At the COExperience conference, held May 13-16 in Dallas, TX, Michelle Gilbert, chief engineer at the U.S. Army, and Galen Valentine, senior staff engineer and associate tech fellow at Bell Textron Inc., will present a joint general session. They will highlight how government and industry are introducing model-based acquisition and systems engineering on a major U.S. Army program, especially as it relates to Digital Engineering Strategy (DES) 2018, which envisions a more agile, responsive digital environment.

We spoke to Galen Valentine about model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to get attendees excited for this session.

What is one surprising lesson you’ve learned about MBSE?

Galen Valentine (GV): When looking at how we’ve integrated MBSE and models over the past few years, a surprisingly common theme runs throughout — an assumption of trust. MBSE literature often uses terms that assume trust — “Authority Source of Truth,” for example. But it takes deliberate effort to maintain that trust — effort that goes beyond the model itself to include tools, processes and people.

Why should COE members care about trust?

GV: Models are at the heart of model-based acquisitions. They are the principle means of communicating requirements, architecture and design to all stakeholders. One way of looking at trust is the ability to depend on someone or something. Viewed this way, trusted models can be depended on for conveying accurate information — supporting some of the key benefits of MBSE: information sharing and improved understanding and decision-making.

If trust in a model is important for realizing the benefits of MBSE, how do you maintain it?

GV: Getting and maintaining trust in models requires effort across areas such as tools, processes and people. Stable tools are essential, but no tool is perfect. Having regular working meetings with your tool vendors to quickly address issues and provide expert guidance helps to maintain a stable platform for building models. While tools support construction of models, processes and methods help to define how, and to an extent, what to model. One key element of process is to ensure consistency. Develop processes and methods that drive consistency in how models are built and displayed. Finally, your team should use a common language when talking about the model.

Interested in discovering more about MBSE, and its impact at the U.S. Army? Attend this keynote session at COExperience! This event will bring experts together to reconnect and access transformative education that will help them build skills, increase efficiencies and gain knowledge from May 13-16 in Dallas, Texas. REGISTER TODAY.

Galen Valentine is a senior staff engineer and associate tech fellow for systems engineering at Bell Flight. He draws on decades of experience (and lots of gray hair) in the defense and video game industries to help translate vision into reality. Back in the old days, before UML or SysML, Galen was introduced to modeling in software design. He has journeyed from defense programs like the Multiple Launch Rocket System to a NATO Exercise, Unified Vision 2018, to the latest United States Army aviation program. Since transitioning from software to systems engineering and earning a graduate degree from Georgia Tech in 2017, Galen has dived head-first into Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) at L-3 Harris. Working with thought leaders throughout the corporation to help bootstrap MBSE initiatives, he earned an Enterprise Collaboration Award in 2021. At Bell, Galen collaborates closely with both Bell and customer technical leadership to help make MBSE initiatives successful.