Course Description
This one-week course is typically offered twice a year and consists of academic lecture and laboratory exercises. Test and Evaluation is an integral part of the acquisition process. As such, flight testers need to understand the programmatic aspects of their business. This course prepares students to manage flight test programs/projects by providing an understanding of the role of T&E within the acquisition process, and the role of T&E within a typical program office. It examines the requirements process and introduces typical test management issues such as budget management, contractor business environment, schedule management, resources planning, and test item configuration control. In order to broaden the tester’s horizon, the module also introduces Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) principles, as well as Reliability, Maintainability, Logistics and Availability (RML&A) concepts. Finally, the module introduces the students to the challenges of testing commercial off the shelf (COTS) systems.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have a basic understanding of the test and evaluation process and the management issues relevant to that process. The student will:
Be Familiar With:
· budget tracking and the Earned Value Management concept.
Understand:
· the requirements process and how user requirements drive the scope of test programs
· the similarities and differences between OT&E and DT&E
· the resource factors which must be considered during T&E planning
· the elements of RML&A tests including their purpose and challenges
· the basic management concepts needed to manage a test program
· risk management and safety considerations while planning and conducting a flight test program
Know:
· how to develop and apply COIs, MOEs/MOSs, and MOAs from user requirements/capabilities documents