Author: Benjamin Schwartz

Hi, I'm Ben! Growing up I wanted to be an astronaut because it looked fun. Then I watched Apollo 13 and saw that it was the engineers who had the most interesting and challenging roles. At Space Camp I learned about the unique challenges of living and working in space, so I decided to pursue a career in human factors engineering. I have been fortunate to work on many fascinating projects in aviation, military, and commercial systems. I'm proud to make complicated, mission-critical systems easier and more effective to use. I am currently the Director of Human Engineering at Monterey Technologies, a small business providing human engineering services to a variety of commercial and government customers. I support a top-notch team of human factors engineers, user experience designers, and other specialists. We apply agile, user-centered systems engineering to ensure that systems meet stakeholder and mission needs. I'm also involved in STEM education and mentorship through organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), SAE International, Girl Scouts, and local schools. I'm passionate about improving the discipline and practice of systems engineering and particularly the systems engineering specialty of human systems integration (HSI). Through professional societies such as the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), and the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) I have contributed to the development of standards and guidance, presented at conferences, and generally shared my passion for developing mission-capable, highly-usable systems. That's also my objective for Engineering for Humans. Writing this blog helps me think through and organize my thoughts. I also want to bring awareness to the role of human engineering in system development and to foster critical discussion on current industry trends. I'd love to hear from you, you can reach me at benjamin@engineeringforhumans.com.

An Engineering Touchstone to Enable Successful Designs

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 6 April 2019

Successful systems are created by engineers who understand and design to the ultimate objectives of the project. When we lose sight of those objectives we start making design decisions based on the wrong criteria and thus create sub-optimal designs. Scope creep, group think, and simple convenience are frequent causes of this type of variation. An effective design assessment tool is a touchstone by which we can evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing design decisions and keep the focus on the optimal solution.

The Lopsided Hourglass – A Model for Successful Systems Engineering

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 30 March 2019

It is our job as systems engineers to create symmetrical hourglasses. We achieve this through customer intimacy, mission understanding, and good engineering practices.

Using Agile on Traditional Government Contracts

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 23 March 2019

Say you’re standing up a software development team. You really like the agile approach, but your customer didn’t read my previous post about agile contracts. Can you still use agile or are you stuck developing a waterfall-based program plan?

Agile Government Contracts

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 20 March 2019

Agile promises to deliver capabilities to the end user faster and more effectively. Government project offices can realize the benefits, but must carefully design their contracts to support the agile approach. A growing body of expertise, lessons learned, and acquisition resources are available to help make it happen.

The Role of the Human Systems Integrator

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 1 March 2019

This article is required reading for anyone who needs to hire, wants to become, or is going to be working with an HSI expert. Understand what the job entails, the key skills required, and how it relates to the rest of the systems engineering effort.

The Value of HSI

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 23 February 2019

HSI is a natural part of the systems engineering process. It adds minimal up-front cost for significant benefits and cost savings. Optimizing the system for performance and lifecycle cost benefits the customer. Ensuring early consideration of HSI factors reduces the risk of costly rework to the contractor. Delivering a system which is mission effective with reasonable lifecycle costs benefits everyone.

Is Human Systems Integration Different from Human Factors Engineering?

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 22 February 2019

DoD acquisition policy requires Human Systems Integration (HSI). Various human-centered engineering approaches are also gaining traction outside of military projects. But is HSI just a fancier way of saying Human Factors Engineering (HFE)?

Human Systems Integration: The Basics

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 17 February 2019

Human systems integration (HSI) is a systems engineering function with the goal of optimizing system performance and cost across the entire system lifecycle. It ensures that the human elements of the system are given at least as much consideration as any other component across the entire project. HSI is a relatively new and often misunderstood term. Here are the basics.

Why you should use a writing coach (even if you’re already a good writer)

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 13 January 2019

The university writing center is an undervalued resource. Most students, especially those in technical fields, don’t bother to use it because they get decent grades on their own. Don’t make the same mistake as your fellow students! Using a coach can save you time and stress while improving your writing skills. It’s free!

Materiel

By Benjamin Schwartz Posted on 10 January 2019

When proofing a document with the word “materiel”, you will look like an idiot if you replace every instance with “material”. Find out exactly what it means and how it affects systems engineering practice.