Blog

MySQL (Oracle) databases are widely used in the engineering world to store libraries of components that may be used across many diverse projects. This information is very useful for system engineers composing system architecture models (e.g. in SysML) from reusable building block library elements. A simple import of data is not enough to ensure that values of

Excel tables are small, inexpensive databases that are easy to modify for small teams of engineers, and which may contain libraries of components or tables of functions. Many engineering projects utilize tables in Excel that contain much of the same information that is needed by system engineers to model structure and interconnections in SysML. However,

The Martian by Andrew Weir (2014) is a great read and now a hit movie. The astronaut hero and the expert SysML modeler have several things in common. First, they have the ability to take a complex system and adapt and reuse its components to new purposes. Second, both do careful calculations of system performance

The Internet of Things (IoT) holds enormous promise of new capabilities for users and new opportunities for businesses. It also presents enormous challenges to systems engineers. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) potentially provides an efficient way to address those challenges, being holistic, integrated, flexible and object-oriented. To explore this promise, Intercax is preparing a series of

Advanced Model-Based System Engineering MBSE organizations are moving beyond the use of modeling to make “pretty pictures”. SysML parametrics are a way to add spreadsheet-like calculations to descriptive architectural diagrams. And roll-up calculations are among the most common use cases in systems engineering. Starting with a multi-level bill-of-materials or master equipment list, we want to calculate

Modern engineering uses computer models. A model is a simplified representation of a real object or system that captures some limited aspect of it. For example, a CAD model captures its geometry, a simulation model its behavior, and so on. The most effective models combine a graphical representation, which humans can see and understand, with