Planning and Managing Projects - 595.660

This course concentrates on the general methodology of managing a technical project from concept to operational use, with emphasis on the functions, roles, and responsibilities of the project manager. Topics include career aspects of project management; business factors affecting the project and the manager; project organization, planning, execution, and communications; project life cycle; risk analysis; interface management; design review; design control assessment; reporting; and reaction to critical problems. Students are formed into groups, presented with a scenario that simulates the development of a high-technology system, and assigned to make decisions required of the project manager in the execution of the project. The project manager’s decisions must then be effectively communicated (and perhaps defended) to a variety of audiences (represented by other students and faculty) that include top management, the customer, functional management, and members of the project team.