MECH 431
Engineering Economics
Contact Information
Instructor
Teaching Assistants
Dr. Walter Mérida
Mr. Sardar Malekmohammadi
Tel: 604 822 4189, Fax: 604 822 2403 Complex fluids Lab,
wmerida@interchange.ubc.ca
Room 203, LS Klink Building
http://merida.mech.ubc.ca
MECH431@yahoo.ca
Class Format
Three 50min classes each week. Tutorials on a biweekly basis or as required. Guest
speakers from the BC Business and Industrial communities. All the course materials
are available online at
www.vista.ubc.ca.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, we expect that students will be able to:
•
Use the basic financial tools required for sound decision making in
engineering (time value of money, taxes, inflation, risk uncertainty, etc).
•
Perform discounted cash flow calculations to choose between engineering
projects using the relevant mathematical models.
•
Prepare and analyze the basic financial reports (balance sheets, income
statements, etc) and evaluate corporate performance and competitiveness
based on the relevant information.
•
Asses and quantify the uncertainty and risk associated with engineering
projects and evaluate investment alternatives.
•
Develop a business plan
Prerequisites
None
Textbook
Engineering Economic Analysis - Canadian Edition (August 2005)
John Whitaker, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Donald
Newnan, Professor Emeritus, San Jose State University, Ted Eschenbach, Professor
Emeritus, University of Alaska and Jerome Lavelle, North Carolina State University
Price: CDN$ 91.39
ISBN: 0-19-541925-1
Course Structure and Evaluation
The course implementation is illustrated below. It includes lectures, in class
examples, homework assignments, midterm and final exams, and a group project
(writing a Business Plan). The core course content is complemented with guest
lectures by executives from Vancouver-based companies (past visitors include
executives from Greenlight Power Technologies, Cellex Power Products, Angstrom
Power Inc., Ballard Power Systems, etc).
The interaction with industrial leaders has provided an effective exposure mechanism
for students joining the labour force upon graduation. These guest lectures form an
integral part of the course, and their content may be included in the midterm or
final examinations.
EVALUATION
CONTENT
ASSIGNMENTS
EXAMS
Assignment 3
Assignment 2
LECTURE 1
OBJECTIVES
y
State 1st Law
y
State 2nd Law
Assignment 1
y
Using 1st Law...
y
y
Using 2nd Law
CONTENT
y
y
y
ENERGY,
ENTROPY
3
2
1
DU
O
M
S
LE
MIDTERM
STUDY GUIDE
MODULE 1
y
Lecture 1
y
Lecture 2
y
Lecture n
MODULE 2
y
Lecture n+1
y
Lecture n+2
y
Lecture ...m
y
MIDTERM
EXAMINATION
FINAL
STUDY GUIDE
FINAL
EXAMINATION
SECTION 1
y
Short Answer
y
SECTION 2
y
Calculations
y
Derivations
y
Proofs
y
Applications
MODULEs 1-N
y
Lecture 1
y
Lecture 2
y
Lecture n
MODULES (N+1)-M
y
Lecture n+1
y
Lecture n+2
y
Lecture ...m
SECTION 1
y
Short Answer
y
SECTION 2
y
Calculations
y
Derivations
y
Proofs
y
Applications
y
GROUP PROJECT
CLASS
EXERCISES
GUEST SPEAKER
EXAMPLES
QUIZZES
Dr. Ged McLean
Angstrom Power
PROJECT
PROPOSAL
ONE-PAGE
Objectives
Implementation
Resources
PROJECT
REPORT
JOURNAL ARTICLE
FORMAT
IN-CLASS
PRESENTATION
CONFERENCE
FORMAT
PEER EVALUATED
BUSINESS PLAN
40/60
CLASS/INSTRUCTOR
Assignments must be completed and submitted to write the final exam. The solutions
to the assignments will be provided online, but the assignments will not be marked.
Late assignments will not be accepted except in the case of illness or other
acceptable circumstances.
When applicable, the background materials should be read before each class.
Evaluation Scheme
Problem sets*
Midterm examination
Project (Business Plan)
Final examination
Total
%
5
30
15
50
100
* Solutions to assignments are provided and all assignments must be completed to write the final
exam.