Overview

The Department of Systems Engineering offers a four-course academic certificate in Systems Engineering Management (SEM) that enables students to apply systems engineering and management in defense acquisition and system lifecycle support. Integrated product development team members work with systems engineers in both technical and management competency areas requiring skills in effective teamwork and communications, statistical operational analysis, lifecycle cost management, system verification and validation, and manufacturing and production. This program is targeted for mid- and upper-level integrated product team members working in or in support of the Defense Acquisition System but has great benefit for all who seek further knowledge in the theory and practice of systems engineering and the implementation of sound systems engineering management principles within an organization.

Courses Required

Requirements for Entry

• Successful completion of System Engineering Certificate (282)

Learning Outcomes

• Understand basics of cost behavior and cost allocation with an emphasis on how cost is used in choosing between alternatives, costs change over the life-cycle of a system, and how cost issues are related to program management. Students will develop life-cycle cost models that incorporate uncertainty into cost estimates and quantify and evaluate cost risk.
• Describe the role of verification and validation (V&V) within systems engineering and throughout the acquisition process, characterize and distinguish the key characteristics of developmental and operational test and evaluation (T&E) as conducted by DoD, and apply statistical tools for evaluating specification compliance and designing experiments. Student will prepare a draft Operational Test input to the Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP) using the Integrated Evaluation Framework (IEF) and demonstrate familiarity with principles and statistical tools of design of experiments (DoE) to develop test scenarios and identify the required resources for tests.
• Describe practical considerations and fundamentals of modeling and simulation (M&S), to include distinctions between live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) simulations and the role of humans in M&S development. Students will create model-based systems engineering (MBSE) compliant system architecture descriptions responsive to capability needs , understand and construct appropriate operational system models and simulations, and conduct M&S assessments appropriate to support system acquisition.
• Understand the principles of production and supply chain management, with emphasis on managing tradeoffs between inventory, production, supply chain, capacity, response time, and variability through mathematical and queueing models.  Students will describe the process of quality control, describe the effect of automation on production, and explain the current state of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base and its ability to support future DoD production requirements to include its ability to surge in times of conflict.

Application Information

Applications are handled by the NPS Admissions Office. Please visit the admissions website or contact them at admissions@nps.edu.

Tuition & Service Obligation

For information regarding tuition, please contact the NPS Tuition office at tuition@nps.edu, or contact this offering’s POC at wowen@nps.edu.

For information regarding service obligation, please visit the Admissions Office’s Eligibility/Service Obligation page.

Other Information

View the Systems Engineering Distance Learning Programs Flyer (PDF 661KB)