1. Project Management
Professor: Dr. Miguel Alonso Jr.

2. Outline Introduction Creating a project Charter
Task Definitions, Milestones, Defining Times
Organizing the tasks
PERT Charts, Critical Paths, and Gantt Charts
Details, Details
Personnel Distribution, Money, and Resources
Documentation and Team Roles

3. Introduction “Failure to plan is planning to fail”
Questions that should be addressed in a project plan
What do you/team do first?
What comes next?
How many people?
Resources?
How long?
Milestones? What can be completed by end of quarter?
When will it be finished?
How do we know when were done?

4. Creating a project charter
First step in project planning is to create a project charter (project summary)‏
Description
Objectives
Outcomes or deliverables
Duration
Community partners
Stakeholders
Team membership and roles
Planning information

5. Task definitions
Once the project charter has been defined, the next step is to identify the completion tasks to achieve the objectives and outcomes
Many tasks will have to be completed for project completion
Effective plans are detailed enough to be managed
Plan should allow for the following
hold members accountable
Identify all needed resources, materials, funding, and people
Allow project progress to be assessed to make sure it is on schedule
Manage people and resources by shifting from one task to another as needed for project completion

6. Tips for defining tasks
Use past experiences
Gather data from instructors, advisors, alumni, community parters, and stakeholders for input
Include tasks associated with other tasks
Example task: pg 338

7. Milestones A milestone is a deadline for some deliverable
Maybe subcomponents for the project, or when all parts are available
Each phase of a design project should be a milestone
They are useful as checks for the plans progress
Should not be left for the end
They serve two purposes
Meet and celebrate short-term goals, good morale booster
Monitoring project progress so that if off schedule, steps can be taken to bring the project back on schedule

8. Defining Times and organizing the taks
Must attach a completion time to each takes
Can be measured in working days
In defining task times, you should budget in lead times for components
Be conservative and allow enough time for the learning curve of a new task
If a task spans several weeks, break it up into smaller tasks
Optimize the project plan by determining task relationships and prioritizing the tasks

9. PERT Charts and Critical Paths
Project Evaluation and Review Technique
Each task is represented by a box that contains a brief description and duration for that task
Milestones have rounded edges
Lines determines tasks that are part of a series or can be completed in parallel
Great tools for initial task completion
Critical path is the longest series of tasks
Example: Mathematics in an engineering curriculum

10. Gantt Charts PERT chart is good for a limited set of tasks
When the tasks become numerous, a Gantt chart is more appropriate
A Gantt chart is a table where the rows represent tasks, and the columns represent the timeline
Tasks and Milestones can be represented using different colors
Task responsibility can be included as an additional column after the file:///mnt/win_d/scans/gantt%20chart.bmp
task description

11. Details, Personnel Distribution, and Money/Resources
Details tend to pile up at the end, especially for a new project (unforseen circumstances)‏
Detail as much as possible at the beginning
Work must be balanced and take into account your team members individual expertises'
What resources will be used?
Setup a budget
Use prior estimates
Internet searches
Item cost associated in addition to the items (shipping costs, etc.)‏

12. Documentation, Team roles, and Software
Begin documenting the project from day one
Include documentation milestones as part of the project plan
Makes it easier to backtrack and reassess project tasks if needed
Work reduction upon project completion
Important team roles include:
Project leader or monitor
Procurement
Financial officer
Liason
Software: Microsoft Project or Open Workbench

13. Semester Project Ideas
Spaghetti Bridge
Robot (Lego or otherwise)
Catapult
Rollercoaster, Hovercraft
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14. Go Cart
Wii Hacks
Hovercraft
Trebuchet
Self-balancing Robot
Segway Skateboard
GreenPower Science
Bridge
Maglev

15. Class Work For your project: Create a project Charter
Setup Task Definitions, Milestones, and Define Times
Organize the tasks
Create relevant PERT Charts, Critical Paths, and Gantt Charts
Establish Personnel Distribution, Budget, and Resources
Establish Documentation tasks, deadlines and Team Roles and Responsibilities