IEOR 180 Senior Project Fall 2008

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Pocket Guide to Technical Writing (4th Edition) by William Pfeiffer (2007: Prentice-Hall). (This edition may be called Pocket Guide to Technical Communication) This is a small useful book that covers various aspects of technical writing. Although not required, this book will probably be helpful to you as you write the various required reports discussed below. Grading: Grades will be based on class participation (individual grades), the quality of your written reports (team grade), and the quality of your final presentation (team grade). Course Meetings: Course meetings will consist primarily of discussions of project progress. Each group should be prepared to informally discuss project progress at each class meeting. In addition, on some weeks, groups will be required to give formal (typically PowerPoint) presentations. All other groups will be expected to provide comments and suggestions. Later in the semester, individual groups may be assigned certain class times for “workshops”, to explore individual projects in more depth. In addition several course meetings (or portions of course meetings) will be devoted to discussions of the cases in the reader. Readings will be assigned one week ahead of time. Assignments and Due Dates: Various reports are required to be turned in throughout the semester. Reports should be turned in at the start of class on the dates listed. On each report, list the names of the team members, your contact person, client organization, and phone number. Submit one copy of each report, and please keep copies of your reports. • Progress Reports-- due September 9 th , September 23 rd , October 7 th , October 21 st , November 4 th The purpose of the progress reports is to keep the instructor and TAs informed of the status of your project. This will allow us to provide appropriate guidance, intervention, etc., as needed. The reports should be as succinct as possible (one paragraph up to one page). All team members should sign the report. Indicate who the author(s) is (are). • Identification of Client Organization (1 page)--due September 16 th Provide the following information: • Contact person(s) • Department, Division, etc. • Name of Client Organization • Phone number 2
• e-mail address (if available) • List of potential projects • Company Background Report and Preliminary Problem Statement (2 - 3 pages)--due September 30 th The Company Background Report and Preliminary Problem Statement should be a draft of the Introduction section of your (final) report. The Company Background Report should provide the name of the client organization, the department or division (if applicable), a description of the nature of the organization (type of business, nature of products or services, etc.), and a brief history of the organization if relevant. The report should include pertinent data on size, geographic location of headquarters, number of facilities and approximate geographical locations (e.g., Bay Area, Southwestern U.S., international with concentration in Europe), revenues, profits, etc. You will find it helpful to secure a copy of the organization's annual report (if available), copies of sales brochures, and other generally available information, and to review the organization's web site if available. The Preliminary Problem Statement should provide an overview of the problem that you are likely to address. In particular, it should explain the problem context, what can be decided or changed, and the various economic, organizational, political, or other factors or constraints that are relevant. • Problem Statement Report (2 to 4 pages)—due October 14 th This report should contain a detailed description of your problem, including: 1. A description of the context in which the problem arises. 2. A statement and justification of assumptions and constraints. 3. A description of any uncertainties, and an explanation of how you intend to deal with them. 4. An explanation of decision variables. 5. A description of the performance measures or goals. (Be precise.) 6. A detailed explanation of how the decision variables affect the performance measures. For some problems, points 3 through 5 above can be explained using precise mathematical notation (including a formulation). In other cases, this may not be possible. In either situation, however, you should try to be as clear and as precise as possible. This report should be written so that a typical non-technical manager who is not necessarily familiar with the details of the organization can understand it. Any material of a technical nature should be included in an Appendix. 3
Page 1: Instructor: Professor Phil Kaminsky
Page 5 and 6: Guidelines and Caveats: 1. You shou

IEOR 180 Senior Project Fall 2008

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