Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

An introduction to principles of management and organizational behavior as they apply to the engineering profession. Special emphasis on team building, quality leadership and planning, handling personnel issues, and marketing technology. Group exercises, case studies, and extensive writing and speaking assignments.

Introduction to cost estimation, accounting and financial metrics. Valuation techniques, time value of money, and cash flow analysis. Economic analysis of engineering alternatives including depreciation effects, income taxes, inflation, engineering management capital budgeting of projects, portfolio and public sector projects.

Foundations, principles, methods, and tools for effective design and management of projects in technology-based organizations. Project organization, life cycle, planning, scheduling, implementation, control, and evaluation. Special emphasis on project leadership, problem solving in team-based projects, project failure analysis, and advanced methods. Use of case studies and applications to reinforce course concepts. Students design and plan a project from concept through completion including proposal and post-project analysis.

This course focuses the management of projects using an agile approach to respond to the continuous changes that affect project capabilities and performance. Although any project can be manage using agile project management, projects with high degree of uncertainty obtain the most benefits from this approach (e.g., R&D projects). The course covers Scrum and expands it by articulating the human and business factors that make successful agile project management. Case studies and/or short-projects are required.

Introduces the principles, concepts and process of systems engineering. Examination of problem formulation, analysis, and interpretation as they apply to the study of complex systems. Emphasizes the design nature of systems engineering problem solving, and includes case studies stressing realistic problems. Development of system requirements, system objectives, and the evaluation of system alternatives.

Introduction to concepts and techniques in probability and statistics, including descriptive and inferential statistics. Topics include fundamentals of probability, distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, regression, process control, and reliability. Applications include engineering design and analysis, manufacturing, decision aids, and quality management problems.

A systematic approach to the formulation of problems, the generation and evaluation of alternatives, and the selection and implementation of courses of action applied to engineering design, manufacturing, and management decisions. Topics include: goals and objectives; variables and relations; constraints and feasibility; uncertainty and risk; models and optimization; data and information; analysis and simulation. Case studies requiring oral presentations and written reports are used to emphasize concepts and systems analysis.

The systematic approach to analysis of risk as applied to engineering management with emphasis on cyber systems. The objectives of this course are (1) to gain an appreciation of the strategic importance of risk analysis and its relationship to other enterprise and engineering functions and (2) to develop a working knowledge of the concepts and methods in risk analysis as they may apply to cyber systems.

This course is designed to expose prospective engineering managers the theories and practices that are inherent in the ethical environment of modern organizations. Topics include definitions of ethical behavior and leadership, the history of ethical thought, moral decision-making, and the importance of values such as honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. A full exploration of ethical autonomy, collaboration, communication and moral imagination will be conducted. A variety of methods will be used to facilitate learning, including a textbook, movie and videos, case studies, experiential activities and writing assignments. The successful student should gain a full appreciation for the value and practices of ethical leadership.

Special topics with emphasis placed on the recent developments in engineering management.