John V. Farr

Leadership Skills Development for Engineers

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Engineering Management: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract: This article contributes a description of the engineering management field. The articles intent is to continue and add to the body of knowledge about the evolution of the engineering management discipline. Seven strategic issues and associated questions about the evolution of engineering management are identified by understanding the past, present, and future of the profession. The history and evolution is described. The current state is described in terms of the contributing disciplines, professional societies, journals, and conferences. The future is described by emerging trends, challenges, knowledge roles, and stakeholder needs of the profession. From this article, an engineering manager can better understand how different disciplines and professional societies could help improve understanding of their chosen profession.

Systems Engineering and Engineering Management: Keys to the Efficient Development of Products and Services

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Defining a Set of Metrics to Evaluate the Potential Disruptiveness of a Technology

Abstract: Disruptive technology can be defined as an emerging technology whose arrival in the marketplace signifies the eventual displacement of the dominant technology in that sector. Defining and assessing a set of key metrics for a disruptive technology at its early stages can substantially aid an enterprise to develop requirements, identify, and in turn increase the possibility of the successful launch of a disruptive technology. This article aims at defining a set of key metrics for evaluation of a possible disruptive technology. A case study is subsequently used for demonstrating the metrics identified. The article concludes with its relevance to the engineering management domain and directions for future research.

ABET Accreditation of Engineering Management Programs: Contemporary and Future Issues

AbstractThis article presents the results of a 1999 nationwide survey of engineering management (EM) programs in the U.S. The study was conducted for EMJ in order to determine (1) the causes for an apparent lack of accredited undergraduate and graduate EM programs despite significant growth in the number of EM programs over the last 30 years, and (2) the potential for increased accreditation under the revised accreditation criteria. Data analysis suggests that a much higher value is placed on graduate versus undergraduate education. While most schools thought accreditation was important, accreditation was simply not a goal of most programs. Further, most schools thought the accreditation criteria were too restrictive.

Evaluation of multi-attribute decision making systems applied during the concept design of new microplasma devices

Various multi-attribute decision making (MADM) systems can be implemented to narrow a field of new concept designs down to those with high likelihoods of surpassing state-of-the-art technologies. This research investigated the conceptual design phase of new microplasma devices in order to create metrics that evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and overall utility of representative MADM systems studied in previous engineering design applications. Device attributes and concept alternatives for the microplasma devices were identified from open-ended expert surveys. Efficiency metrics were defined based on the number of manual user inputs. Published device literature and testing were used to gauge how closely device concepts satisfied multi-attribute criteria, forming the basis of an effectiveness metric. A weighted average of the efficiency and effectiveness defined a MADM systems overall utility. Varying the effectiveness weight provided further insight into the conditions under which particular MADM approaches exhibited higher utility values. The MADM systems found to possess the highest overall quantified utilities were based on Pughs controlled convergence, Utility Based Axiomatic Framework, and Grey Relational Analysis. The MADM method with the lowest overall utility was the analytical hierarchy process. These findings indicate that consensus building and utility-based MADM systems are especially helpful to engineering design teams during the early design phases of novel technologies when resources are constrained or historical data is limited.

Integrating SPC and EPC Methods for Quality Improvement

Abstract Process variations are classified into common cause and assignable cause variations in the manufacturing and services industries. Common cause variations are inherent in a process and can be described implicitly or explicitly by stochastic methods. Assignable cause variations are unexpected and unpredictable and can occur before the commencement of any special events. Reducing process variations are critical for industries with a low tolerance for variability such as semiconductor manufacturing. While engineering process control (EPC) methods such as feedback/feedforward controllers are widely employed in continuous process industry to reduce common cause variations, statistical process control (SPC) methods have been successfully utilized in discrete parts industry through identification and elimination of the assignable cause of variations. Recently, integration of EPC and SPC methods has emerged in the semiconductor manufacturing industry and has resulted reducing manufacturing waste and improving process efficiency. This paper provides a review of various control techniques and develops a unified framework to model the relationships among these well-known methods in EPC, SPC, and integrated EPC/SPC. A case study centered on chemical mechanical planarization process demonstrates the utility of this framework.

The Role of Systems Engineering in the Development of Information Systems

In this article, the inter-relationship between information systems (IS), systems engineering (SE), and information system development (ISD) is discussed from past, present, and future perspectives. While SE is relatively a well-established discipline based upon an interdisciplinary approach to enable the realization of successful systems, ISD has evolved to a variant of SE applied mainly for the development of IS. Given the growth in complexity and cost and schedule over-runs associated with software centric systems, well-established methodologies are needed for the development of good IS. Similarities and differences of methodology as well as their evolution and perspectives are also presented herein. We found a positive trend in the evolution of research methodology in SE and its use in IS towards a system’s approach as a holistic methodology.

IDENTIFICATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND PRIORITIZATION OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH A DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROCESS

Disruptive technology (DT) is an emerging technology whose arrival in the marketplace signifies the eventual displacement of the existing dominant technology. Identifying and assessing the risks associated with the various phases of a DT process is one of the key challenges a firm developing the technology might encounter. This paper identifies, classifies, and prioritizes a set of possible risks associated with different phases of a DT process. The paper presents ideas that differ from traditional risk assessment for new product development in that DT occurs at a different pace. These results can be used to develop a technology as well as a risk mitigation strategy.

Simulation-based costing for early phase life cycle cost analysis: Example application to an environmental remediation project

Simulation-based costing (SBC) has been slow to be adopted by the traditional cost estimating community. This can be attributed to many factors, including complexity, how to gather data and develop probabilistic inputs, cost of SBC software, and a lack of understanding of the benefits of developing cost versus risk profiles. This article presents an overview of how SBC can be effectively utilized for early phase life cycle cost (LCC) estimation. A formal process for conducting LCC incorporating SBC is presented not only to provide a structured approach but to also convey to stakeholders how such a study is conducted. This article also presents a case study where total ownership cost versus risk profiles were developed using this proposed process in order to support budgetary and planning considerations for a large environmental remediation project. This research argues that SBC is needed during the concept exploration phase because this is when budgets are often fixed and expectations set.