Everything Connected 21 - Future Engineering
Numorpho Cybernetic Systems (NUMO)
Building smart, connected and sustainable products and solutions for tomorrow
"Form follows function" is the mantra for modern making be it in architecture or engineering. The form of an object or structure should be based on its intended function as is evident in modern architecture which strives for a minimalist aesthetic. The phrase was coined by the American architect Louis Sullivan in the late 19th century. Sullivan is often credited with the development of the modern skyscraper:
?“Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling workhorse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change, form does not change. The granite rocks, the ever-brooding hills, remain for ages; the lightning lives, comes into shape, and dies, in a twinkling. It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.”
This phrase is also used in engineering to describe the way that the form of an object should be based on its intended function. For example, in the design of industrial and scientific equipment which often needs to be compact and efficient. This was pioneered by the American engineer and inventor Frederick Winslow Taylor in the early 20th century. Taylor is considered to be the father of modern engineering and his work has had a profound impact on the way that objects are designed and manufactured.
In this article, we will set the basis for engineering the future based on our tenets and approach for the new. We will utilize MVP based agile iterations coupled with the tried and tested waterfall approach that was the bane of systems engineering of the past. We will also incorporate concepts from the Gestalt philosophy where the premise is that the whole is greater and different from the sum of its parts to?design, build, evolve and harmonize?the development of products and solutions in the new construct of Industry 5.0.
Background
The modernist movement in architecture was a response to the ornate and decorative styles of the Victorian era. Sullivan and his contemporaries believed that the form of a structure should be based on its function, not on its ornamentation. This led to the development of the modernist style which is characterized by simple geometric shapes and a minimalist aesthetic. The most famous example of modernist architecture is the International Style which was developed in the 1920s and 1930s. The modernist movement in architecture has had a profound impact on the design of buildings and structures all over the world. The minimalist aesthetic of modernism is now considered to be the standard for modern architecture.
What is Systems Engineering?
At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking principles to organize its body of knowledge. Systems thinking is a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system’s constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems. It is a unique perspective on reality—a perspective that sharpens our awareness of wholes and how the parts within those wholes interrelate. When a system is considered as a combination of system elements, systems thinking acknowledges the primacy of the whole (system) and the primacy of the relation of the interrelationships of the system elements to the whole. Systems thinking occurs through discovery, learning, diagnosis, and dialog that lead to sensing, modeling, and talking about the real-world to better understand, define, and work with systems. A systems thinker knows how systems fit into the larger context of day-to-day life, how they behave, and how to manage them.
In Systems Engineering, the notion of building is an aggregation of parts to compose the product or solution. Waterfall processes are used to ascertain the proper cadence for development where needs and requirements are verified by different levels of testing to finally commission the product for use. Over the last few decades, Agile Development has taken over the rigidity of Waterfall methods to develop and implement in iterations so that a series of MVP solutions can be generated to complete the solution.
But today's solutions are non-linear and Waterfall and Agile methodologies fall short in comprehending the full magnitude of the needs. But today's solutions are non-linear, and Waterfall and Agile methodologies fall short in comprehending the full magnitude of the needs. The Philosophy of Gestalt posits that the whole is greater and different from the sum of its parts. We will utilize its principles of grouping – proximity, similarity, continuity, closure and connectedness – to extend the attributes of function and form to include forces, focus and future as illustrated in our Manifesto Architecture.?
The Vision for the Future
In an HBO documentary titled Engineering the Future, the latest inventions in wind technologies, aviation, fusion, tidal power, marine wind propulsion systems and solar energy are showcased. It depicts how together they are pushing the limits of science using extreme engineering and a synergy with other unrelated domains to effect monumental changes in how we live, work with our planet's resources and be cognizant of our environment.?
Compositions for our future need to be coordinated, flexible and constantly aware of the surroundings - be it for proximity, personalization, privacy, security, cyber threats or other incursions.?In this article we take a leaf out of that series to represent our holistic approach to engineering the future.
Our Tenets
In our Knitting the Cybernetic Fabric and Manifesto, we had articulated a connected framework for composing and blueprinting solutions. In this article, we will compile our forays in defining the future of engineering utilizing our four tenets:
utilizing emergent technologies and connected processes to make, manage, move, market and maintain products and solutions in and for Industry 5.0.
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Thinking outside the box
To build robust and sustainable products every aspect of the design and build needs to be considered – from the materials being used, their properties and availability, the engineering, and how they will be built, sold and serviced.
Although “Elements of Circumstance - Why, Who, What, Where, When and How” correctly paraphrases the go-forward model as prescribed in our Manifesto to ask the right questions and to construct a solution, a systematic approach to validate its consequences is needed to ascertain its success and proper functioning.?
Design,?Build,?Evolve?and?Harmonize?will be the four stepping blocks for the progression that we will utilize that would munge form and functionality with appropriateness, intelligence, flexibility, feasibility and sustainability.
Conclusion
Industry 4.0 is the global industrial revolution that is currently underway. It is characterized by a number of key technological trends, including the rise of cyber-physical systems, the Industrial Internet of Things, and cloud computing. These technologies have enabled companies to digitize their operations and create more intelligent, automated, and interconnected factories. As a result, we are seeing a massive increase in the amount of data being generated in factories. This data is being used to optimize operations, improve quality, and make factories more efficient.
The winds of change are beginning to blow. We need a different mindset to effect change - we should not be afraid to think differently. The old adage of rinse and repeat will no longer be applicable when customers are looking for extreme engineering and customization - characteristics that determine our progression to Industry 5.0 where human-centricity, resilience and sustainability will be the defining factors. We need to start thinking about things differently in order to move forward. We should not be afraid to try new things and think outside the box. We need to be innovative and proactive in order to keep up with the ever-changing industrial landscape.
Founded in Chicago, IL in 2021, NUMO is a company whose vision is to utilize intelligent techniques to build smart, connected, and sustainable products by pushing the edges of engineering, technology, data management, AI, and cybernetics. We will be creating new Ideation techniques, enabling Industry 4.0 (for smart connectivity and robotic automation), and adding to it the Industry 5.0 (human-centric and sustainable products) framework for development, build and commercialization.
REFERENCES
For more information, please contact:
NI+IN UCHIL, Founder & CEO
Nitin is a Strategic Thinker, Product Engineer, Enterprise Architect, Technical Evangelist and Digital Transformer with 20+ years of experience in advanced technologies (aerospace & defense), product lifecycle management and knowledge-based engineering (automotive), business process redesign (manufacturing, telecom, compliance), ecommerce, analytics, data mining, front-end experience-driven design and digital architecture (retail, CPG, high-tech electronics, finance, insurance, food, media & entertainment and hospitality). More recently he has been creating a framework to enable the articulation of Big Data and Analytics using a themed, pragmatic and structured methodology.
Currently as founder, CEO and Technical Evangelist at Numorpho Cybernetic Systems, he is involved in theming the meld between the Physical and the Digital Realms and formulating the architecture for Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0 and creating smart and connected products and services.
Nitin has founded several successful companies, in past lives worked as a Principal Director in a large Consulting Company and in the Aerospace and Automotive domains. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi.?