Verification is an essential aspect of systems engineering. Verification activities provide evidence that the system under development does what it was anticipated to do. In many engineering programs, verification activities provide evidence of contractual fulfillment. In fact, a major financial portion of system development is spent towards designing and executing a verification strategy. However, the design of verification strategies in current practice is often prescribed by standards and driven by good practices and gut feeling. Quantitative approaches to design verification strategies could yield significant improvement to their effectiveness and coverage. Understanding how verification contributes to system value is necessary to enable such transformation. In this seminar, a theoretical framework of verification that is consistent with practice and underpins quantitative design methods will be presented. Five key aspects will be discussed: the meaning of verification from an epistemological standpoint; the representation of verification within a mathematical framework of system development; the coupled nature of the value of verification activities; the impossibility of objectively valuing verification; and challenges to find optimal verification strategies in practice.

Bio:
Alejandro Salado is an assistant professor of systems science and systems engineering with the Grado Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on unveiling the scientific foundations of systems engineering and using them to significantly improve systems engineering practice. Furthermore, he is piloting disruptive educational approaches to educate the next generation of systems engineers. He is also pioneering intersecting the domains of artistic endeavors and systems engineering.

Before joining academia, Alejandro spent more than ten years in the space industry in Europe. He started his career as an intern with the European Space Agency and was later employed as a systems engineer for OHB System AG and EADS Astrium GmbH, both in Germany. He has been exposed to every system life cycle phase and his efforts have contributed to the success of several manned and unmanned space systems, including satellites of the European global positioning system (Galileo).

Among others, Salado received the CSER2015 Best Academic Paper award in 2015, the Fabrycky-Blanchard Award for Systems Engineering Research, the Fulbright International Science and Technology Award in 2010, and a team World Record Guinness in 2009 for the longest manmade structure ever deployed in space with the YES2 project.

Dr. Salado holds a BSc/MSc in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, an MSc in project management and an M.Sc. in electronics engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the SpaceTech MEng in space systems engineering from the Delft University of Technology, and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology.