The SE "Vee" Model

The "vee" model is a way of representing the systems engineering design and development process. The left side of the "vee" depicts the decomposition and definition of the system requirements and specifications at the beginning of the system's life cycle. These specifications are handed off to the design engineers in the middle of the life cycle, at the base of the "vee." After the individual physical components are developed, responsibility passes back to the systems engineer who integrates and tests the system -- the right side of the "vee". So, time proceeds from left to right in the "vee" model. This is a modified version of the Forsberg and Mooz "vee" model.