The term systems engineering first appeared in Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1940s. Today, 75 years later, systems engineering has been divided into many fields and sub-fields including cognitive systems engineering, industrial engineering, mechatronic engineering, reliability engineering, security engineering and software engineering, to name but a few.

It was founded in 2012, and has since been celebrated annually on the last Friday of November

It was created as a way of saying thank you to the men and women who sit in front of computers for hours every day to make our lives better and easier.

Nicholas Fourie was appointed Vice President – Information & Communication Technology in February 2017. Nicholas has been with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare since 2007, and in that time has held various systems engineering and IT management roles, including his most recent position as ICT Manager - Development & Engineering. 

Prior to joining Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, he worked for the South African division of BHP Billiton. Nicholas holds a Diploma in Computer Engineering from Damelin School of Information Technology in South Africa, and is currently studying towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Business at the University of Auckland.