Overview

Contact us

For an informal discussion contact Dr Mark Nicholson, CPD Course Organiser.

For general enquiries contact
Mr Alex King, CPD Course Administrator
Telephone: +44 (0)1904 325402 Fax: +44 (0)1904 325599

The Centre for High Integrity Systems Engineering offers students the ability to attend certain modules in the area of System Safety Engineering and Gas Turbine Control as individual short courses. The aim is to allow individuals to renew, refresh and extend their understanding within specific fields, particularly the discipline of system safety engineering.

The discipline of System Safety Engineering (SSE) has developed over the last half of the twentieth century. It can be viewed as a process of systematically analysing systems to evaluate risks, with the aim of influencing design in order to reduce risks, i.e. to produce safer products.

In mature industries, such as aerospace and nuclear power, the discipline has been remarkably successful, although there have been notable exceptions to the generally good safety record, e.g. the Chernobyl and Ariane 5 accidents.

Various trends pose challenges for traditional approaches to SSE. For example, classical hazard and safety analysis techniques deal poorly with computers and software where the dominant failure causes are errors and oversights in requirements or design. Thus these techniques need extending and revising in order to deal effectively with modern systems. Also, in our experience, investigation of issues to do with safety of computer systems have given some useful insights into traditional system safety engineering, e.g. into the meaning of important concepts such as the term hazard. This is the sub-discipline of Safety-Critical Systems Engineering (SCSE) for computer based control systems.

Download our latest brochure

2011 Professional Development and Training brochure (PDF , 283kb)

The short courses may be used as part of a Continuing Professional Development programme for The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) or British Computer Society (BCS) members. Our CPD modules meet the IET Position Statement on Safety-Critical Systems, released in October 2009. Find out which modules address each of the ten principles.

Those who attend can do so on a one-off basis allowing attendees to further develop an understanding in a specific area, or attend multiple modules as part of professional development and education activity. Alternatively, students can attend modules and then choose to register for an MSc, Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma. For more details on these visit our taught postgraduate courses page.

Suitability

These courses are suitable for Safety Engineers wishing to renew, refresh and extend their knowledge in the area of systems safety and embedded control systems.

To this end, we present many of the ideas of classical safety engineering as well as dealing explicitly with the new issues raised by the widespread use of computers in safety related applications. Thus, the courses aim to provide participants with:

• A thorough grounding, and practical experience, in the use of state-of-the-art techniques for design and development, verification and validation of safety critical systems, with an emphasis on the software used in such systems;
• Understanding of the principles behind these techniques so that they can make sound judgements during the design and deployment of such a system;
• A flexible course structure which is suitable both for full-time and part-time students and for industrial clients who wish to attend a short, intensive course on a particular aspect of safety critical system technology.

Learning Outcomes

The short courses aim to provide participants with a thorough grounding and practical experience in the use of state-of-the-art techniques for development of safety critical systems, emphasising their software; together with an understanding of the principles behind these techniques so that they can make sound engineering judgements during the design and deployment of such a system, particularly when software is involved.

The short courses aim to equip students with knowledge, understanding and practical application of the essential components of Safety Critical Systems Engineering, to complement previously gained knowledge and skills in Computer Science.

Application & Fees

Contact us

For an informal discussion contact Dr Mark Nicholson, CPD Course Organiser.

For general enquiries contact 
Mr Alex King, CPD Course Administrator
Telephone: +44 (0)1904 325402 Fax: +44 (0)1904 325599

The Short Course fee for a module is £1395. Fees include all relevant course materials, tuition, examinations, lunch and refreshments and are payable in advance.

Students who attend any short course(s), and subsequently choose to undertake a full MSc, Certificate or Diploma,will be entitled to a credit of 90% of the fees already paid, towards the cost of the full award.

For more information on how to apply and for your individual quotation of the costs involved, please contact the CPD Courses Administrator.

To book one of our courses please read our Booking Conditions and complete our Booking Form, which should be returned to: CPD Course Administrator, Department of Computer Science, Deramore Lane, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5GH, UK.

IET Principles

IET Position Statement on Safety-Critical Systems – A response

The IET position statement issued in October 2009 sets forward 10 principles and two recommendations for Safety-Critical Software-based systems in safety-related applications. Here we show how each CPD module can be used to address one or more of the aspects of the position statement.

Principle 1: The fundamental starting point for the development of any SCS is the creation of a rigorous and and consistent statement of user requirements.
Addressed by:
Foundations of System Safety, Hazard and Risk Assessment and Safety Critical Project Management, System Engineering 1, Software requirements, software testing

Principle 2: Every SCS must have a comprehensive hazard analysis carried out
Addressed by:
Hazard and Risk Assessment, Hazard and Risk Management, System Safety Assessment, Computers and Safety, Through-Life Safety

Principle 3: The architecture of the SCS should avoid major hazards wherever possible.
Addressed by:
Hazard and Risk Assessment, System Safety Assessment, Hazard and Risk Management, Computers and Safety, Systems Engineering 1, Software Requirements, Sensors and Effectors, Electronic System Design

Principle 4: Where overall safety depends on correct actions taken by human operators, the human-computer interface and the training of operators should be considered.
Addressed by:
Foundations of System Safety, Human Factors for Safety

Principle 5: Every SCS must have a documented safety analysis
Addressed by:
System Safety Assessment, Computers and Safety, Software Testing

Principle 6: Showing that a particular set of development processes have been followed is never sufficient to demonstrate that the resulting system meets its safety target
Addressed by:
Foundations of System Safety, Hazard and Risk Assessment, Hazard and Risk Management, Computers and Safety, Software Implementation, Software Testing

Principle 7: Developer's competencies should be appropriate to their project roles and kept current.
Addressed by:
Foundations of System Safety, Safety Critical Project Management

Principle 8: Software systems are mathematically formal objects and it is possible to reason about their behavior and to prove that they have certain properties
Addressed by:
Software Requirements, Software implementation, software testing

Principle 9: It is generally impractical to rely on test based evidence in advance of putting a system into widespread service
Addressed by:
Foundations of System Safety, Hazard Risk Management, Software Requirements, Software implementation, software testing, Computers and Safety

Principle 10: There should be regular reviews of systems in service to assess whether the threat profile has changed and whether risks are still as low as reasonably practicable
Addressed by:
Through life safety, hazard and risk management, safety critical project management

The IET Recommends:

• Use of tools and approaches that are  industry best practice
  Addressed by:  all courses as appropriate to the topic
• Research and development effort and financing directed towards extending the scale and range of system properties that can be proven through analysis
  Addressed by:  Assessments attached to the CPD courses

Courses we offer

Short courses timescales, module and project descriptions timetable for 2011-12:

Modules		Start Date	EngD	SSE	SCSE	GTC
Computers & Safety (CASA)		14/05/12		O	O	M
Aircraft Systems (ACCS)		28/05/12				O
Sensors & Effectors (SAEF)		25/06/12			O	O

Book your place

Before booking please read our Booking Conditions.

You can either book your place online or complete our Booking Form.

All modules occupy 5 days, starting on Monday. The following abbreviations are used in the tables above:

• M = Mandatory module, O = Optional module
  
• Modules may be cancelled if there are insufficient numbers
• An optional assessment may be taken
• Correct at time of print, for confirmation of dates please contact us.

If the voluntary assessment is taken and passed, students can normally count the module towards the MSc if they register within two years.