Engineering change; or is it change engineering? A personal perspective

The author illustrates the way in which a knowledge of ´hard´ systems can be utilized to plan and manage change in ´soft´ systems. Many analogues may be used to ´engineer´ change effectively, including system simplification techniques, aggregation, input/output analysis, feedforward/feedback controls, periodicity, sampling and determination of important signals in conditions of poor SNR scenarios. It is further argued that this discipline of ´change engineering´, which is common to many walks of life, is naturally related to systems engineering concepts. Thus the graduate engineer who possesses a working knowledge of these concepts will be in demand in a wide range of professions. Thus the ´leakage´ of good engineering graduates into commerce, line management, consultancy, etc. may be a tribute to their lateral education as much as criticism of technology orientated employers failing to offer suitable challenges and rewards.