Designing Complex Systems: Final presentation of Systems Engineering Course at BTH
- Post by: Alessandro Bertoni
- 23rd October 2025
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October 22 marked the conclusion of the master’s course MT2574 Systems Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), celebrated with a series of final project presentations. This year, 27 students from the Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology programs, together with a number of international students, took part in the course, which offered an introduction to the principles and practices of systems engineering.
Through a combination of lectures and a small-scale systems engineering project, students explored how to manage and design complex technical systems. Working in teams, they focused on subsystems within three overarching projects centered on systems for bicycle camping and sport training. Each group applied systems engineering methods and tools to define requirements, develop concepts, and integrate their subsystems into a final, coherent system configuration.
A key learning outcome of the course was understanding the core concepts of systems engineering, such as functional analysis, requirements definition, and requirements management. By applying these principles in a hands-on context, students learned how structured engineering methods support the coordination of complex product architectures and ensure that solutions meet stakeholder needs.
“It is difficult to replicate real complexity in a 2-month student project, but we have tried to make students experience firsthand the dynamics and methods of working in complex development projects,” says Professor Alessandro Bertoni, course responsible. “A key aspect has been the construction of cross-disciplinary teams, bringing together students with different backgrounds facing the challenge to collaborate and communicate effectively on a shared system solution.”
The Systems Engineering course is offered annually at the master’s level at BTH and has, over the years, included close collaboration with industry partners. These collaborations provide students with authentic project challenges and professional supervision, bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world engineering practice