Rethinking and Reframing Engineering. Challenges, Use Cases and the New Model of Advanced Systems Engineering

The world of technology all around us is becoming more and more complex and connected; think of autonomous cars that have to monitor the movement of traffic and people, and power systems that coordinate thousands of solar installations, wind turbines and electric cars. This complexity and connectedness is possible thanks to increasingly powerful mechanical components, microprocessors and smart software that are connected with one another and with control centres via the Internet. More and more experts in various disciplines will be required to work together in the future to develop such complex systems.

But to date a common “technical language” that unites all disciplines has been lacking. This is complicating and slowing down the development of new technologies. Advanced Systems Engineering (ASE) is set to solve this problem in the future, as it aims to develop a common language. Despite the growing complexity, Advanced Systems Engineering will ensure clear communication between experts in different disciplines, enabling them to continue to develop safe and reliable technical systems within a reasonable timeframe.

The aim of the acatech IMPULSE is to communicate the topic of ASE to a wider audience than before. The paper explains in general terms what ASE is and what the engineering challenges are. Use cases illustrate the technical and societal issues to which ASE can provide solutions. Finally, the acatech IMPULSE puts forward possible course of action to widely realise ASE as a collaborative project in Germany.

Recommended citation:
Albers, A. (Hrsg.): Engineering neu denken und gestalten. Herausforderungen, Anwendungsszenarien und das neue Leitbild Advanced Systems Engineering (acatech IMPULS), München 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48669/aca_2023-7