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Application of Case Studies to Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Education

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Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Pedagogical Advancements in Engineering Management

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management, Systems Engineering, Engineering Economy, and Industrial Engineering

Page Count

17

Page Numbers

25.191.1 - 25.191.17

DOI

10.18260/1-2--20951

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/20951

Download Count

453

Paper Authors

biography

S. Jimmy Gandhi Stevens Institute of Technology

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S. Jimmy Gandhi is a faculty member in the School of Systems and Enterprises (SSE) at Stevens Institute of Technology and also at Baruch College, which is a part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. His research interests are in the field of risk management, engineering education, and globalization. He got a Ph.D. in engineering management from Stevens Institute of Technology, a master's in engineering management from California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is currently co-authoring two books on risk management and case studies in system of systems engineering and also a member of several professional societies such as ASEM and ASEE.

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Brian Sauser Stevens Institute of Technology

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Brian Sauser holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University, M.S. from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Before joining Stevens in 2005, he spent more than 12 years working in government, industry, and academia both as a researcher/engineer and Director of programs. His research interest is in complex systems evolution and lifecycles. He is currently the Director of the the Systems Development and Maturity Laboratory (http://www.SysDML.com/), which seeks to advance the state of knowledge and practice in how we manage system lifecycles. He teaches courses in Project Management of Complex Systems, Designing and Managing the Development Enterprise, Advances in System of Systems Engineering, and Systems Thinking. In addition, he is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Faculty Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of the Systems Research Forum, and Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal.

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Brian E. White Complexity Are Us - Systems Engineering Strategies

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Brian E. White received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in computer sciences from the University of Wisconsin, and S.M. and S.B. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and for eight years was at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. For five years, White was a Principal Engineering Manager at Signatron, Inc. In his 28 years at the MITRE Corporation, he held a variety of senior professional staff and project/resource management positions. He was Director of MITRE's Systems Engineering Process Office, 2003-2009. White left MITRE in July 2010 to offer a consulting service, CAU-SES (Complexity Are Us - Systems Engineering Strategies).

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Alex Gorod Visiting Fellow, University of Adelaide

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Alex Gorod received his B.S. in information systems, M.S. in telecommunications from Pace University, and Ph.D. in engineering management from Stevens Institute of Technology. Prior to his graduate studies, he held a research analyst position at Salomon Smith Barney. He is a former Robert Crooks Stanley Doctoral Fellow in engineering management at Stevens Institute of Technology, with research interests in the area of management of complex systems. He is the founder of SystemicNet, LLC, in New York and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

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Vernon Ireland University of Adelaide

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Director of Project Management

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Abstract

Application of Case Studies to Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Education As engineering system complexity has increased over the years, numerous complex systems projects have failed due to the lack of an appropriate systemic perspective. Since the solution to this challenge is itself a complex system, educating and training our current and future technical leaders on these challenges, and providing suggested changes in their mindsets, is imperative. As an educational tool, case studies can be a platform through which the analysis, knowledge application and drawing of conclusions can occur to facilitate coping with the most complex systems. Case study learning has proven successful in the training of business leaders with real life examples of the strategies and tactics used by leading businesses to succeed globally. A valuable characteristic of case studies is that they support a holistic understanding and interpretation of the systems of action, or interrelated activities engaged in by the participants. However, case studies are not as broadly used in engineering management and systems engineering education. This paper will describe the importance of case studies to engineering management and systems engineering education; outline a framework for their implementation; and present a template of a case study that can be used as a guideline in engineering education.

Gandhi, S. J., & Sauser, B., & White, B. E., & Gorod, A., & Ireland, V. (2012, June), Application of Case Studies to Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Education Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--20951

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