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Technical Project Management Course for Engineering Technology Students

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Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Curriculum and New Course Development in ET

Tagged Division

Engineering Technology

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/p.26071

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/26071

Download Count

720

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Paper Authors

biography

Ali Ahmad Northwestern State University

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Ali Ahmad is the Head of the Engineering Technology Department at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. He received a B.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Jordan (Amman, Jordan; with Highest Distinction) and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fl, USA). He has diverse expertise in human-computer interaction, quality engineering, and simulating human-machine systems. He previously worked on projects related to transfer of training in advanced human-machine systems, usability evaluation of everyday products and services, and research in multimodal systems and virtual environments. His current research interests include virtual reality applications in manufacturing, multimodal interaction design, audio interfaces, advanced usability evaluation techniques, simulating complex human-machine systems, and advanced application of statistical techniques. Dr. Ahmad is a Certified Simulation Analyst and a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

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Abstract

Industrial Engineering Technology curriculum generally provides wide spread knowledge in problem solving, management of resources, and process planning. Project Management is a key skill required by Engineering Technologists, who work in project-driven manufacturing companies. Thus, it is imperative to prepare graduates of engineering technology programs to include a course on project management. An Industry Advisory Council for a university in Louisiana expressed the need for project management trained graduates, and worked with the department faculty to develop a course on technical project management. The developed course will be offered as part of a new post-baccalaureate certificate program at the university.

This paper discusses the development of a project management course tailored to Engineering Technology. It starts by identifying the need for project management knowledge and skills. After that it discusses the key components for project management body of knowledge as identified by the Project Management Institute. These components led to identifying relevant course topics to include: Introduction to Project Management, Engineering Economic Analysis, Project Selection, Project Organization, Project Scheduling, Resource Management, and Project Control. It confers efforts related to identifying a suitable textbook, and challenges faced in incorporating hands-on activities in course content. The developed course combines traditional lectures with case studies and places equal emphasis on theory and applications for project management. Furthermore, the developed course will be used for instructing project management face-to-face and online, hence the paper discusses adaptations of content to facilitate delivery in these different environments. The paper concludes by providing directions for future development of the course.

Ahmad, A. (2016, June), Technical Project Management Course for Engineering Technology Students Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26071

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