Last semester I used CATIA Magic / Cameo Systems Modeler (MSOSA 2026x) in an undergraduate systems engineering course focused on Model-Based Reliability Engineering. The course included a semester long modeling project to directly apply the course material to real SE processes.
A major part of the work was adapting a MagicGrid-style framework to incorporate reliability and risk analysis directly into the system model. The goal was to support more risk-informed decision making earlier in the design process instead of treating reliability as a separate downstream activity.
Some of the modeling work included:
System Architecture Capture
Functional Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Safety and Reliability Requirements Derivation and Traceability Through VV&A
Risk Driven Design
The system I modeled with my amazing teammate Katie Kinney was a Martian food production facility as a part of a Mars mission system of systems. The food production facility is responsible for providing the proper environment and resources necessary for the crew to grow enough food throughout a 3-year mission.
From this project, I’ve gained a much better understanding of how MBSE tools can connect architecture, requirements, and reliability engineering into a single modeling environment rather than relying on disconnected documents and spreadsheets. I also learned the importance of reliability and risk analysis in the early stages of system development. This project has also helped me work towards a systems engineering minor and strengthen my understanding of the right side of the systems engineering V.
A huge thanks to @KM and Dassault Systemes for helping provide our school with access to the software and making this experience possible. And a shoutout to my incredible SE professor, @KW, who has given me invaluable undergraduate MBSE experience and helped me to learn and grow as a young systems engineer.
A few of the diagrams created over the course of the semester are showcased below. While we modeled throughout the system, subsystem, and component levels, most of the diagrams shown will be for the Grow Lights, a component of the Lighting Subsystem.
