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S. Ugurlu, D. Gerhard, S. Bougain, C. Nigischer:
"Application Of Model Based Systems Engineering In Austrian Vocational Schools";
in: "Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE16), Design Education: Collaboration and Cross-Disciplinarity, Aalborg, Denmark, 8th-9th September 2016", 83; issued by: Design Society; Design Society, Design Society (2016), 2016, ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9, 89 - 94.

Due to the rapid growth of technical complexity in modern products and shortened product life cycles, product development has become increasingly complex. More and more people with different backgrounds and skills are involved in the process to develop a system catalysing each different domain involved. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a method to overcome the difficulty of such a complex process. Yet, because of the lack of practice of such a new method, this research aims to induce young technical students to use MBSE tools and approaches to generate a functional product model on an abstract level following the stated customer needs, before starting concrete mechanical, electrical or software engineering activities. It is divided in three points. First, research is leveraging knowledge
about MBSE to the four involved Austrian vocational schools participating in the project. Furthermore, research focuses on installing and connecting the different Austrian partner schools with a software solution in order to enhance a collaborative working experience. The last point of this research is to analyse the application of MBSE in those five partner schools. At the end of the project, interviews will be conducted with the students in order to analyse the acceptance of the MBSE methods and its usage. In order to do so, specific interviews will be developed. Furthermore, feedback from the young students and also their teachers during the practical workshops reveals difficulties with the handling of MBSE methods and tools and gives the chance to adapt teaching materials for easier understanding.

Due to the rapid growth of technical complexity in modern products and shortened product life cycles, product development has become increasingly complex. More and more people with different backgrounds and skills are involved in the process to develop a system catalysing each different domain involved. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a method to overcome the difficulty of such a complex process. Yet, because of the lack of practice of such a new method, this research aims to induce young technical students to use MBSE tools and approaches to generate a functional product model on an abstract level following the stated customer needs, before starting concrete mechanical, electrical or software engineering activities. It is divided in three points. First, research is leveraging knowledge
about MBSE to the four involved Austrian vocational schools participating in the project. Furthermore, research focuses on installing and connecting the different Austrian partner schools with a software solution in order to enhance a collaborative working experience. The last point of this research is to analyse the application of MBSE in those five partner schools. At the end of the project, interviews will be conducted with the students in order to analyse the acceptance of the MBSE methods and its usage. In order to do so, specific interviews will be developed. Furthermore, feedback from the young students and also their teachers during the practical workshops reveals difficulties with the handling of MBSE methods and tools and gives the chance to adapt teaching materials for easier understanding.

MBSE; Systems Engineering; Product Development; Complexity; V model