COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL & MATERIALS ENGINEERING

MEngSc Eng Mgt
ME with Business

Engineering Project Management - Tools & Techniques (MEEN40800)

Semester 1 2014/2015

Wednesdays 15.00-17.50 (Eng 016)




MODULE LECTURER
Mrs. Kate oHanlon

MODULE COORDINATOR
Dr. John Mckensy


INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the use of project management methods and
tools as a means by which organisations achieve their strategic and operational objectives.
Projects drive business activities in a wide variety of sectors, from private sector manufacturing
and engineering service companies, to government and public sector organisations and not for
profit charities and humanitarian groups. Projects are used to enable change and allow
organisations to effectively implement new strategies. Projects are a means for designing and
launching new products and services to generate cost savings and efficiencies and require cross
functional team management, often in an international context. Irrespective of the product or
service sector, project management requires a multi-disciplinary knowledge base including
business strategy, customer relationship management, finance and budgeting, international
business and cross-cultural management, organisational behaviour, leadership, negotiation
skills and the ability to manage project team members. Given this business environment, the
module will provide students with an opportunity to integrate the learning from their
professional experiences and from other modules in the Engineering Management programme
while providing them with theoretical and practical knowledge of project management.





MODULE MATERIALS

Required Module Text: Project Management The Managerial Process by Gray & Larson,
6
th
edition (2014), McGraw Hill. Note that the 4
th
or 5th editions (2008/2011) cover the vast
majority of the module materials and is a more than acceptable substitute for the 6th edition.

Reference Texts:
There are over 200 books in the library catalogue with "Project Management" in the title.
Books by Pinto, Nicholas, Meredith & Mantel, Burke, Maylor are good for general project
management topics.

Supplementary Readings: May be accessed through the electronic journals section of the
UCD Library.

Additional Resources
Microsoft Project
During the sessions we will apply some of the theoretical aspects of the module using
Microsoft Project, in particular from the topics in the "Project Definition" theme. In order to do
this, students should install a trial version of Microsoft Project before the classroom sessions
and bring their laptop/notebook to those sessions.

Project Management Journals
While project management is an academic (and practical) subject on its own, it also intersects
with a large number of other disciplines. The following list provides details of the journals that
focus specifically on project management, as well as those in other disciplines that carry
articles relevant to project management. All of these can be accessed on-line through the UCD
Library. Students should also note that at the end of most chapters in the Gray and Larson
textbook, there is a list of references of journal articles related to the topic chapter. These
references are a good starting point for additional research on a particular topic.




Dedicated Project Management Journals:
International Journal of Project Management
Project Management Journal
Engineering Project Organization Journal

Engineering Journals which sometimes cover aspects of Project Management:
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

Information Technology Journals which sometimes cover aspects of Project Management:
MIS Quarterly
Journal of the Association for Information Systems (AIS)
Journal of Management Information Systems

General Management Journals which sometimes cover aspects of Project Management:
MIT Sloan Management Review
Harvard Business Review
Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ)
Journal of Product Innovation Management
Academy of Management Executive/Academy of Management Journal

Operations and Supply Chain Management Journals which sometimes cover aspects of Project
Management:
Production and Operations Management (POM)
Journal of Operations Management (JOM)
Journal of Supply Chain Management
Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (MSOM)



MODULE ASSESSMENT
Students will receive a letter grade for each assessment component. The final grade for the
module will be an aggregate of the individual grades. Students will be divided into groups at
the start of the semester for the purposes of assignments. The group members are responsible
for allocating the workload for each assignment among themselves, however the submitted
item is required to reflect the collective effort of the group. All students in a group will receive
the same grade for a particular assignment component, unless there is clear evidence that group
members did not contribute equally to the assignment.

Continuous Assessment (50%)
Individual Research Paper (30%)
o Each student is required to select a major public engineering project that has been
completed in recent years or that is underway at present. The engineering project can
be Irish based or an international project. When choosing the project, you should
ensure that you will have sufficient access to secondary data (and primary where
possible) that will allow you to conduct an in-depth analysis of that project. You must
select any three topics from the module outline, and using the material within these
topics, carry out a critical analysis of that project. It is very important that you do not
just present a historical summary of events that occurred during the project, but
critically evaluate the aspects of the project you select using the module materials. In
particular you should evaluate the overall outcome of the project, the project success
factors and why these occurred, the project failures and why these occurred, what
should have been done differently and why.
o Students must submit their choice of project by the 4
th
session of the semester
(Wednesday 8
th
October) in the form of a 250 word written summary of the project
and the scope of analysis (i.e. choice of module topics) that will be undertaken. This
submission will not be graded.
o The final submission (3,000 words) is due on the 5
th
November.
o The report will be graded using the following criteria:
Identification and critical analysis of the issues in the project.
Application of module topics.
Originality and relevance of recommendations and conclusions.


Use of primary and secondary information, project management frameworks
and literature.
Report structure, language and writing style.

Group Presentation (15%)
o Each group will be required to research and deliver a 15 minute presentation on one
of the ten knowledge area outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK).
o The presentation should be accompanied by a comprehensive written analysis of the
knowledge area. This can be submitted as a separate document or using the Notes
area if using PowerPoint slides.
o Presentations will take place during class starting from the 1st October

Microsoft Project in-class Exam (5%)
Each student will be required to complete a practical Microsoft Project Assignment in class
on 5
th
November.
The assignment will request students to build a Project schedule, add resources, present
critical path analysis and track and report project progress.

Final Exam (50%)
Two hour closed book written exam (during UCD Semester 1 exam period 8th-19th December)




PROVISIONAL MODULE SCHEDULE
Session Date Topic
1 Wed 17/9

Introduction to Module
Modern Project Management
Project Life Cycle and Project Management Terminology

Engineering Project Management Case Study

2 Wed 24/9
Project Management Frameworks and Methodologies
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
and Prince2.

Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Arrangement of Groups for Group Presentation.
In the following weeks, 1 or 2 Groups will present each
week for 15 minutes on one of the 10 Knowledge Areas
outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK).
Each Group will present once only during the semester.

3 Wed 01/10 Strategy & Project Selection
Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Group Presentation
PMBOK Knowledge Areas. Time & Cost

4 Wed 08/10 Public Private Partnership (PPP)Projects
Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Group Presentation
PMBOK Knowledge Areas. Scope & Stakeholder
5 Wed 15/10 Agile Project Management
Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Group Presentation
PMBOK Knowledge Areas. Quality & Human Resources




6 Wed 22/10 Earned Value Management
Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)
Group Presentation
7 Wed 29/10 Quality, Reliability & Maintenance in Engineering
Projects
Project Management Software Demonstration
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Group Presentation
PMBOK Knowledge Areas. Procurement & Risk
8 Wed 05/11 Module Review & Conclusion
Practical Project Management Software Assignment
(Microsoft Project / Oracle Primavera / Project Libre)

Group Presentation
PMBOK Knowledge Areas. Communications &
Integration

I ndividual Assignment Due