Written by Luke Humphrey
This is part four of a four part series. Click here to read from the beginning.
The Thrilling Conclusion!
Day 3 – Testing
On the third day, five barriers yet remained before the rescue vehicles could begin operation: Assembly, Integration, Testing, Verification and Validation. The Good Witch described them thusly:
- “Assembly: the process of mechanically bringing together hardware.”
- “Integration: the process of physically and functionally combining components – making sure it all works together.”
- “Testing: a type of verification that is done after assembly and integration.”
- “Verification: the process for determining whether a product fulfils the requirements or specifications established for it.”
- “Validation: the assessment of a planned or delivered system to meet the sponsor's operational need in the most realistic environment achievable.”
“But Good Witch!” cried the grads, “there’s no time for testing! Time is of the essence and elves’ lives are on the line!”
“Very well, my students” answered the Good Witch, “but you must at least write down what happens, that’s the first rule of magic as well as science you know.”
Some of these notes survived the incident and, in fact, we have some of them right here; let’s take a look at how things went for the grads’ prized Tritium airship design:
“The Elfenburg fit in the box snugly and as a result was easy and safe to transport. Discrepancies in engine thrust led to slight banking to the starboard side. The rudder worked well to compensate the banking. Excessive weight in the rear payload caused pitching up of the vehicle and made landing difficult. Some damage occurred on the bay door as unsecured payload weight pushed against it. Reenforcing doors and improving payload storage should be considered. Elves found temperature control box comforting and enjoyed their stay on board. Landing and launching from forest was risky as cross-breezes had a tendency to push the blimp near trees and branches. There was serious concern for the puncture of the outer skin. Buoyant gas should be re-evaluated for safety. The use of Tritium in this test should be reconsidered. Placing the blimp back in the box is difficult as folding of the buoyancy body needs to be very precise.”Credit: "The Isotopes" - Thomas 'Protium' Clayton, Yannik 'Deuterium' Diuedonne, Callum 'Tritium' Steventon, Sami 'Quadium' Bux
All in all, things certainly could have gone worse. The grads checked the performance against each requirement defined on day 1, noting any unresolved issues or modifications that would need to be made on an (Excel-compatible) scroll known as the Matrix of Verification Control.
However, before any modifications could be made, a storm brewed and began to flood the elf village. There was nothing else for it but the send in every rescue vehicle in a last ditch effort to save the elves! Amongst the roiling chaos, the little brightly-robed created were carried, carted, and catapulted across the river with every half-baked rescue vehicle the grads could muster.
“Okay, so maybe we should have tested these things after all” said one of the grads, while calculating the total delta-elf value for the mission “but I think that’s all elves accounted for... one way or another.”
Suddenly, a great bolt of lightning struck down upon the rescue vehicles and sent them sinking to the depths of the fast-rising river.
“And I guess that takes care of decommissioning...” replied the Good Witch - and with a flick and swish of her wand, the grads found themselves being whirled back to their own world unsure if the last three days had really happened, or whether they had dreamt it, or perhaps (just maybe) it had been a conference call all along.
The Grads take an extra level in Systems Engineer!
And there you have it: a tale of long-suffering elves, barely plausible physics with a pinch of faerie dust, and a notion to ponder on the long road home - that maybe the real systems engineering was the friends we made along the way...
On behalf of everyone on the 2020 Graduate Scheme, I’d like to close this article with a big thanks to Jess for writing and delivering the training which was, in a glowing review from Alex Marsh, said to be "The best three-day course on Systems Engineering I've ever had!"
The End
This is part four of a four part series. Thanks for reading!
