Talking Aerospace Today Evolving Beyond MBSE to Tackle Aerospace Complexity – The Future of Systems Engineering Ep. 1
Aug 1, 2025
Todd Tuthill, Vice President of Aerospace, Defense, and Marine at Siemens, and Dale Tutt, VP of Industry Strategy at Siemens, dive into transforming systems engineering in aerospace. They discuss the rapid innovation in the space sector, highlighted by startups like SpaceX. Todd explores the historical roots of systems engineering from the Apollo era and emphasizes the critical need for evolution beyond model-based approaches. The conversation touches on breaking down silos and the importance of integration across disciplines to meet modern challenges.
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MBSE's Original Limits Exposed
- MBSE as originally practiced focused narrowly on single models and has not delivered full cross-domain integration.
- Modern aerospace demands broader digital systems engineering connecting many models and tools across domains.
Apollo Program Sparked Systems Engineering
- Todd traces systems engineering origins to the Apollo program and the need to integrate many engineering disciplines.
- He explains systems engineering emerged to decompose complexity and then reassemble designs to achieve a shared purpose.
Silos Cause Integration Failures
- Siloed discipline design creates integration failures when components must interoperate.
- Systems engineering must enable cross-discipline communication, a single source of truth, and shared purpose to avoid costly mismatches.