Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Cunha, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

syllabus where taught using actual examples from the oil industry. Forexample, after going over the theory related to “Decision Tree Analysis,” examples ofapplication of the methodology9,10 in existent industry problems were discussed in class givingthe students an opportunity to verify advantages and limitations of the method described. In thesame way, when looking into the “Decision Making Process,” the concept of EMV (ExpectedMonetary Value) was discussed using actual examples from the literature11.It is important to mention that, even though a number of articles were used in the course, thosearticles were not the main source of information regarding the topics contained in the Syllabus. Atextbook12 covering most of the course’s material was

Conference Session

Innovation in Teaching Engineering Economics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Hartman, Lehigh University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

factor inengineering education [2].As advocates of problem-based learning, we teach Engineering Economy in a decision-makingcontext [3] such that students understand the entire process of making a capital investmentdecision from defining the problem; to generating solution alternatives; to estimating before andafter-tax cash flows; to evaluating options under certainty, risk, time, multiple alternatives,constraints, and multi-attributes; to post-implementation and project tracking. Furthermore, weutilize numerous media sources to generate realistic problems such that students appreciate itsapplication [4,5]. The goal upon completion of the course, as stated on the syllabus, is that astudent is able to make, and justify, a capital investment