SI3400 Fundamentals of Engineering Project Management

This course examines modern techniques of engineering project management from a systems perspective, including project planning, organization, and control. Specific topics include discussion of the systems engineering management process, risk management, scheduling methodologies, the DoD acquisition environment, management of design activities, PERT, CPM, and project control mechanisms. Case studies are used to examine application of principles. Large scale system management, mitigation of technical risk, integrated product and process development, quality management, contracting, and the international environment are discussed. Large-scale systems management problems are examined using commercial software suites. Covers application of fundamental systems project management processes and methods to an integrative system project. Development of communication skills is accomplished through oral presentations and written reports.

Corequisite

SE3100

Lecture Hours

3

Lab Hours

2

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Construct a project work breakdown structure (WBS) provided the scope and deliverables of a project.
  • Identify the advantages and disadvantages of various organizational structures and design a project organization tailored to a project.
  • Estimate an overall project cost using analogy and parametric methods and a detailed probabilistic cost estimate using analytical and simulation methods.
  • Determine burdened labor costs considering benefits and overhead and justify cost estimates.
  • Create a network project schedule, taking into account the probabilistic nature of task durations, to determine the critical path and available slack.
  • Understand the two main types of contracts and determine the profit cost relationship for various contracts with fees.
  • Create a time-phased budget, combining project schedule and cost estimates, to track project status.
  • Perform Earned Value Management (EVM) as a control mechanism on a project given its current status and predict the estimated cost and time to complete.
  • Perform a risk assessment on a project using both qualitative and quantitative methods and generate a risk registry detailing the risks.
  • Understand the basic principles of configuration management and use a digital engineering (model-based systems engineering) tool to help perform configuration management and requirements management.
  • Define key concepts involved with project management such as what is a project, why use project management, what does a project manager do, and what defines project success and failure.
  • Define key processes and concepts of project management such as planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and communicating.
  • Create the main components of a Project Management Plan (PMP) that demonstrates mastery of the fundamentals of engineering project management for product development.