Engineering Project Management

At the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. explain the basics of project management as it relates to the Engineering discipline; 2. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of engineering, management and financial principles and apply these to their own work, as a member and/or leader in a team to manage projects and in multi-disciplinary environments; 3. conduct, manage and execute projects in multi-disciplinary areas; 4. possess the skills needed for project management; and 5. work within the budget when executing a project for proper management.

Project management fundamentals – definitions, project environment, nature and characteristics, development practice, management by objectives, and the centrality of engineering to projects, infrastructures, national and global development. The scope of project management – organisational, financial, planning and control, personnel management, labour and public relations, wages and salary administration and resource management. Identification of project stakeholders; beneficiaries and impacted persons – functions, roles, responsibilities. Project community relations, communication and change management. Project planning, control and timeliness;decision making, forecasting, scheduling, work breakdown structure (WBS), deliverables and timelines, logical frameworks (log frames), risk analysis, role of subject matter experts (SMEs), role conflicts; Gantt Chart, CPM and PERT. Optimisation, linear programming as an aid to decision making, transport and materials handling. Monitoring and Evaluation – key performance indices (KPIs); methods of economic and technical evaluation. Industrial psychology, ergonomics/human factors and environmental impact considerations in engineering project design and management. Project business case - financial, technical and sustainability considerations. Case studies, site visits and invited industry professional seminars. General principles of management and appraisal techniques. Breakthrough and control management theory; production and maintenance management. Training and manpower development. The manager and policy formulation, objective setting, planning, organising and controlling, motivation and appraisal of results.