Rob Reilink

Electrical Engineering and earned a Ph.D. in Medical Robotics.

Agile approaches to systems engineering, Rigorous enough for engineers, adaptive enough for reality

Bio.
Rob Reilink studied Electrical Engineering and earned a Ph.D. in Medical Robotics. Over the course of his career, he has worked as a systems engineer in high-tech systems, industrial systems, 3D printing, medical devices and defense applications. His interest in engineering methodologies has led him to explore a variety of systems engineering approaches, including agile practices, for which he has been trained as a SAFe Product Owner. He is currently a systems architect at DEMCON Defense & Security Systems.

Abstract.

Software engineering largely abandoned purely sequential development years ago in favor of agile ways of working. In contrast, systems and hardware engineering are still predominantly taught and practiced through the sequential V-model. Yet anyone involved in developing complex systems knows that reality rarely follows a straight path from requirements to verification.

As requirements evolve, designs mature, and new insights emerge during development, iteration becomes unavoidable. Rather than resisting this reality, can systems engineering benefit from embracing it?

I will share from my experience real examples where agile principles have strengthened systems engineering practices. I will discuss where software and systems development fundamentally differ, why simply adopting software agile methods does not work, and how organizations can adapt agile concepts to address the unique challenges of engineering physical and multidisciplinary systems.