Menu handler

System Engineer Role in Automotive.

If you think about car… is it complicated? Chassy, wheels, engine, gearbox, stereo, air condition and you’re good to go. Well, cars are not so simple anymore. Automotive business evolved, and cars are no longer only about driving, it’s about how you spend you’re time during driving and of course – safety.

Embedded Systems in the Automotive Industry are one of the most challenging and complicated things you can do today in the so-called „IT world”. People who work in this business need to create product that is safe, reliable and also has to meet the requirements for modern in-vehicle equipment.

From this article you will know:

  1. Systems Engineer – who?
  2. What exactly Systems Engineer do in Automotive?
  3. How to become a Systems engineer.

Projects in automotive

Projects in Automotive are very multi-dimensional and complex, the complexity of the projects is a result of the complexity of modern cars itself, which differs from cars from 10-20 years ago. The progress was mainly about increasing safety, but also adding technology and upgrading multimedia. Does that mean that older cars weren’t safe? They were, but this was only passive safety. Passive safety means equipment that works during or after the crash. Modern cars have active safety systems, that should prevent the crash.

You could ask yourself – is that technology complicated? In a word: VERY! In a modern car, you could find almost 3 kilometers of different wires.

Endego wire harness project
Modern car wiring

The technology used in modern cars is intended, among other things, to protect the driver, passengers and even pedestrians (actively and passively), ensure the highest comfort of travel and provide entertainment, i.e. simply make traveling pleasant and not boring, even if nothing is interesting outside the window.

Systems Engineer – who?

First of all, I should start by explaining the difference in responsibilities for this role between the IT and automotive industries. If you are not aware of this difference, you will be in for quite a surprise during the job interview.

In IT the duties of a Systems Engineer are:

  • manage and monitor all installed infrastructure systems
  • installing, testing, configuring, and maintaining operating systems, application software and system management tools
  • analyzing and designing process automation, e.g. using C # and Microsoft .NET Framework and various system APIs

The tasks above are significantly different from the duties of a Systems Engineer in Automotive. If you would ask us, we would say they are closer to Software Engineer.

So, is there a role in IT for a System Engineer? Yes! The closest role would be Business Analyst.

Systems Engineer in automotive

It’s not that easy to find a clear, simple definition of Systems Engineer responsibilities.
A systems engineer is a bit of an “all-rounder” – for everything and for everyone. Often, due to the project’s characteristics, two Systems Engineers with five years of experience may have completely different knowledge and experience.

In Automotive Systems Engineer is mainly responsible for:

  • requirements database management
  • analysis of customer requirements
  • agreeing/defining requirements with the client
  • writing system requirements
  • supporting the creation of system architecture or just the creation  of system architecture
  • ensuring compliance with the ASPICE process (in the context of the system part)
  • support for other engineering competencies for which system requirements are input documents

One of the key tasks of a System Engineer is to create and maintain a requirements database, i.e. a set of documents with the client’s vision regarding how the product should look and work, but also which norms and standards the product should meet. Documentation may take different forms depending on the client.

Requirements from the customer included in the documentation are reviewed and assigned to a given competence (e.g. mechanical, validation, software, tests, electrical) and then further reviewed by the previously assigned competencies.

Requirements review is a cyclical process, it is a rare or rather impossible scenario when all issues included in the customer’s requirements are clear to engineers. Many questions / open points arise at the stage of requirements review. The task of the Systems Engineer is to fill in the gaps and clarify unclear issues. Then the cycle repeats itself until each requirement is understood, and we know exactly how to implement it and how to test it.

It’s not always as simple as it may seem. It is the responsibility of the system engineer to ensure the periodicity of the requirements review process.

A useful thing for a Systems Engineer is well-developed soft skills, he needs to be able to get along easily with people. It’s useful not only during the requirements review process mentioned above but also during negotiations with the customer. The Systems Engineer is most often the interface connecting the client’s vision with other engineers in the project.

It often happens that during the analysis of customer requirements, it is necessary to get support from other competencies that specialize in a given field (e.g. Software, Mechanical, Electrical, Validation). Then, the review and analysis of the customer’s requirements takes place in a group of engineers, but the Systems Engineer is responsible for the negotiation and clarification of requirements with the customer.

For example:

  • We are able to perform the operation on a given processor, but it can be done in 200 ms and not in 100 ms as it was initially written in the design documentation.
  • Selected materials will withstand 150,000 repetition cycles during validation tests and not the 200,000 cycles specified in the requirements.

