Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)
Department
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Committee Chair
Bryan Mesmer
Committee Member
Kristin Weger
Committee Member
Hanumanthrao Kannan
Research Advisor
Bryan Mesmer
Subject(s)
Engineering personnel--Classification, Engineering personnel--Job descriptions, Systems engineering--Management
Abstract
The roles of a systems architect (SA), systems designer (SD), and systems engineer (SE) often work together to develop systems, especially as the scale and complexity of engineered systems increase. However, management of these roles can result in ambiguity of task assignments and may reduce accountability for deliverables. Furthermore, there are few published works examining the roles of SAs, SDs, and SEs collectively. This research explores perceptions of the similarities and differences between the roles of SAs, SDs, and SEs by conducting a systematic literature review of 57 sources containing 1064 quotes in addition to a thematic content analysis, analyzed based on the perceived tasks, relationships, qualifications, job titles, and deliverables of these roles. The findings show that there is inconsistent understanding of the roles in literature, possibly stemming from an overlap in the distinct roles, a lack of distinction between the roles themselves, or ambiguous terminology surrounding these roles.
Recommended Citation
Campo, Kelly X., "Comparing role differences among systems architects, systems designers, and systems engineers" (2025). Theses. 765.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/765