2
Engineering Systems Integration
causal relations to other objects through the interactions of EMMI. This
notion suggests that no physical object is isolated from other physical objects.
Intellectual objects are entities by reason or principle. Physical objects have
boundaries, and intellectual objects have justification, motive, impetus, and
explanation. Humans, buildings, ships, factories, chairs, trees, and molecules
are physical objects. A software code or algorithm that drives a scanner or is
the command to print is an intellectual object embodied in physical objects.
Objects are covered in more detail in Chapters 2 through 4.
In its own right, integration stands head-to-head with discovery, application, and teaching (Green 2008). Whether for academics or for anyone in society (regardless of role), integration (along with discovery, application, and
teaching) is the key determinate of success in everyday life. Here we distinguish between integration and interaction, with integration providing adoption of ideas and causal changes in being in contrast to interaction which
offers only the potential for integration. Emphasis may change with role, but
both interaction and integration are essential. Everyone discovers and learns;
everyone applies what they learn and some teach others; and everyone integrates data and information to discover and apply what they know.
Fundamentally, integration is a method* that facilitates outcomes that are
beyond what an individual object can do either individually or by a number
of objects acting independently, that is, makes things happen that would
otherwise not happen. The whole is crucially greater than the sum of its parts.
Integration makes things happen faster than with individual, interacting
objects. Individual objects are presumably optimized for their particular
needs. Transferring EMMI between individual objects that are not optimized
for such transfer will have nonoptimum transfer compared to a system that is
structured for passing EMMI. This is not to say that all paths in the integrated
whole are optimized compared to that of individual objects. Rather, those
paths that are optimized will outperform objects that are independent, but
merely interacting. An example of this independence is a team working to
complete a task versus individuals competing with a team. A few individuals
may outperform a team in many respects, but a team’s performance will in
general exceed that of any one individual. Integration provides an efficiency
of operation that reduces the overall EMMI required to perform various tasks
(assuming the task were even achievable by the individual objects). A team’s
effort takes less energy than individuals working as individuals. Consider a
sports team playing against a group of individuals. The sports team will have
practiced together and have developed techniques of play that combine to
produce an economy of actions versus that of an individual who must exert
* The logic of integration embodies reasoning greater than acts (the elemental structures of
activities). The enactments of integration reflect more judgment than processes (the aggregative effects of activities). The rationale and coherence of integration is systematic as well as
step-wise logical. As such, integration is a method. However, we refer to integration as a
process throughout the text. The reason reflects the emphasis on the details of implementing
integration (the method) through its various processes.
Engineering Systems Integration
causal relations to other objects through the interactions of EMMI. This
notion suggests that no physical object is isolated from other physical objects.
Intellectual objects are entities by reason or principle. Physical objects have
boundaries, and intellectual objects have justification, motive, impetus, and
explanation. Humans, buildings, ships, factories, chairs, trees, and molecules
are physical objects. A software code or algorithm that drives a scanner or is
the command to print is an intellectual object embodied in physical objects.
Objects are covered in more detail in Chapters 2 through 4.
In its own right, integration stands head-to-head with discovery, application, and teaching (Green 2008). Whether for academics or for anyone in society (regardless of role), integration (along with discovery, application, and
teaching) is the key determinate of success in everyday life. Here we distinguish between integration and interaction, with integration providing adoption of ideas and causal changes in being in contrast to interaction which
offers only the potential for integration. Emphasis may change with role, but
both interaction and integration are essential. Everyone discovers and learns;
everyone applies what they learn and some teach others; and everyone integrates data and information to discover and apply what they know.
Fundamentally, integration is a method* that facilitates outcomes that are
beyond what an individual object can do either individually or by a number
of objects acting independently, that is, makes things happen that would
otherwise not happen. The whole is crucially greater than the sum of its parts.
Integration makes things happen faster than with individual, interacting
objects. Individual objects are presumably optimized for their particular
needs. Transferring EMMI between individual objects that are not optimized
for such transfer will have nonoptimum transfer compared to a system that is
structured for passing EMMI. This is not to say that all paths in the integrated
whole are optimized compared to that of individual objects. Rather, those
paths that are optimized will outperform objects that are independent, but
merely interacting. An example of this independence is a team working to
complete a task versus individuals competing with a team. A few individuals
may outperform a team in many respects, but a team’s performance will in
general exceed that of any one individual. Integration provides an efficiency
of operation that reduces the overall EMMI required to perform various tasks
(assuming the task were even achievable by the individual objects). A team’s
effort takes less energy than individuals working as individuals. Consider a
sports team playing against a group of individuals. The sports team will have
practiced together and have developed techniques of play that combine to
produce an economy of actions versus that of an individual who must exert
* The logic of integration embodies reasoning greater than acts (the elemental structures of
activities). The enactments of integration reflect more judgment than processes (the aggregative effects of activities). The rationale and coherence of integration is systematic as well as
step-wise logical. As such, integration is a method. However, we refer to integration as a
process throughout the text. The reason reflects the emphasis on the details of implementing
integration (the method) through its various processes.