11.2.2 Application of Patterns and Pattern Languages to Systems Engineering

On the strength of the reception of the presentation introducing the concepts of patterns and pattern languages (PPL) during the INCOSE symposium in 2003, a tutorial on writing patterns for systems engineering was conducted before the symposium in 2004 and a Systems Engineering Patterns Working Group was formed. This paper builds on the trend and discusses important issues relevant to the application and actual use of PPL by Systems Engineers. These issues include exploration of the alignment of pattern languages to other languages, their structure and the important question of “how shall the SE community use pattern languages?” Once these questions are answered, the INCOSE may find itself poised to introduce an innovative communications technique into the SE community with the application of PPL.