Term
TBD
Duration
16 weeks, Live Online
Price
Non-Refundable Application Fee: US$90
View Tuition and Fees for Tuition Rates
Admission
Apply online via EngineeringCAS. Priority application deadlines by term: November 15 (Spring); July 15 (Fall); March 15 (Summer)
Course Description
Trade-off Analytics: Exploring the System Tradespace focuses on methods, processes, and tools for delivering optimal affordable total system solutions by focusing on informed trade studies and sound decision analysis approaches in each stage of the system life cycle. Trade-off analytics provides a mathematical foundation and rigorous approach to formal trade-offs that integrate system life cycle cost, system uncertainties and risk, long-term system and environmental sustainability, and overall system effectiveness. As systems continue to become increasingly complex, today’s leaders require a foundation in systems concepts for planning, design, development, build, deployment, operation, sustainment, and retirement across many different domains. The course is designed to assist engineering leaders and managers, systems engineers and architects, technical project and program managers, and hardware, software, electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineers with complex system design and implementation decisions. The course includes assignments to relate concepts to real-world practice and demonstrate a formalized systemic approach to trade-offs and decisions made at various stages in the systems life cycle.
Semester Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Location: Global Campus
Course meets at times posted via web conferencing software.
Required for:
Certificate: Systems Engineering Management
Elective for:
Master’s Degree
Gain Expertise in
- Introduction to Trade-off Analysis
- Conceptual Framework Review
- Quantifying Uncertainty
- Analyzing Resources
- Understanding Decision Management Team Topic Discussion
- Identifying Opportunities,
- Identifying Objectives and Value Measures
- Developing and Evaluating Alternatives
- An Integrated Model for Trade-Off Analysis
- Exploring Concept Trade-Offs
- Architecture Evaluation
- Sustainment Related Trade Studies
- Programmatic Trade-Off Analyses
- Future Trends
Course Objectives
This course teaches fundamentals and concepts for applying trade-off analytics and decision analysis techniques to the system tradespace. Its specific objectives are:
- To provide a general approach for formal system-level trade-off analyses using decision analysis techniques;
- To provide methods, processes, and tools usable by technical managers to formally assess trade-offs and decisions at key stages in the systems life cycle;
- To provide some practice using analytical tools to analyze a preliminary system design concept for life cycle costs, sustainment, community impact, system effectiveness, and potential risk;
- To clarify, improve and broaden one’s personal philosophy of system trade-off analysis and decision analysis techniques;
- To strengthen the students’ communication and research abilities by exploring current societal needs addressable with a system solution;
- To provide the student with opportunities to utilize critical thinking skills to analyze and solve complex problems.
Learning Outcomes
Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Examine the role of trade-off analyses to support system decisions in each stage of the system life cycle.
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of tradespace exploration techniques for trade-off analysis of concepts, architectures, designs, operations, and retirement.
- Use decision analysis as the mathematical foundation for trade-off analysis using both deterministic and probabilistic techniques.
- Identify and structure stakeholder objectives and develop single objective and multi-objective decision analysis models to evaluate system concepts and design alternatives.
- Develop an integrated decision model that incorporates system performance, total life cycle cost, schedule, risk and uncertainty, environmental impact, and future growth and opportunities.
- Communicate the insights of life cycle (total cost, environmental impact, risk) and system effectiveness analyses and the important trade-offs to senior stakeholders and decision makers.
Lectures are live and interactive
Delivered 1x/week—early evening
Each live session is recorded
Explore the Curriculum Further
To find out more, please fill in the form or email etm@wsu.edu.
By submitting your details, you are granting WSU Engineering and Technology Management permission to contact you and acknowledge Washington State University’s Privacy Notice.