Sometimes it happens that the customer expects things that are impossible to implement within the budget or equipment set for a given project, but he’s completely unaware of it. In such a situation, well-developed soft skills should come in handy again, because the Systems Engineer, as the first line of contact, should clarify this issue with the client.

Quality

Another aspect of the Systems Engineer’s responsibilities is ensuring the quality of a product. Quality in the form of creating project documentation in accordance with the norms and standards applicable in the automotive industry (e.g. ASPICE). Here, support from quality engineers is extremely important, close cooperation with “quality” is crucial to embrace the appropriate strategy and creating documentation to meet the required processes.

Are these all the duties of a Systems Engineer in the automotive industry? Of course not, and often the scale of responsibilities is much greater than what is described above, the rest can be included in the term “cooperation with other engineering competencies” and depends mainly on the characteristics of the project being implemented or even depends on the customer for whom the project is being implemented.

Systems Engineer is often responsible for topics such as:

  • Cooperation with the production factory
  • Performing the so-called production releases
  • Memory map definition for each production release
  • Supporting system tests
  • Work on improving the product
  • Participation in quotations for new projects
  • Carrying out measurement tests
  • Conducting technical workshops with the client and sub-suppliers
  • Participation in product design
  • Different researches on the market for product optimization or product legalization

Of course, these are not all the activities and responsibilities performed by the Systems Engineer role. For example, a project based on a camera to monitor the interior of a vehicle will require a lot of recordings for neural network training and testing.  In another project, e.g. Body Computer, the system specialist will only deal with requirements, documentation and process.

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, a Systems Engineer has been required to have knowledge of Functional Safety and Cybersecurity, at least at a basic level, despite the fact that domain specialists are employed to cover these issues in the project. It should also be noted that during the AGILE transformation of the automotive industry, it is increasingly often the system specialist who serves as the Product Owner/Function Owner.

Just how wide a spectrum of responsibilities can be covered by a Systems Engineer? Given the current scale of the diversity of projects carried out to build electronics for cars, it is difficult to say, because the number of electronic components in cars is constantly growing and each of them may have a completely different character of the project and, consequently, a completely different scope of responsibilities for the Systems Engineer. Just look at the graphic below to understand the scale of technological advancement of the modern car.

Example of embedded systems in modern car

How to become Systems Engineer?

There are many possibilities, some people with experience in the industry decide to change their career and choose the path of a Systems Engineer – most often they are testers or software engineers, but they can also be quality engineers etc.

Several years of experience and a good understanding of the automotive industry make it easier to fit into the role of a Systems Engineer. A good introduction to the role of a system specialist is the position of a Requirements engineer. The main task of a requirements engineer is to write requirements and conduct reviews of existing requirements. Requirements Engineer is a good introduction to the role of Systems Engineer because the tasks performed in this role partially cover the scope of responsibilities of a systems engineer.

Summary

There are many different roles in the Automotive industry, System engineering is not the easiest one, it requires knowledge, experience and a good understanding of the business and the principles of the automotive industry. The role of a Systems Engineer is a nice balance between working with documentation and working with people. If you are open to different, often unconventional solutions, can think analytically and like working with people, this is definitely something for you.

You may also be interested in

Could the hydrogen train revolutionize rail transport?

The future of rail transport is inextricably linked to environmentally friendly technologies. According to many experts, hydrogen trains are to become one of the cornerstones of modern railways. How do Polish companies fare in terms of the advancement of work on the application of hydrogen in the railways? Can hydrogen trains revolutionise rail transport in our country and around the world?

Read more

Hydrogen bus – an innovative part of the urban fabric 

The idea of sustainability and a focus on ecology determine the direction in which modern public transport is heading. The hydrogen bus is an innovative means of transport that fits perfectly into the standards that modern public transport should meet. On the streets of Polish and foreign cities, it is increasingly common to see these low-emission vehicles, which not only quickly become a functional element of public transport, but also provide a range of benefits in other areas, including contributing to improved air quality in the locality. Along with their electric counterparts, hydrogen buses are expected to become an integral part of the urban landscape within the next few years. What makes such high hopes for them?

Read more

What modern car safety systems are worth looking out for?

Over the years, the industrial design of cars has involved the addition of safety systems designed to provide an even higher level of protection for users and other road users. Some of these solutions, in line with regulations adopted by the European Commission, are becoming required equipment for new cars in order for them to receive the appropriate type-approval for sale in the European Union. Which modern car safety systems are worth paying particular attention to?

Read more

Newsletter

Drive innovation:
Subscribe for key insights