultados en el examen.
 They got / obtained the money for the trip from their grandparents. - Ellos
obtuvieron el dinero para el viaje de sus abuelos.

Get puede sustituir el verbo take cuando usamos take en el sentido de coger / tomar.

 We’re going to get / take a taxi. - Vamos a coger / tomar un taxi.

 I normally get / take the bus to work. – Suelo cojo / tomo el autobús al trabajo.
Get puede sustituir el verbo receive. (recibir)

 What did you get for your birthday? - ¿Qué recibiste para tu cumpleaños?

 Did you get my letter? - ¿Recibiste mí carta?

Get puede sustituir el verbo understand. (entender)

 I didn't get / understand  it. Can you repeat it all again, please.? -  No lo he

entendido. ¿Puedes repetirlo de nuevo, por favor?
 I didn't get / understand the joke. - No entendi el chiste. / No he entendido el
chiste.

PHRASAL VERBS
 get across – comunicar / hacer entender
 get after – perseguir
 get ahead – progresar
 get along with – llevarse bien
 get around – viajar a distintos sitios 
 get away – irse, escapar, salir, alejarse
 get back – volver, recuperar
 get behind – quedarse atrás, apoyar
 get down – agacharse / escribir / deprimir
 get in – entrar, llegar
 get into – interesarse en algo
 get off – dejar (por ejemplo, una medicación o drogas) 
 get out – salir
 get over  – superar
 get rid of – deshacerse de algo
 get round – convencer
 get through – superar
 get to – empezar a hacer algo
 get together – calmarse / poner en orden / reunirse
 get up – levantarse
 get along – llevarse bien con alguien
 get on – subirse a algo, un medio de transporte por ejemplo
 get off – bajarse de algo
 get through with -acabar algo enfrentándote cuanto antes
 get by -salir adelante
 get ahead – salir adelante, tener ventaja
 get ahold of – contactar o intentar conseguir algo
I always stay at the hotel for my holidays, but this year I will get AROUND to more.
– Siempre me quedo en el hotel en mis vacaciones pero este año saldré más.
– I can’t wait to get my money from John BACK
– Espero con ansias que John me devuleva el dinero.
– The experience was traumatic for him; I think he never got OVER it.
– La experiencia fue traumática para él. Creo que nunca se recuperará.
– What time do we have to get UP tomorrow? –
¿A qué hora tenemos que levantarnos mañana?
– The thief is getting AWAY! –
¡El ladrón se escapa!
– I got IN TO running last year…I thought it would be more tiring
– Empecé a correr el año pasado… pensaba que cansaría más.
– She told me she couldn’t study for the exam but she got BY and passed
– Me contó que no pudo estudiar para el examen, pero se las arregló y lo aprobó.

History of the Steam Engine

Recovered from IELTS

The first steam-powered machine was built in 1698 by the English military engineer
Thomas Savery (c. 1650-1715). His invention, designed to pump water out of coal mines, was
known as the Miner's Friend. The machine, which had no moving parts, consisted of a
simple boiler - a steam chamber whose valves were located on the surface - and a pipe
leading to the water in the mine below. Water was heated in the boiler chamber until its
steam filled the chamber, forcing out any remaining water or air. The valves were then
closed and cold water was sprayed over the chamber. This chilled and condensed the steam
inside to form a vacuum. When the valves were reopened, the vacuum sucked up the water
from the mine, and the process could then be repeated.

A few years later, an English engineer named Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) improved
the steam pump. He increased efficiency by setting a moving piston inside a cylinder, a
technique still in use today. A cylinder - a long, thin, closed chamber separate from the
boiler - replaced the large, open boiler chamber. A piston - a sliding piece that fits in the
cylinder - was used to create motion instead of a vacuum. Steam filled the cylinder from an
open valve. When filled, the cylinder was sprayed with water, causing the steam inside to
condense into water and create a partial vacuum. The pressure of the outside air then forced
the piston down, producing a power stroke. The piston was connected to a beam, which was
connected to a water pump at the bottom of the mine by a pump-rod. Through these
connections, the movement of the piston caused the water pump to suck up the water.

The most important improvement in steam engine design was brought about by the
Scottish engineer James Watt (1736-1819). He set out to improve the performance of
Newcomen's engine and by 1769 had arrived at the conclusion: if the steam were condensed
separately from the cylinder, the cylinder could always be kept hot. That year he introduced
the design of a steam engine that had a separate condenser and sealed cylinders. Since this
kept the heating and cooling processes separate, his machine could work constantly,
without any long pause at each cycle to reheat the cylinder. Watt's refined steam engine
design 

used one-third less fuel than a comparable Newcomen engine.

Over the next 15 years, Watt continued to improve his engine and made three significant
additions. He introduced the centrifugal governor, a device that could control steam output
and engine speed. He made the engine double-acting by allowing steam to enter alternately
on either side of the piston. This allowed the engine to work rapidly and deliver power on the
downward and upward piston stroke. Most important, he attached a flywheel to the engine.

Flywheels allow the engine to run more smoothly by creating a more constant load, and
they convert the conventional back-and-forth power stroke into a circular (rotary) motion
that can be adapted more readily to power machinery. By 1790, Watt's improved steam
engine offered a powerful, reliable power source that could be located almost anywhere. It
was used to pump bellows for blast furnaces, to power huge hammers for shaping and
strengthening forged metals, and to turn machinery at textile mills. More than anything, it
was Watt's steam engine that speeded up the Industrial Revolution both in England and the
rest of the world.

Steam was successfully adapted to powerboats in 1802 and railways in 1829. Later, some
of the first automobiles were powered by steam. In the 1880s, the English engineer Charles
A. Parsons (1854-1931) produced the first steam turbine, a new steam technology that was
more efficient and which enabled the steam engine to evolve into a highly sophisticated and
powerful engine that propelled huge ships and ran turbo generators that supplied electricity.

Once the dominant power source, steam engines eventually declined in popularity as
other power sources became available. Although there were more than 60,000 steam cars
made in the United States between 1897 and 1927, the steam engine eventually gave way to
the internal combustion engine as a power source for vehicles.

Questions 1-7

Match each statement with the correct person A-D.

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

A Thomas Savery

B Thomas Newcomen

C James Watt

D Charles A. Parsons

1 His invention was the first to use moving parts. B

2 His invention allowed steam power to be converted into electric power. C

3 His invention was the single biggest step in development. C

4 His invention was a simple solution to an industrial problem. A

5 His invention was the first continuous power source. C

6 His invention first used a method people still use now. B

7 His invention allowed a much greater degree of control. C

Questions 8-12
Complete the flow chart below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The Miner's Friend used condensed steam to form a vacuum, which sucked water
from mines.

Design improved: Newcomen increase efiiciency using a piston and cylinder instead

of an open boiler.

1769: separating heating and cooling processes meant no ……………  between power

strokes.

Further development: became easier to  ……………. through the use of the flywheel.

Nineteenth century: steam power …………….. for use in various means of transport.

GLOSARY
Concerning: En relacion con
Such:Tal
Benefits: Beneficios
occurs: Ocurre
sense: Sentido
larger: Mas grande
emphasis: Enfasis
becoming: Convirtiendose
phases: Fases
quickly: Rapidamente
delivery: Entrega
traits: Rasgos