Engineering Economy.

Catalog description

This course introduces students to concepts and methods of economy, finance, and accounting in the context of engineering as an economic activity within a globally-connected society. Students will explore the changing value of money and goods over time through the effects of interest, inflation, and currency exchange, and apply this knowledge to analyze the breakeven and payback of engineering projects and engineered products, as well as to compare alternatives. Capital and operating costs, sustaining capital for replacements and overhauls, and salvage value and remediation or recycling cost will figure into our analyses. As tools for project management, students will gain exposure to financial statements and their notation, the stage-gate process for financing projects as stakeholder investments, the value of earned work hours, the escalation and scaling of estimates, and how to quantify risk in dollars. The course teaches spreadsheet skills and makes extensive use of Excel. (Fall; Spring; Summer) Prerequisite: none.