abstrahere — Latin: to draw the essential form away from the detail. From ab- (away) + trahere (to draw). The root of abstract.
Systems Engineering · Development Assurance
The mark is a tree because the work maps onto one — five parts, read from the roots up.
Nothing physical. Not the roots, the trunk, the branches or the leaves. It’s the understanding of how all of those elements interact and, what’s more, the environment — the soil, the air, the passing of the seasons and everything else the tree will have to contend with through its life and beyond.
Hover — or tap — a label to see what that part of the tree stands for.
A tree is connected to the earth through its roots, ensuring the stability and sustenance needed for the tree’s survival.
A tree’s form and function is defined by its trunk and branches, which not only provide structural support but also transport nutrients and signals from the roots to the tip of the highest leaf.
The leaves are the most flexible and expendable feature of a tree, performing the most essential function for the tree to survive yet being shed every autumn, only to be revised the following spring.
The DNA in every cell — millions of years of evolution encoded into a discipline that is rigorous, not rigid: adaptive, self-correcting, and bent on one thing — that the tree grows true to its purpose.