UTRGV COURSE SYLLABUS

UTRGV COURSE SYLLABUS UTRGV Course: MANE 3337 Engineering Economics Instructor Name: Dr. James Li Term: Spring 2017 Telephone: (956)6652606 Email: Jianzhi.li@utrgv.edu Office hours: M, R 1-4pm Course Description and Prerequisites Application of economics and decision theory to engineering alternatives in planning, developing, constructing and managing engineering projects. Discounted cash flow mechanics, economic analysis, management of money and economic decisions including inflation. Prerequisite: MANE 3332, Engineering Statistics. Learning Objectives Completion of this course will satisfy the following ABET educational outcomes: Understand the impact of the engineering solution in an economic context. Course Format The course will be delivered with a mixture of lectures, discussion, cases, and a variety of practices. In essence, I intend to run the course in a way that will get everyone involved in some meaningful in class practice. So the course will be highly participatory. Blackboard for this course is available, which contains lessons and communications tools and homework assignment. It is recommended that you log onto the course Blackboard site several times a week (preferably at least once a day). Required Course Materials Textbook and/or Resource Material Chan S. Park (2012). Fundamentals of Engineering Economics. 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall. Microsoft Excel There will be problems that can be easily analyzed using a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel. The Engineering programs at UTRGV has installed Microsoft Excel in most labs. Should you desire a copy of Excel for your home computer, you can purchase a copy at a greatly reduced price through the University IT. Grading Policies UTRGV s grading policy is to use straight letter grades (A, B, C, D, or F) using the following grade system: Letter Grade Points A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59 1

Points will be evacuated based on following components: Participation This grade reflects the effort that you exhibit in this course. Components of the participation grade include class attendance, participation in classroom discussion, homework assignments submitted in a timely manner and quizzes completed in a timely manner. Homework There is only one method to learn and master material of a mathematical or statistical nature - work problems. The best method to ensure that you excel in this course is to diligently complete all of your homework assignments. There will be a set of representative homework problems assigned each week. Solutions will be posted one week after the due date of each homework assignment. Quizzes The quizzes will be 20 minutes in duration and can only be attempted one time. Solutions will be provided after the ending date of the quiz. Examinations There will be three examinations in this course: 2 in class exams and the final exam. In the past, I have allowed students to bring a note card of formulas. In addition, your textbooks will be rubber banded in such a manner as to only allow access to the interest rate factor tables. Otherwise the exams will be closed book. Term Project: Students are required to work in a team of 3-4 students on a real-world project to practice method learned. The project should be related to engineering economic analysis and from either an existing business or a future enterprise you are planning to incorporate. Requirement of the project is provided at the end of this document. Total points of your performance in this course will be calculated using the following weights: Component Class Participation 5% Homework/Quizzes 10% 2 In class Exams 30% Final Exam 30% Term Project 25% % of Overall Grade Calendar of Activities Some important dates for Spring 2017 include: Jan 30 Last day to add a class for spring 2017 semester Mar 13 18 Spring Break, no classes Apr 13 Last day to drop (DR grade) a class or withdraw (grade of W) Apr 14 15 Easter holiday, no classes 2

May 3 May 5-11 Last day of classes for full semester Final Exams (Schedule) Tentative Topical Outline 1. Engineering Economic Decisions. 2. Time Value of Money 3. Understanding Money Management. 4. Managing Money under Inflation. 5. Present Worth Analysis. 6. Annual Equivalence Analysis. 7. Rate of Return Analysis. 8. Accounting for Depreciation and Income Taxes. 9. Project Cash Flow Analysis. 10. Handling Project Uncertainty. 11. Replacement Decisions. 12. Benefit-Cost Analysis. 13. Understanding Financial Statements Course Policy: Late Work Descriptions of each assignment, including due dates, will be provided throughout the course. All assignments should be submitted on their due date. The course policy for late work is a 15% penalty for work turned in the week following the due date. One week after the due date the instructor will post solutions to the assignment. Assignments submitted one week after the due date and before the last class date will receive a 50% penalty. Students who miss graded assignments will receive a grade of zero. If you are ill or have a serious problem that prevents you from submitting an assignment on the day it is due, please contact me prior to the due date and we will arrange an alternative date. UTRGV Policy Statements STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: If you have a documented disability (physical, psychological, learning, or other disability which affects your academic performance) and would like to receive academic accommodations, please inform your instructor and contact Student Accessibility Services to schedule an appointment to initiate services. It is recommended that you schedule an appointment with Student Accessibility Services before classes start. However, accommodations can be provided at any time. Brownsville Campus: Student Accessibility Services is located in Cortez Hall Room 129 and can be contacted by phone at (956) 882-7374 (Voice) or via email at ability@utrgv.edu. Edinburg Campus: Student Accessibility Services is located in 108 University Center and can be contacted by phone at (956) 665-7005 (Voice), (956) 665-3840 (Fax), or via email at ability@utrgv.edu. MANDATORY COURSE EVALUATION PERIOD: Students are required to complete an ONLINE evaluation of this course, accessed through your UTRGV account (https://my.utrgv.edu/home); you will be contacted through email with further instructions. Students who complete their evaluations will have priority access to their grades. Online evaluations will be available: 3

