NDIA-TVC 2026 MBSE Symposium · Huntsville, AL

Systems Engineering
done with intention
and integration

I'm Thandi Gooden — a systems engineer who connects requirements, behavior, architecture, and compliance into models that the whole product team can actually use.

SysML · Digital Engineering UAF · DoDAF · UPDM Requirements & V&V MOSA Compliance Reference Architecture
Download Slides + Join the List See My Work
Thandi Gooden

Thandi Gooden

Systems Engineer · MBSE Practitioner · OCSMP

Front-End SE MOSA Digital Engineering DoDAF · UAF

My Approach

One team.
One integrated picture.

Great products don't fail in production — they fail when the requirements engineer, the architect, and the test team are all working from different versions of the truth.

My work sits at the intersection of front-end systems engineering disciplines: translating stakeholder needs into structured requirements, capturing behavior in SysML-based models, defining architecture using UAF, DoDAF, and UPDM frameworks, and building verification and validation strategies that trace all the way back to the original intent.

"My ultimate goal is to see these tools fully integrated — so that every member of a product team has the information they need, co-located and accessible, to do their best work in service of the people we build for."

1

Start with stakeholder intent

Requirements that are traceable, testable, and meaningful — not just documented.

2

Model the behavior

SysML activity, sequence, and state models that show what the system actually does.

3

Define the architecture

UAF, DoDAF, and UPDM frameworks aligned to program and acquisition needs.

4

Close the loop with V&V

Verification and validation strategies tied directly to requirements and design decisions.

Areas of Expertise

Front-end systems engineering,
end to end

MOSA is one piece of a larger practice — here's the full picture.

📋

Requirements Development & Management

Translating stakeholder needs into structured, traceable requirements with clear allocation to system elements.

DOORSSysML Req DiagramsTraceability
🔷

SysML Model-Based Systems Engineering

Behavioral models, structural decomposition, and parametric analysis using SysML to capture system design intent.

SysMLActivity DiagramsBDD · IBD
🏛

Architecture Frameworks

Designing and communicating system architectures using UAF, UPDM, and DoDAF — from operational views to system views.

UAFDoDAFUPDM
✅

Verification & Validation

Building V&V strategies that trace back to design intent — ensuring what was specified is what gets built and tested.

V&V PlanningTest TraceabilityCompliance
🛡

MOSA Compliance Assessment

Behavior-led reference architectures and automated validation rules that turn compliance into an active design tool.

MOSAReference ArchVendor Assessment
🔗

Integrated Digital Engineering

Connecting models, tools, and teams so every stakeholder works from a single authoritative source of truth.

Model IntegrationDigital ThreadToolchain

Conference Presentation

From Diagrams
to Decisions

This talk demonstrates MOSA compliance through behavioral reference models — a practical example of integrated digital engineering in action.

📅 WhenTuesday, June 9, 2026 · 1:30 PM
📍 WhereHuntsville Marriott at the Space & Rocket Center · Huntsville, AL
🎟 EventNDIA-TVC 2026 MBSE Symposium: Transforming the Digital Enterprise
🗂 TrackApplied MBSE
Get the Slides
1

Build Behavior-Led Reference Models

Capture operational intent before specifying interfaces.

2

Use Digital Engineering Tools

Architecture decisions formally captured and communicated.

3

Automate Compliance Assessment

Rule-based validation — transparent and repeatable.

4

Support Acquisition Decisions

Evidence-backed choices, not subjective document reviews.

System Makers

Where systems engineers grow

Courses, tools, and community for practitioners who connect requirements, behavior, interfaces, and compliance — because these disciplines belong together.

📐

MBSE for Practitioners

SysML, behavioral decomposition, and model-based methods for engineers who learn by doing — not by reading slides.

Coming Soon
🏛

Architecture & Frameworks

Practical guides to UAF, DoDAF, and UPDM — how to use them on real programs and make them actually useful.

Coming Soon
🎙

Interview Series

Real career journeys — how practitioners entered MBSE, earned certifications, and built expertise in systems engineering.

Coming Soon
Frequency Solutions Presented by Thandi Gooden · system-makers.com · in collaboration with Frequency Solutions