MBSE FAQ: Who created MBSE and how did it get its name?

The first known public use of the term "Model-Based Systems Engineering" was by A. Wayne Wymore in his 1993 book, which used the terms as its title [Wymore 1993]. The MBSE term was also commonly used within the SysML Partners consortium during the formative years of their Systems Modeling Language (SysML) open source specification project during 2003-2005. Some SysML Partners used the term order to further differentiate SysML from its parent language UML v2, which was software-centric and associated with the term Model-Driven Development (MDD). Stated succinctly as an analogy:

SysML :: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) :: UML : Model-Driven Development (MDD)

The SysML Partners published the SysML 1.0 Alpha open source specification in November 2005, and the Object Management Group adopted a variation as OMG SysML 1.0 in 2006. The standardization of SysML resulted in widespread tool support for the new system architecture modeling language standard and associated MBSE processes that emphasized SysML as their lingua franca. For example, PivotPoint Technology Corp., one of the founding members of the SysML Partners, released commercial training courseware in July 2007 that featured Model-Based Systems Engineering with SysML.

In September 2007, the MBSE approach was further generalized and popularized when INCOSE introduced its MBSE 2020 Vision, which was not restricted to SysML, and supported other competitive modeling language standards, such as AP233, HLA, and Modelica. According to the MBSE 2020 Vision: "MBSE is expected to replace the document-centric approach that has been practiced by systems engineers in the past and to influence the future practice of systems engineering by being fully integrated into the definition of systems engineering processes."

According to the INCOSE SEBoK (Systems Engineering Book of Knowledge) MBSE may be considered a "subset of digital engineering".