Photo By Joseph Bullinger | 250317-N-GB257-1001 N. Charleston, SC (March 17, 2025) Naval Information Warfare...... read more read more
CHARLESTON, SC – The Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Program recently held a graduation ceremony that elevated the program from a technical focus area (TFA) to a core proficiency.
MBSE is the second of the command’s eight TFAs to achieve this notable milestone, which signals NIWC Atlantic's multi-faceted growth in advancing systems engineering practices through innovation, workforce development, MBSE tool adoption, and several other vectors. This massive growth improves NIWC Atlantic's delivery of capabilities and serves as a key engineering transformation driver for all of DON.
MBSE allows engineers and leaders to better understand and assess complex choices, automate requirements traceability to achieve design satisfaction and support timely decision-making through integration, automation, visualization and high-performance computing. The capabilities have improved innovation and fostered the rapid completion of technical projects across NIWC Atlantic, NAVWAR and DoD.
NAVWAR Assistant Chief Engineer Nick Frieje applauded the team for changing the acquisition process.
“We’re moving away from papers — having that model, having that re-use,” he said. “It’s based on your input and how you’re driving models in the use of MBSE.”
The NIWC Atlantic MBSE Program started in 2017 with a small team of engineers focused on ways to innovate constantly, transform the organization, prioritize things that were important and deliver to the workforce, said David Smoak, NIWC Atlantic senior scientific technical manager for system of systems engineering.
“When the program first started, there was only one team doing mission engineering,” he said. “Now, almost 70 percent of the organization is doing some level of digital engineering and some type of model-based engineering, across the board.”
Dozens of MBSE success stories have accumulated over the years. In the case of military construction, lessons learned have not only helped the team look at projects from architectural and physical angles but also from the perspective of systems ultimately satisfying stakeholder needs.
“To look at what we would call the ‘system of systems’ configuration of a building, one of the biggest wins is that it’s extremely cost- and time –effective, because working within a model allows you to go much faster,” said Ashlyn Hanrahan, NIWC Atlantic systems engineer and modeling lead for the Command and Operations Center Division
“If you make a change in one place, that change is going to occur anywhere that piece occurs anywhere in your model,” Hanrahan added.
Paul Walter, NIWC Atlantic MBSE team lead, said as the MBSE Program continues to grow, his team is looking at ways to foster innovation. “Digital Engineering Challenge events are held to allow us to generate solutions to complex problems and create a learning experience for our workforce to explore model-based approaches to real-time problems,” he said.
Walter explained teams have innovated across all forms of digital engineering — MBSE, virtual and augmented reality, 3D modeling, 3D scanning, mission engineering, model-based logistics engineering, and various forms of physics-based modeling and simulation.
“We have also seen teams innovate by integrating digital engineering with other TFAs, including AI, Cybersecurity, Assured Communications, DevSecOps, Mobility, and On-Demand Manufacturing,” Walter said. "Such practices ensure NIWC Atlantic is providing what the warfighter and the Navy need through mission engineering,” he added.
About NIWC Atlantic
As a part of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information technology capabilities.
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| Date Taken: | 05.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2025 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 498372 |
| Location: | CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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