Digital Engineering

Digital engineering is a DoD initiative that will transform the way the DoD designs develops, delivers, operates, and sustains systems. DoD defines digital engineering as an integrated digital approach that uses authoritative sources of system data and models as a continuum across disciplines to support lifecycle activities from concept through disposal.

Digital engineering does not reinvent the wheel, but rather optimizes engineering practices, according to Philomena Zimmerman, DoD’s deputy director of engineering tools and environments. Digital engineering is about using models and computer resources together to do engineering tasks, such as design, analysis, prototyping and experimentation with concepts, she explained. “The easy way to think about it is it’s a lot like a video game world. But in our video-game world, we can do very large concepts, such as moving vehicles around on a battlefield and we can also go into very detailed work, such as [documenting] friction caused by wind flow going over turbine blades,” Zimmerman said. Like an email thread captures information as it is sent to and from recipients, digital engineering allows people to view up-to-date engineering information for a project, in a community-sharing environment. – Air University Article, Sep 2018

Digital Engineering Papers and Presentations

Transforming the Engineering Enterprise: Applications of Digital Engineering and Modular Open Systems Approach, Kristen Baldwin, The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation Special Issue, Feb 2018
Digital Model-based Engineering: Expectations, Prerequisites, and Challenges of Infusion, Jul 2017

Dr. Roper’s Digital Engineering Publications

There is No Spoon

Three Principles of Digital Acquisition

Own, Share, and Furnish the Tech Stack

Warp from Tech Stack to Edge Effortlessly

eCreate Before You Aviate

Air Force Goes All in on Digital Twinning—for Bombs As Well As Planes, Mar 2021

Air Force Guidance for e-Program Designation, 3 May 2021