Zuken and Strategic Engineering Initiative Forge Alliance to Future-Proof Complex Systems with Strategic MBSE

Hallbergmoos, Germany – 10 June 2025 — Zuken GmbH, the European subsidiary of Zuken Inc., a global leader in engineering software for electrical and electronic design and model-based systems engineering (MBSE), has announced a partnership with the Strategic Engineering Initiative, represented by Strategic Engineering Consulting Ltd. This collaboration combines Zuken’s end-to-end model-based approach to system architecture design with Strategic Engineering’s expertise in embedding flexibility and managing uncertainty early in the development process. The joint effort is aimed especially, but not exclusively, at industries that deal with complex, long-lived systems, are exposed to significant uncertainty, and face major investment decisions.

As part of the collaboration, limited in scope to Zuken’s operations in Europe, Zuken supports the Strategic Engineering Initiative as a sponsoring partner. The collaboration is designed to jointly establish a strong presence, build a platform for thought leadership, and lay the groundwork for broader industrial impact, combining industry expertise with academic insights to drive meaningful change. This first phase is deliberately exploratory in nature, focused on validating the relevance of Strategic Engineering principles for MBSE practice and identifying impactful ways to embed them into real-world design and development work.

“Uncertainty has become the only constant,” said David Allaverdi, PhD, Lead Strategy & Innovation at Zuken. “In industries developing complex products—such as those in discrete manufacturing, process industries, and infrastructure sectors—lifecycle thinking is still rare, and change is often treated as an afterthought across the entire organisation. We see uncertainty as a driver for innovation and focus on design choices that keep systems adaptable over time. This partnership brings together forward-thinking industry players and some of the best academic partners we could ask for to tackle that challenge head-on.”

Prof. Michel Alexandre Cardin, Leader of the Strategic Engineering Initiative, emphasised the partnership’s practical focus: “Strategic engineering is not an academic exercise for us; its value is proven only when it relieves the sharpest pains our industries face. By selecting system architectures that stack the cards in your favour, we give decision makers the flexibility to act later—when more information is available—instead of locking into a ‘perfect’ solution based on deterministic, and often overly optimistic, assumptions. Embedding that mindset in MBSE delivers far greater impact across the entire lifecycle.”

Operating under the banner Engineering for Uncertainty, the two organisations will conduct joint workshops, proof-of-concept projects, and scenario-based studies. The collaboration envisions the development of a Methodology Extension Pack and best-practice templates for Zuken Genesys®, aimed at lowering the threshold for addressing uncertainty and lifecycle thinking early on. In this initial phase, the focus will be on exploring opportunities, identifying potential synergies, and laying the foundation for long-term business and methodological impact.

As the collaboration progresses, both organisations remain open to exploring new synergies, ensuring the partnership evolves in step with customer needs and technological possibilities.

About Zuken GmbH

Zuken is a global provider of advanced engineering software solutions. Its core business is electrical and electronic design automation (E/E CAD), delivering industry-leading tools for printed-circuit boards, wire harnesses, and control panels. Building on this data-rich foundation, Zuken offers Genesys®, an MBSE platform that connects high-level system architecture with downstream design disciplines, creating a single source of truth throughout the product lifecycle. https://www.zuken.com/genesys/

About Strategic Engineering Consulting Ltd.

The Strategic Engineering Initiative is a systems-oriented paradigm that helps organisations create technologies that matter—over time. Strategic Engineering Consulting Ltd. applies this approach in practice, taking a holistic, long-term perspective on engineering that embeds flexibility and anticipates change by integrating technical excellence with social, economic, and environmental considerations. https://strategic-engineering.co/