Apr 12 May 3 for full spring semester courses ATTENDANCE: Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and may be dropped from the course for excessive absences. UTRGV s attendance policy excuses students from attending class if they are participating in officially sponsored university activities, such as athletics; for observance of religious holy days; or for military service. Students should contact the instructor in advance of the excused absence and arrange to make up missed work or examinations. SCHOLASTIC INTEGRITY: As members of a community dedicated to Honesty, Integrity and Respect, students are reminded that those who engage in scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, plagiarism, and collusion; submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person; taking an examination for another person; any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student; or the attempt to commit such acts. Since scholastic dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced (Board of Regents Rules and Regulations and UTRGV Academic Integrity Guidelines). All scholastic dishonesty incidents will be reported to the Dean of Students. SEXUAL HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, and VIOLENCE: In accordance with UT System regulations, your instructor is a responsible employee for reporting purposes under Title IX regulations and so must report any instance, occurring during a student s time in college, of sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, or sexual harassment about which she/he becomes aware during this course through writing, discussion, or personal disclosure. More information can be found at www.utrgv.edu/equity, including confidential resources available on campus. The faculty and staff of UTRGV actively strive to provide a learning, working, and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect in an environment free from sexual misconduct and discrimination. COURSE DROPS: According to UTRGV policy, students may drop any class without penalty earning a grade of DR until the official drop date. Following that date, students must be assigned a letter grade and can no longer drop the class. Students considering dropping the class should be aware of the 3-peat rule and the 6-drop rule so they can recognize how dropped classes may affect their academic success. The 6-drop rule refers to Texas law that dictates that undergraduate students may not drop more than six courses during their undergraduate career. Courses dropped at other Texas public higher education institutions will count toward the six-course drop limit. The 3-peat rule refers to additional fees charged to students who take the same class for the third time. FINAL COMMENTS I would ask you to be diligent and persistent in your studies. Expect to spend three hours of preparation for each hour of lecture. That means to expect nine hours of studying, reading and practicing per week beyond the three scheduled hours of lecture. Don't give up. If you are having problems, look to me or your fellow students for help. You have a variety of methods to contact me: in person at my office, by phone, or by UTRGV e-mail. 4

PROJECT GUIDELINES The project will be broken down into 6 phases. The first will involve the selection of a problem whose solution requires an analysis using the topics that will be covered during the semester and a literature search on any such topics. You are encouraged to investigate the topic that you feel will be of most interest to you. A formal proposal for the project must be submitted to the instructor in the first class of the third week for approval. The other phases are clearly presented in the following table. The final report should minimally consist of the following: 1) The outline and precise definition of the problem. 2) The selection of the methodology used to find a solution to the problem or description of search results. 3) A complete description of the experiments required including a statement of all assumptions and economic factors to be used in the analysis or detailed description of literature search results. 4) A complete analysis of the data including all pertinent graphs or example application of the search results. 5) A complete description of the results of the analysis including any potential implications from the results. 5

Phase Task Name Description Version 1 Final Version 1 Project Proposal Description of the engineering economic problem proposed as your project, including the background, significance, and the decision to be made. This proposal will later be the introduction part of your project report Week 3 R Week 4 R 2 Elements Identification Identify and analyze all elements involved in the decision problem. This could include: the Decision, Decision Objectives, Alternatives, Outcomes, Risk involved, Cash flows, Decision Sequence, Consequence and its Measurement. Week 6 R Week 7 R 3 Data collection and Modeling Collect data for all elements structured. If cash flow is involved, determine the cash flow. The data usually has a range and a midpoint. Develop models using the formulas covered in this class to evaluate different alternatives Week 9 R Week 10 R 4 Sensitivity Analysis and Data Collection Use Sensitivity Analysis to 1) determine if deterministic dominance or stochastic dominance is present, 2)identify the important variables through Tornado Diagrams, 3) identify interaction effects between important variables. With the result from the Sensitivity Analysis, further collect data for the sensitive variables Week 11 R Week 12 R 5 Making recommendation Using all previous analysis, make choices and recommendations. Week 13 R Week 14R 6 Final Report/Presentatio n Assemble the reports in each phase to one single one, and the final presentation Week 14 R 6

For the final phase, The written project report will be due on May 4th, 2017 and its structure must follow that of a technical papers: TITLE PAGE - The title should describe what you did. It is not acceptable to title your project as MANE 3337 Term Project. An example title could be A Factorial Experiment Analysis to Determine the Optimal Production Recipe for Jose Cuervo Tequila. ABSTRACT - Brief description of your project TABLE OF CONTENTS - You should know what one looks like. INTRODUCTION - Detailed description of the project including: a description of the problem and a description of the body of the project BODY Contains all reports for each phase organized in a proper manner. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - A complete description of the results of your project explicitly stating the recommendations you are making as a result of your study. REFERENCES - You will be using knowledge developed by someone other than you. Because of this and unless you would like to be sued or flunked for plagiarism, make reference to the people that developed the methodology that you used. You will be required to make a formal Powerpoint presentation of your project results to the class at the end of the semesters. Presentations will be held on the last day of class. Those without prior technical report and / or presentation experience should consult the instructor about the techniques used. You are hereby warned that you will not receive a passing grade in the presentation if you simply get up in front of the class and talk without any type of visual aids. Writing on the board does not constitute a visual aid. Furthermore, the paper should be completely typed in a concise and neat manner. A report with more than one font, handwritten notes, grammar errors, misspelled words, and things of the like will not be graded. If you are logistically challenged, you better take heed of all of these warnings. It is required that all phases of the project be completed in order to receive a grade for the project. Failure to complete any of the phases of the project will result in a grade of 0 (ZERO) for the entire project. The final grade will be the average of your grade in each phase 7