Doing systems engineering without thinking about it at NASA Dryden flight research center

When asked about his processes in designing a new airplane, Burt Rutan responded: "...there is always a performance requirement. So I start with the basic physics of an airplane that can get those requirements, and that pretty much sizes an airplane... Then I look at the functionality... And then I try a lot of different configurations to meet that, and then justify one at a time, throwing them out... Typically I'll have several different configurations... But I like to experiment, certainly. I like to see if there are other ways to provide the utility." This kind of thinking-engineering as a total systems engineering approach-is what is being instilled in all engineers at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.