OR 680:
Applications Seminar
Spring 2006
Instructor: Dr. K. C. Chang Class
room: IN 208
Office phone: (703)
993-1639 Office no.: SITE-II:
Rm 315
Email: kchang@gmu.edu
News/Current Project Updates Sample Past Projects & Handouts
Course Description
This course is designed
to be the capstone course for both the master’s degree program in Operations
Research and the certificate in computational modeling. It can also be used in lieu of a research
project in the master’s degree program in Systems Engineering. The focus is on model development and
implementation involved in the practice of operational modeling. A key activity
is the completion of a major applied group project. Work includes project
proposal planning, completion, documentation, and presentation. It provides the
students with the opportunity to put all of the course material covered in the
past into practice. It also provides the
faculty with the opportunity to test the student’s ability to have assimilated
the course material and certify that the student is ready to receive the Master
of Science degree in Operations research or System Engineering.
Emphasis in this course
will also be placed on written and verbal communication skill development and
the creative process of engineering design.
Students will be required to manage a complex, unstructured project
using the management and teamwork skills that they have developed. The class will be divided into
Prerequisite
Prerequisites:
21 graduate credits in OR or SYST
Course Grading
Each student’s final
grade will be determined as follows: 15% Project Proposal, 30% Final Project
report, 30% Faculty / Sponsor Evaluation of Team Presentation, 10% Team Project
productivity self evaluation, 5% Individual presentations, 5% Log notebooks,
and 5% Project specific bonus
Course Materials
Although
the course does not have required text, or firm deliverables like homeworks, exams, etc., the following references would be
useful additions to your professional reference on contemporary problem-solving
and presentation techniques.
1. How to Solve It: Modern
Heuristics
by Z. Michalweicz and D.B. Fogel,
Springer, 2nd edition, 2004.
2. Vroom!
3. Exploring Requriements: Quality before Design, by D.C. Gause and G.M. Weinberg, Dorset, 1989.
4. Adios, Strunk and White: A Handbook for
the New Academic Essay by G. Hoffman and G. Hoffman, Verve, 3rd
edition, 2003.
5. Semantics in Business
Systems: The Savvy Manager’s Guide by D. McComb, Morgan-Kaufmann, 2003.
Course Schedule
Jan. 26. Introduction
to the course.
Background discussions and data exchange
Feb.
2. Preliminary team formation and project proposal
presentation
Feb. 9. Team Projects
proposal presentation, projects will be selected and teams will be finalized.
Feb. 16. Team project proposal due (Problem Definition and
Preliminary Requirements Document, Technical Approach, Proposed SOW, Expected
Results, etc.)
Feb. 23. Teams present mini discussions (10 minutes) of
status to date
March 2. Potential
meeting with individual teams for progress discussions
March 9. Team 20
minute Progress Report Presentations
March 16. Spring Break
March 23. mid term team self evaluation due
Teams present mini discussions (10 minutes) of status to
date
March 30. Meet with individual teams for progress
discussions
April 6. Meet with individual teams for progress
discussions
April 13. Formal 30 minute Team Progress Presentations
April 20. Formal 30 minute Team Progress Presentations
April 27. Dry Run Presentations (30 min./team)
May 4. cont. Dry Run Presentations (30 min.) and submit Final
Reports for Faculty and Sponsor evaluation and final team self evaluation
May 12. (Friday