Planning, Performing, and Controlling Projects

Students in science, engineering, and technology programs need practical exposure to the process of planning, performing, and controlling projects of significant size and complexity. This text introduces the system approach and then takes the reader through all phases of a project evolution: concept, study, design, and implementation. A case study, installments of which appear in chapters 2 through 5, ties together the practical aspects of the project phases. A 120-day version of Microsoft Project is included with the text. This software allows students to apply the concepts of project management and technology integration presented in the text.

Planning, Performing, and Controlling Projects concludes with management-oriented materials. These include scheduling techniques, the use of spreadsheets and task descriptions, and the use of commercially available project-management software. Readers who comprehend this material will discover that management considerations, as well as technical aspects, can greatly affect the success of a complex project.

Instructors will find Planning, Performing, and Controlling Projects to be effective in teaching first-year or second-year courses in introductory engineering or engineering technology, design-process concepts, and design graphics. In addition, the text is useful in upper-level courses in engineering-system designs that include project design, planning, scheduling, and controlling, as well as senior design or capstone projects.

The authors hope that some students will become interested in pursuing an advanced degree in business or information systems after completing a technical program that applies this text. Industry requires managers whose undergraduate backgrounds are technical in nature.