Digital Engineering (DE) is typically viewed from the perspective engineers interacting with and integrating each other’s models with little thought regarding the infrastructure enabling that collaboration. This presentation approaches Digital Engineering from the perspective of the Information Technology (IT) capabilities required to enable a robust DE experience while at the same time follow tried and true methods from Systems Engineering. I start with how to capture stakeholder needs from an IT perspective allowing the selection of a proper architectures: solution architecture (point to point, federated point to point, hub & spoke, etc.); identifying a supporting data architecture (data migration, data virtualization); and underlying infrastructure architecture (on prem, cloud, Software as a Service, hybrid). Additionally I’ll discuss how IT change and configuration management, integrated regression testing of IT tools, and enclaves impact the IT architectures and implementations. Extended topics include bridging the IT implementations from the design side to manufacturing sides of the house, and how to include environmental considerations for working with teaming partners and subcontractors. At the end of the session participants will be able to actively discuss how their digital engineering environments are designed to support the business objectives of their organization.

Speaker Biography

Ken Ernstein is currently a Systems Engineer and Solution Architect at General Dynamics Mission Systems. With over 30 years of experience in modeling and systems design, across multiple industries, he has spent the last 6 integrating digital engineering at the program and enterprise levels of the organization. His current focus is ensuring the IT reference architecture and infrastructure meet the current and future demands for the digital engineering ecosystem.