Lesson 1 Introduction to the Course
Subtheme 1: Course Objectives and Methodology
The main objective of this course is to encourage students to apply the critical thinking skills
and knowledge that they acquired throughout the Engineering Management program
towards the realization of a project. The knowledge learned in previous courses will be used
as a foundation to carry out the successful completion of the project. Another objective is to
analyze a situation and provide a functional solution to an Engineering problem from a
management perspective. This project will develop managerial skills and help students
obtain required expertise on specialized topics. Students will also develop their oral and
written communication skills through the completion of assignments.
To help achieve the course objectives, during the course students will have to complete
assignments that require the submittal of written reports and the preparation of video
presentations. These assignments will lead toward the final project for which each student
will write a technical paper. Each student will also have to prepare a poster that synthetizes
their project.
Subtheme 2: General Rules for the Course
The following are very important rules that students must follow to do well
in the course:

Do not read during presentations. When you prepare
presentations, do not read. Reading during presentations makes it
appear as if you are insecure and as if you do not dominate the topic
you are presenting.

On PowerPoint slides, use a lot of graphs and figures and very
few words. As they say, a picture is better than a thousand words.
People do not like to see presentations with a lot of text on the slides.
They do not go to presentations to read, they go to see you present.
So if you make them read, then they are not listening to you.

Grammar is very important. When you make grammar mistakes on
presentations or on written reports, you give a bad impression of
yourself to the audience. It makes you seem unprofessional.

Submit only original works. It is important to establish that all the
works that you submit must have been written and prepared by the
student who submits them. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

Always write in the third person. In technical works, the third
person is typically used because is considered more formal. For
example: do not write "I calculated the average"; write "The average
was calculated".
In your writings and presentations, do not refer to this course or
its activities. For example, do not write sentences like this: "This
project is done as a requierement for the course MEM 6200".

Subtheme 1: Identify the Problem
The first step toward completing your project must be to identify a problem or situation that
can be solved or improved by using the knowledge you have gained through the
Engineering Management Program. Typically for this course, students identify a situation or
problem from their workplace, but it is permitted to select a situation or problem not related
to their work. Most of the time students identify a process in their place of work and they
make it their project to improve this process. Other times they identify a problem and then
they try to identify the most cost-effective solution to this problem. It is important that you be
realistic. Remember that you will have only 12 weeks to complete your project.
Subtheme 2: Express the Topic
After identifying the situation or problem that you will work on, you must express the topic of
your project. In other words, you must write a brief description of the situation that your
project will deal with and give a general idea of how the project will be solved.
Subtheme 3: Formulate the Objectives
After you select the topic of your project, the next step should be to clearly state the project
objectives. The objectives are important because they will clearly state what the project
intends to achieve and it will help determine if the project was successful or not. Therefore,
when formulating your project objectives, keep in mind that you will have to demonstrate if
the objectives were met or not. In other words, the project objectives must be verifiable.
Do not confuse an objective with an action you will take to achieve the objective. Such
action is really part of the methodology, not an objective. For example, the following would
be an example of a bad project objective: “Perform a life-cycle cost analysis”. An example of
a good project objective could be the following: “Reduce the cost of spare parts”.
Subtheme 4: Establish the Methodology
After stating your objectives, you need to establish the methodology. The methodology is
the procedure you will follow to complete your project. It should provide a way for you to
verify if you achieved the project objectives. When establishing the methodology, you
should think of all the management tools you learned during your education on the
Engineering Management Program and consider which ones you could apply to achieve the
project objectives.
The first step toward completing your project shall be to identify a problem or situation to
which Engineering Management principles can be applied to solve or improve said problem
or situation. Then you must express the topic of your project. Afterward, you have to
formulate clear objectives that will set the framework of your project and that will ultimately
establish if the project was successful or not. Then you need to establish the methodology
that you will follow to achieve the project objectives and verify that they have been fulfilled.
Topics:
A diverse spectrum of topics will be covered. All topics will be related to the many
problems engaged in engineering management such as planning, organizing, delegation of
power and duties, motivation, leading, communication, controlling, capital needs, cash flow,
finances, information systems, project management, etc., with the ever present problem of
decision making.
Module 2
Lesson 1 Parts of the Proposal
A good proposal has as a minimum the following sections:
 Title – A good title will give an idea of what the project is about. To accomplish this it
needs to be specific, not vague. Think of the title as a short summary of your project.

Background – After the title, you need to have one or more sections in which you
offer some background and explain the situation that your project will address. You
may present this as one section called Background, or you may subdivide it into
several sections like for example: Introduction, Literature
Review and Problem Statement.

Objectives – As state in the previous Module, the objectives need to clearly state
what you intend to achieve with your project.

Methodology – Basically, in this section you will state the procedure that you will
follow to achieve the project objectives.

Schedule – In this section you should establish the timetable to complete each of
the steps of your project.

Project Cost – This section is usually not included in the proposals of this course,
but it can be very important for engineering proposals submitted for real-life projects.
One of the main reason this section is not included in this course is because of the
nature of the project is itself the evaluation of different alternatives, including the
cost.
When preparing your proposal presentation, you do not have to limit it to the sections
mentioned above. You may include other sections that you understand can make your
proposal more interesting and clearer, but be careful. At the same time you don’t want your
proposal to be too long and lose the interest of your audience.
Lesson 2 Common Mistakes to Avoid
For this course you will be required to prepare a Proposal Presentation. Your presentation
will be submitted in the form of a video recording. You will be required to use PowerPoint as
a presentation tool.
Here are some common mistakes that you should avoid when preparing your proposal
presentation:
 The project title is not specific enough. The title should give a very good idea of
what your project is about.

Slides with too much text. Remember, people do not go to presentations to read,
they go to see the presenter.

Bad grammar. You should use proper grammar for the short amount of text that
your presentation has. Bad grammar gives a bad impression.

The presentation only includes the parts suggested in Lesson 1. In the past
students have made the mistake of having presentations with only five slides: Title,
Background, Objectives, Methodology, Schedule and Project Costs. You do not
have to limit yourself to just those sections. Offer other information that
you think is important to help your project be clearer to your audience.

Do not make presentations too long. It has been stated by several studies that
people have a short attention span when listening to a presentation. Before
presenting, make sure to find out how much time you will have to present. The
amount of time you have for your presentation will depend on the type of
presentation you are offering. For example, a professor at Polytechnic University of
Puerto Rico has two hours for a class meeting, meanwhile a Masters student has
about 45 minutes to present his/her thesis, and professional presenting a paper in a
conference has about fifteen minutes to do so. It is always very important to finish
your presentation on time.
The last two bullet points are sort of contradictive. One point tells you not to limit yourself to
the minimum while the other tells you not to go for too long. A good presenter strikes a
perfect balance. In the end the most important thing is to try to keep your audience
interested.
You will have to prepare a proposal presentation for the completion of this Module. When
you do so, you must meet the minimum requirements while avoiding the common mistakes.
Be aware that written proposals may have other requirements, depending on who is
requesting the proposal.