New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Course Outline ECE4001 Professional Development (1 credit)

Fall 2019
Instructor Nina Krikorian
Section A: Mon. 6:00 – 6:55p.m. JAB 775B
Section B: Thurs. 6:00 – 6:55p.m. 2 MTC 9009

To contact instructor: nk1455@nyu.edu

Phone: 646-510-7461
Office hours: by appointment

Course Pre-requisites Junior or senior status or permission of the instructor. Restricted to Electrical and
Computer Engineering majors.

Course Description This course provides electrical and computer engineering students with concepts, theory,
principles and experience in project management, project presentation, ethics and entrepreneurship. Students
learn how to apply skills learned in engineering coursework to team projects in a professional environment.

Course Structure : All relevant course material will be posted on NYU classes.

Readings:
The textbook that will be used for the course are:

1. Pinto, Jeffrey K. Project Management Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th edition: Pearson, 2016.
ISBN: 978-0-13-379807-4
2. "Wysocki, Robert K. Effective Project Management, 7th Edition: Wiley Publishing.
ISBN:978-1-118-72916-8
3. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship", John Bessant, Joe Tidd 3rd edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-118-99309-5
4. Quinn, Michael J. Ethics for the information age, 7th edition: Pearson, 2015.
ISBN: 9780134296548 (6th edition)

Course reference Material;

 http://www.innovation-portal.info/
 http://hbr.org

Available business courses through NYC:

o http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/summary/courses.shtml

Course requirements

Assignments :
Selected Readings, Ethics report & presentation, Final report & presentation, Homework, & Essays.

Grading:
Attendance & Class Participation: 10%
Homework & Essays: 20%
Ethics - Group Presentations: 30%
Final Project - Group Presentation: 40%
Course grades: A:90-100, B: 80-89, C: 70-78,
 New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Course Outline ECE4001 Professional Development (1 credit)

Week 1 Overview of Project Management: Work Breakdown Structure

Case Study – Sochi Olympics
Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 1, What is a Project?

Week 2 Project Planning: Scheduling

Case Study – Xerox Alto Case, Oregon’s Failed Roll-Out
Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 5, How to Plan a TPM Project

Week 3 Earned Value Management: Reporting

Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 7, How to Monitor and Control a TPM Project

Week 4 Ethics and Technology

Review of ethical evaluation theories and apply them to ethical dilemma cases in Technology

Week 5 Ethics Case Studies

Case Studies-VolksWagon, Therac-25, Theranos

Week 6 Communication & Negotiation

Emotional Intelligence
Readings – Emotional Intelligence
Negotiations:Classroom exercise

Week 7,8 Ethics – Group Presentations

Students present a topic in technology that is currently in ethical debate and apply the ethical workable
theories to provide a convincing argument.

Week 9 Entrepreneurship
“What makes a leader” by Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review.
Hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader

Week 10 Quality
Six Sigma, and the importance of quality in product development
Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 16, Establishing and Managing a Continuous Process Improvement Program

Week 11 Risk Management

Case studies- Boeing 787/Challenger/Iridium –Importance of identifying, and monitoring risk for the duration
of a project/program
Risk Management Class Exercise
Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 9, Complexity and Uncertainty in a Project Management Landscape

Week 12 Successful Innovation

Case studies- Apple/Amazon
Reading Assignment: Wysocki, Chapter 13, Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Distressed Projects

Week 13, 14 Final Project – Group Presentation

Each group presents either a business plan, or a company roadmap, identifying the plan on how to bring forth
a product to market, and the expected returns over time.
 New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Course Outline ECE4001 Professional Development (1 credit)

Moses Center Statement of Disability

If you are student with a disability who is requesting accommodations, please contact New York University’s
Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at 212-998-4980 or mosescsd@nyu.edu. You must be
registered with CSD to receive accommodations. Information about the Moses Center can be found at
www.nyu.edu/csd. The Moses Center is located at 726 Broadway on the 2nd floor.

NYU School of Engineering Policies and Procedures on Academic Misconduct (from the School of
Engineering Student Code of Conduct)

A. Introduction: The School of Engineering encourages academic excellence in an environment that promotes
honesty, integrity, and fairness, and students at the School of Engineering are expected to exhibit those qualities
in their academic work. It is through the process of submitting their own work and receiving honest feedback on
that work that students may progress academically. Any act of academic dishonesty is seen as an attack upon the
School and will not be tolerated. Furthermore, those who breach the School’s rules on academic integrity will be
sanctioned under this Policy. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the School’s Policy on
Academic Misconduct.

B. Definition: Academic dishonesty may include misrepresentation, deception, dishonesty, or any act of
falsification committed by a student to influence a grade or other academic evaluation. Academic dishonesty also
includes intentionally damaging the academic work of others or assisting other students in acts of dishonesty.
Common examples of academically dishonest behavior include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized notes, books, electronic media, or electronic
communications in an exam; talking with fellow students or looking at another person’s work during an exam;
submitting work prepared in advance for an in-class examination; having someone take an exam for you or
taking an exam for someone else; violating other rules governing the administration of examinations.
2. Fabrication: including but not limited to, falsifying experimental data and/or citations.
3. Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any
academic exercise; failure to attribute direct quotations, paraphrases, or borrowed facts or information.
4. Unauthorized collaboration: working together on work that was meant to be done individually.
5. Duplicating work: presenting for grading the same work for more than one project or in more than one
class, unless express and prior permission has been received from the course instructor(s) or research adviser
involved.
6. Forgery: altering any academic document, including, but not limited to, academic records, admissions
materials, or medical excuses.