Bas Van der Leeuw

Systems Engineering Professional

System-of-Systems Modelling: Two real-world applications

Bio.
Bas van der Leeuw is a systems engineering professional with extensive experience in complex, highly regulated system-of-systems environments. He has worked across multiple domains as a system architect, integrator, and MBSE lead. An INCOSE member since 2013, he became a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) in 2016. Since joining TNO in 2023, Bas has focused on developing and applying MBSE approaches for the high-tech industry and energy sector, while also researching the challenges of Digital Engineering transformations. His work emphasises the practical value of Systems Engineering: not as a goal in itself, but as an integrating discipline that connects domain experts, project leaders, and decision makers to support balanced decision-making around complex societal and technological challenges.

Abstract.

Many contemporary challenges manifest at the level of
missions and operations rather than isolated systems.
Achieving desired outcomes, such as military effectiveness
or the reliable and resilient delivery of energy, depends
on the collective behavior of multiple, independently
governed systems. These challenges are shaped by strong
interdependencies, non-linear effects, and evolving
stakeholder objectives. As systems become increasingly
digital, interconnected, and software-intensive,
traditional system-centric engineering approaches provide
limited insight into cross-system impacts and emergent
behavior. A structured, mission- or context-oriented
perspective is therefore essential to understand, reason
about, and influence outcomes at system-of-systems level.

In the defense domain, this need is addressed through
Mission Engineering, which treats the mission as the
primary object of engineering and explicitly links
objectives, operational context, mission threads, and
system capabilities. In our defense application, this
approach is used to analyze the role of the electromagnetic
spectrum (EMS) in military operations. Using MBSE, mission
architectures are augmented with EMS-related dependencies
to identify where spectrum congestion and vulnerabilities
are likely to occur, and to assess their impact on overall
mission
success. These insights support a more explicit
understanding of how sensing, communication, and
electromagnetic effects contribute to mission outcomes, and
can be leveraged to mature mission concepts, inform
operational planning, and facilitate structured
collaboration with industry.

In contrast, the energy domain operates in a fundamentally
different governance mode. Here, constituent systems
collaborate, and at times compete, to deliver public and
private services, relying on shared policies, standards,
regulations, and mutual agreements rather than centralized
control. In this domain, we apply context modelling. While
closely related to Mission Engineering, context modelling
emphasizes system interrelations and the effects of
interventions. It supports stakeholders such as asset
managers and policy makers in anticipating the outcomes of
their actions, particularly in long-term and complex
challenges such as energy transition.

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) provides a common
digital backbone for both
approaches. By supporting consistent abstractions, clearly
defined assumptions, and traceability between objectives,
system behavior, and performance, MBSE enhances analytical
rigor and facilitates simulation-based analysis.

This presentation is a collaboration between TNO Units
Defense, Safety & Security (DSS) and ICT, Strategy & Policy
(ISP), and introduces the application of Mission
Engineering and Context Modelling through real-world
examples in two domains: Defense and Energy. The Defense
case illustrates Mission Engineering in a directed
system-of-systems environment, focused on mission
effectiveness under centralized command. The Energy case
demonstrates context modelling in an acknowledged
system-of-systems setting, where distributed ownership and
governance shape both analysis and decision-making for
interventions. By applying a shared MBSE foundation across
both domains, we highlight common principles as well as
domain-specific adaptations.