Development and Research Trends in Global Communications

7.4.3 Some Early History of Systems Engineering – 1950's in IRE Publications (Part 1): The Problem

“…There is a strong thread of realization that reliability is inversely related to the ambitiousness and sophistication of the proposed product system, both of which were often introduced by design engineers seeking to make the most advanced product possible (Savant & Hansen, 1957). Several approaches to the solution of the reliability problem were suggested including to "design and make the most simple version of the necessary complex system" that is possible (Clement, 1954), the use of standardized equipment enabling the application of mass production methods such as dip soldering which are inherently more reliable than manual small production processes (A. S. Brown, 1953), the use of unitized equipment with a number of components that enables life expectancy matching operational requirements (McGuigan, 1952), development of a reliability budget assigning a reliability demand of each component and equipment item (Crowley, 1958), and the use of mature technologies in reliability critical applications such as military electronics and submarine cables (A. S. Brown, 1953;Gilman, 1954). The criterion of mature technologies excluded the use of transistors from military electronics in the early 1950's (A. S. Brown, 1953).…”