Louis S Wheatcraft

Wheatland Consulting LLC

Traceability has been addressed in the past from the perspective of relationships between the digital artifacts within the data and the information model of the system of interest (SoI) being developed. This paper enhances this view from a project management (PM), systems engineering (SE), and a configuration management (CM) perspective. The paper...

Space systems are complex systems developed to address a defined problem or opportunity, with current trends seeking faster developments within competitively priced budgets. Methods are needed to provide early confidence in the ability of an organization to successfully develop a space system that meets stakeholders' expectations. Addressing integr...

In many organizations, the quality of the individual requirement statements and sets of requirements is often poor, not having the characteristics of well‐formed requirement statements and sets of requirements. Correctness, completeness, consistency, ambiguity, feasibility, implementation, leveling, etc. are common issues. This puts a heavy burden...

Requirements are the language we use to communicate stakeholder needs for a system of interest to developers, designers, builders, coders, testers, and other stakeholders. Increasingly, there is debate about which means (form and media) of communications is best for communicating requirements and sets of requirements. As part of this debate, one me...

This paper proposes an approach to developing and managing textual requirements using a language-based model, that integrates closely with the wider system model. It allows parsed requirement statements to be mapped to the ontology defined within the system model. At the foundation of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) lies the creation of an...

This paper was written from the perspective that requirements, along with all work products (models, designs, documents, diagrams, drawings, etc.) generated during the performance of System Engineering (SE) lifecycle process activities are represented by underlying data and information that must be integrated into a common, integrated dataset. From...

While the concepts of verification and validation are commonplace, in practice the terms are often used interchangeably and the context of their use is not made clear, resulting in the meaning of the concepts frequently being misunderstood. This paper addresses the use of the terms verification and validation and identifies their various meanings i...

This paper was written from the perspective that requirements, along with all work products, models, designs, documents, diagrams, drawings, etc.) generated during the performance of System Engineering (SE) lifecycle process activities are represented by underlying data and information that must be linked together and integrated into a common, inte...

The purpose of a requirement expression is to transform the needs of various entities into a formal language such that the intent is clearly understood by all involved. Although many sources provide definitions of the terms associated with a requirement expression, few contain guidance as to the process of developing a requirement, there are only o...

There are many sources in systems engineering and requirements engineering that use the term “attribute,” but few define the term and fewer actually go into any detail regarding how the attributes might be applied to requirement statements. This paper addresses the inconsistent definition and use of the term as part of the systems engineering and r...

In this paper the authors introduce and expand on a method for organizations to access the maturity of a system concept referred to as Concept Maturity Levels (CMLs). In the first part of the paper, we introduce the benefits and need for organizations to include CMLs in their systems engineering processes. We then go into more detail defining and e...

In this paper I introduce and expand on the need for organizations to address resource margins and reserves at the very beginning of their project. This is especially important for complex systems like establishing a base on Mars to support human exploration and colonization. Resources represent mass that must be delivered to the surface of Mars an...

Note: [Feb 2016] This is an update to this paper which was originally published in 2012. The updates are a result of a maturing of the author's thoughts on the subject and a clearer understanding of what is meant when using the terms " verification " and " validation ". The major change is the addition of a more detailed definition of the terms and...

The purpose of a requirement expression is to communicate clearly the needs of various entities into a formal language such that the intent is clearly understood by all involved: those whose job it is to implement the requirement, those responsible for proving the built system meets the requirement, and those responsible for proving the resulting s...

Requirements have a big impact on project success. Studies show the importance of having a good set of requirements that are clear, complete, correct, and consistent as well as the consequences of not having a good set of requirements. Having poor requirements places projects at risk of significant cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance sh...

A major challenge identified by the General Accounting Office and NASA's Inspector General is a project's inability to fully define project requirements prior to entering into contractual arrangements, placing projects at risk of significant cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls. In 2007, the Constellation Space Suit Element (C...

Some of the biggest problems in developing a system are at an interface. Some of the most critical requirements for every system that we build are interface requirements. Interface requirements cannot be written in a vacuum, both sides must participate. Yet how to write interface requirements is barely covered in the literature – and what is in the...

New technology development is often a mainstay in product development, yet projects responsible for developing products based on new technology frequently are over budget, delivered late, poor in quality, and fail to meet customer and user needs and expectations. Two things that contribute to these problems are: 1) failing to define the product req...

Why is it so difficult for project personnel to deliver a quality product on time and on budget that meets or exceeds their cus- tomer’s expectations? A major contributor to project failure is neglecting to spend time at the beginning of the project on the basics. There are critical activities that must be accomplished and agreed to before writing...