Master's Projects | UF Outreach Engineering Management

Overview

The Master’s project is the capstone event in the Outreach Engineering Management curriculum. In it you will carry out an in-depth analysis on an engineering management topic under the supervision of a faculty member from the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department or the Business School. The project will make use of methods and tools you learned in your OEM curriculum. The emphasis will be on the engineering coursework, but you can also incorporate material from the business coursework (encouraged). The effort culminates in a written project report and a presentation to the OEM class.

You may want to derive your project from your workplace where you can exploit your OEM experience to benefit both yourself and your place of employment. Another avenue for the Master’s project is to carry out an investigation of a technology or methodology in which you have a strong interest.

The focus for your project can be based on material from Deterministic Methods in Operations Research, Decision Making under Uncertainty, Models for Supply Chain Management, and/or Advanced Quality Management and Engineering. You can also incorporate material from the College of Business courses and this is encouraged.

Note: If you enter the OEM/MBA Concurrent Degree program, you have the option of postponing your Master’s project by one year.

Timeline

The fall semester should be used to explore opportunities for your project topic, and to select your team members if you plan to work with others. Clearly, it’s best to start early. The course coordinator can serve as your initial contact if you like, but as you define and refine your topic you should be in contact with the faculty member who will supervise your project. In December you will have the opportunity to meet with your faculty supervisor to discuss your planned project.

Presentation of Proposal and Plan

Each team or individual will make a brief overview presentation (via Power Point) of their proposed project before the entire class. This will take place during the January class meeting. The written project proposal and plan is due at that time. After the oral presentations each team or individual will meet separately with their faculty advisor for further presentation and discussion of their project proposal and plan.

Written Project Proposal and Plan

Each team (or individual) will prepare a written report of their proposed project and a plan for its successful completion. The proposal should include an objective, a detailed description of the proposed project, a plan and schedule for its completion, issues to confront (impediments, obstacles, etc.), and a draft outline and table of contents of the final project report. You must also include a section that details which courses (Engineering and Business) you will use material from, and what specific material you will use, in completing your project. The written proposal should comprise approximately 3-6 pages of text plus any supporting documents necessary to describe the project. Your faculty advisor will give you instructions on the format and the content of your proposal.

These are due to your faculty advisor in February and March. Your faculty advisor will specify the content and format. You will also make oral presentations of your progress reports to your faculty advisor on or about these dates. This can be done by telephone conference calls, visits by your faculty to your work site, visits by your team to Gainesville or by other means as specified by your faculty advisor. The EIN 6905 class will not meet on the February and March class weekends; the Business Policy class will, of course, meet during those weekends.

Final Presentation and Report

Each team (or individual) will make a brief overview presentation of their project before the entire class. This will take place on the April class meeting weekend. The presentations will be scheduled prior to that weekend. Two copies of your written final project report will also be due at that time. The project report must contain an executive summary of two pages or less and, in an appendix, the documentation of which courses contributed to your project and which specific material you used from each. Your faculty advisor will give you other details on the format and content of your final project report during the term.

Attendance

All students are required to attend all presentations in January and April. The EIN 6905 course will not meet in February and March.

Grading

10 pts	Initial Project Description and Advisor Selection
15 pts	Proposal Report & Presentation
10 pts	Progress Reports
15 pts	Final Presentation
50 pts	Written Final Project Report
100 pts	Total Points

Possibility for Thesis

Outlined above is the process for the Master’s project under the non-thesis option. If you prefer to write a thesis, that is possible but under different circumstances. The Graduate School has specific instructions for the Master’s thesis with a specific timeline and due dates. For these reasons, it is imperative to have a thesis advisor and to start work on the thesis as early as possible.

Outreach Engineering Management