Engineering Project Management

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Course Code: 
465511
Course Outline: 

    An-NajahNational University

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Civil Engineering  Department

 Engineering Project Management

                                               

Dr. Nabil Al-Dmaidi                                                                           

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Course Description

                This course is designed to prepare students to handle the practical and managerial tasks the manager is exposed to in the real life. It includes an intensive coverage of management in a wide range of project applications from concept through operations. Planning, scheduling, controlling, and customer satisfaction are stressed in this course". t covers the main concepts in the following field of planning, scheduling, organizing and controlling. This course covers a construction project schedule as a network of activities. An understanding of the logic diagram; network analysis through forward pass, backward pass, critical path and float; and updating, evaluation and use of schedule in cost crashing and resource leveling are explained. Application software systems are utilized

 

Course Objectives

The course is part of the core course requirements for the Master degree in engineering management. The course will provide the students with a thorough understanding of the issues related to the application of planning and scheduling principles. It is intended to provide an in depth discussion of some of the important scheduling issues faced by various agencies involved in the construction industry. The principal objectives of the course are to:

 

Provide students with a basic understanding of project management principles and practices.

Increase the student's ability to function effectively on a project team.

Increase the student's ability to function effectively as a project manager.

Improve the student's ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

 

Course Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course students should be able to:

  1. Describe engineering projects and processes using bar charts, network diagrams, and

linear schedules

ii)       Perform schedule computations to calculate project duration, activity early and late dates, and total and free floats

iii)     Identify the critical path(s)

iv)     Update and monitor project progress

v)      Recommend an appropriate course of action when the schedule must be shortened or crashed

vi)     Evaluate construction project progress

  1. Compare and contrast the appropriateness of scheduling tools for varying construction operations and conditions.

 

Course Topics

The course will focus on the following broad topics. These topics will be covered with the help of lectures, assigned readings, and scheduling project.

1)    Introduction  to   project management

2)    Management function

3)    Project scheduling techniques

4)     Preparation and usage of the Critical Path Method (CPM)

5)      Preparation and usage of Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

6)    Issues relating to determination of activity duration

7)    Resource leveling and constraining

8)    Time cost tradeoff

9)    Schedule monitoring and updating

10)  Communicating schedule

 

COURSE MATERIALS

Due to the vast number and the diversity of topics covered in this course, there is no single text available. However, students will be directed to the references as we move on.

 

References

  • Barrie, D.S. and Paulson, B.C., 1994, “Professional Construction Management”, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc. N.Y
  • Clough, R.H. and Sears, G.A., 1991 “Construction Project Management”, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. N.Y.
  • Smith, Currie & Hancock (2005) Common Sense Construction Law. 3 rd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken , New Jersey .
  • Fisher, Roger and Ury, William (1991) Getting to Yes . 2nd Edition, Penguin Books, New York
  • Callahan, M.T., Quackenbush, D.G. and Rowings, J.E., 1992, “Construction Project Scheduling”, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Inc. N.Y1.      Ahuja, Dozzi, and AbouRizk (1994) Project Management: Techniques in Planning and Controlling Construction Projects, John Wiley.
  •      Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™), The Project Management Institute Standards Committee.
  •  Harris R.B., 1978, “Precedence and Arrow Networking Techniques for Construction”, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. N.Y.
  • Project Management, The Managerial Process, Clifford F. Gray and Erick W. Larson, McGraw-Hill Co., 2000, ISBN: 0-07-365812-X.
  • Oberlender, G. D., Project Management for Engineering and Construction, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 2000.

10.  Hinze, Jimmie (2004) Construction Planning and Scheduling. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey

The instructor will provide class notes, handouts, technical papers, laboratory manual and other reading materials for the course

  1. Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, PMI, 2004  
  2. Core Concepts of Project Management, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton (2003) John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-46606-9
  3. Project Management, The Managerial Process, Clifford F. Gray and Erick W. Larson, McGraw-Hill Co., 2000, ISBN: 0-07-365812-X.

                                       

Student Oral Presentations

Each student will present a 5-10-minutes oral formal talk on an assigned topic. Students are expected to research the assigned topic to present material that supplements the text.  Students are expected to present a professional quality PowerPoint briefing, and distribute copies of the presentation slides to the class before the presentation.

One copy of the report should be submitted not later than the end of twelfth week of the semester.

 

Grading systems:

 

Report Assignments and Quizzes                     15%

Mid-term Exams 2 No.                                       20%  each

Final Exam                                                           45%

Total                                                                      100