Program Structure
The GISE Certificate Program consists of 15 graduate-level credits. Autumn Quarter's nine credits focus on integrated lectures encompassing systems engineering, project management and finance/economics. Winter Quarter emphasizes an extensive team design project. Seminar sessions on related topics will occur throughout the lecture and project elements.
Autumn Quarter 2008
Schedule: A four-day intensive session (September 17-20), followed by once-weekly all-day sessions on alternating Fridays and Saturdays (September 26; October 4, 11, 17, and 24; November 1, 7, 14, and 22; December 6). For distance students, in-person participation is required September 17-20, October 11, and November 14.
Systems Engineering Topics
- Top-down problem solving
- Decision analysis
- Systems engineering methodologies
- Systems analysis
- Requirements analysis
- Functional modeling
Project Management Topics
- Project initiation and selection
- Project planning and scheduling
- Spreadsheet models and tools
- Risk management
- Cash flows and costs
- Critical chain
- Monitoring and control
Economics/Finance Topics
- Time value of money
- NPV and IRR
- Pricing
- Sources of risk
- Elements of cost
- Risk adjusted discount rates
- Competitive business environment
- Business profitability and margins
Winter Quarter 2009
Schedule: A two-day intensive session (January 8-9), followed by half-day sessions every-other Friday (January 16 and 30; February 13 and 27), and culminating in a three-day intensive session (March 11-13). These half-day sessions start with a lunch-time seminar followed by project reviews. Project consultants will be available the other Fridays for technical advice (January 23; February 6 and 20; March 6). For distance students, in-person participation is required January 8-9 and March 11-13.
The Design Project
The program concludes with a comprehensive team-based design effort involving a large-scale system of national significance. This project provides a culminating experience through which students bring together the systems analysis and design, project management, and financial modeling skills they have learned in the fall quarter and apply them to a real-world problem using real data and presenting their results to an evaluation panel comprised of practitioners, academics, and client representatives. During the winter quarter, the teams will meet in person for three days at the beginning for problem formulation; the teams will come together for a week at the end of the quarter. In between, the teams will set their own schedules, but will come together, in person or virtually, for half days every-other Friday for enrichment topics and project reviews. The technology and infrastructure is in place to offer the project portion of this program at a distance. The program culminates in a presentation to the clients and graduation luncheon.
Due to the intense nature of this program, students commit to participate in the entire program. Partial participation is not allowed.
