Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert J. Rabb P.E., Pennsylvania State University; Paul Mittan, Pennsylvania State University; Ted Graef, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

Paper ID #48463Professional Skill Development in Engineering Economics and Project ManagementDr. Robert J. Rabb P.E., Pennsylvania State University Robert Rabb is the associate dean for education in the College of Engineering at Penn State. He previously served as a professor and the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair at The Citadel. He previously taught mechanical engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United Military Academy and his M.S. and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research and

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hamed Samandari, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

(UMD) is 3credit hour course designed to equip students with the knowledge and tools to evaluateengineering projects using economic principles. The course includes two 1 hour and 15 minuteslectures each week. The course emphasizes time value of money, rate of return evaluation, anddecision-making techniques such as present worth analysis and breakeven analysis similar tomicro economic courses. In addition to satisfy university study requirements at UMD, it includestopics on the global considerations on engineering decisions and introduces students to thefundamentals of international trade, with a focus on trade policies, exchange rates, and globalmarket dynamics. Students engage in active learning, including quizzes, problem-solvingassignments

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raymond L. Smith III, East Carolina University; Ricky T Castles, East Carolina University; Emily Fuller Sondergard

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

the judgment, adaptability, and professional integrity needed to navigate complex,real-world decisions.Engineering Economy offers a unique platform for introducing students to the ethical dimensions ofprofessional practice, as it naturally integrates technical, financial, and societal trade-offs. Embeddingtools like the Engineering Ethics Coach in such foundational courses not only supports students’ ethicaldevelopment early in their education but also models how AI can be responsibly leveraged to enhancecritical thinking. This approach may be extended to other contexts—such as design courses, sustainability,or capstone projects—where ethics and decision-making intersect in meaningful ways.References[1] Institute of Electrical and

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tamara R Etmannski, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Mohosina Jabin Toma, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Johan Foster, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

, especially considering the relatively static nature of the content. In response, educatorsare increasingly exploring OER as a viable alternative to improve access and learning equity.Despite growing awareness of OER, their adoption in engineering remains limited. This paperpresents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an open-source instructional packagedeveloped to support Engineering Economics instruction at UBC. The project aimed to increaseaccessibility, enhance student engagement, and reduce instructional inconsistencies acrossdepartments. The study builds on prior pilot work and aimed to evaluate both the instructionalefficacy and institutional viability of the OER materials by looking at how instructors perceiveuse of OER in

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gbetonmasse B Somasse, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

education, accreditationbodies like the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) encourage theintegration of economic considerations throughout the engineering curriculum, suggesting thateconomic principles and analysis may be incorporated into various courses and projects forengineering students. Programs such as civil engineering include an explanation of concepts andprinciples in project management and engineering economics in student outcomes [1]. Thecurriculum must explain some, but not necessarily all, of the key concepts and principles, andthere is no obligation to assess students’ ability to explain the key concepts and principles.Most undergraduate engineering programs introduce economics through a complete course

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hartanto Wibowo, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Jon Matthews Rouse

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

coursework,and broadening the students’ perspective.IntroductionAlthough the course title might vary, engineering economics is a common component of manyengineering curricula across the United States. The topics in engineering economics aresometimes combined with topics in professional ethics and licensure in a semester-long courseoffering. In the ABET accreditation criteria, two of the seven student outcomes are related toeconomic issues [1]. Furthermore, for a civil engineering program, the curriculum must includebasic concepts in project management and business [1], and engineering economics is typicallythe first course to introduce the principles of microeconomics to civil engineering students if theyhave not taken an introductory course in

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dani Fadda, University of Texas at Dallas; Oziel Rios, University of Texas at Dallas; P.l.stephan Thamban

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

Teaching Excellence Award, the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award from UTD’s Jonsson School, and the UT System Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award.Dr. P.l.stephan Thamban, Dr. Thamban is an associate professor of instruction in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Texas at Dallas who contributes to the teaching mission of the department. He brings with him more than a decade long teaching experience and teaches foundational, introductory ME undergraduate courses and advanced mathematics courses for undergraduate and graduate students. He values and incorporates project-based learning components in undergraduate courses. ©American Society for Engineering

Conference Session

AI Integration in Engineering Economy Course

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Billy Gray, Tarleton State University; Gloria Margarita Fragoso-Diaz

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

assessment intoChatGPT that contains the student’s name, UIN, and/or other personally identifiable information,is this a FERPA violation? Since it is not always clear about what information is beingdatabased, could someone in the future tie the assignment information to an IP address and beginputting together how specific people think on specific topics? Privacy risks with ChatGPT havealready been noted [23, 24]. In a recent study, [23] found that in addition to user informationprovided upon creating an account, “information that users type into the chatbot itself; andidentifying data it pulls from users’ devices or browsers, like IP addresses and locations” are keptby the service.Methodology:The methodology for this project is broken up into

Conference Session

Elements of decision making in engineering economics education

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matt Gordon, University of Denver; Daniel D Auger, University of Denver

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy Division (EED)

University of Waterloo in Canada. His background is primarily in biomechanics, tribology, mechanical design, materials and Systems Design. He is a former Vice President of R&D and Distinguished Engineering Fellow from DePuy Synthes, Johnson and Johnson where he worked for over 28 years both in the USA and the United Kingdom. Throughout his career Dan has architected multigenerational product platforms, lead projects, built strategy and delivered multiple medical device innovations from research and concept through to the market. He is an inventor with 30+ patents and an author on some 50+ publications. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 When to Start Taking Social