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Engineering Online

EGR 505 Managerial Finance for Engineers

3 Credit Hours

Engineers are often called upon to solve many of the company’s biggest problems. These problems typically cross functional boundaries and require a working knowledge not only of the technical considerations but also considerations association with other key areas of the business. One such area, often overlooked by technical professionals is the language of business which often requires a good working knowledge of key principles of accounting and finance. The structure of this course is not to take a traditional finance class and offer it to engineers. The course is structure to use a pragmatic approach to teach engineers the most relevant and significant financial concepts they will need to differentiate themselves in leadership positions in their companies. The class includes both individual and collaborative (team) learning.

Prerequisite

Graduate standing in EOL or another MS program, seniors by permission of program director.

Structure

● This course delivers all learning materials, activities, and assignments, through Moodle, a secure and easy-to-use online learning platform.
● The online section of this course is completely asynchronous, which means that students have no real-time class meeting requirements. The in-class section of this course meets on Fridays from 1:30-4:00, and the remainder of the course is online. Lectures are recorded so that students who miss a lecture may still view the lecture.
● Learning activities include reading assignments, quizzes, videos, discussion forums, and individual and group projects and “lab” assignments (i.e., homework problems)..
● This course consists of an orientation to the course, followed by four 3-week modules, and then a final exam. The 3-week modules consist of two lecture weeks followed by a group project week. Each module begins on a Friday and ends on Thursday three weeks later. Assignments are due by the posted dates, usually on Sundays (see course assignment calendar or posted assignments in Moodle).

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Apply basic tools of finance to the needs of an engineering manager.
  2. Read and interpret financial statements and apply the information to management needs.
  3. Understand the time value of money and cost of capital as applied to capital projects.
  4. Prepare budgets for engineering projects and products.
  5. Determine the ROI on capital projects and investments.
  6. Effectively make short and long term financial decisions for an engineering firm or division.
  7. Communicate effectively with financial professionals including accountants and CFOs.

COURSE MATERIALS

Required Textbook and/or Software
Principles of Managerial Finance, 16th edition, Chad Zutter and Scott Smart, Pearson Publishing. Students may use the printed book or the electronic book and may rent or buy the book.
Students will work extensively in “My Lab Finance”, the companion problem solving and evaluation site. Both homework problems and group projects will be drawn from this lab and graded online by the lab resources.

GRADING

20% – Homework: – students will be required to complete 4 problem sets, one per module, via a “Lab”. Students submit each problem set for online grading by the textbook publisher. Problems will be like homework. Each homework set is 20 problems.
20% – Group Assignments: There will be a group spreadsheet project for each of the 4 Modules. Each group will submit one spreadsheet, which will be submitted to the Lab for online grading prior to submission in Moodle. The spreadsheet problems are more in depth than the homework problems.
20% – Quizzes: There will be four online quizzes, one for each of the modules, consisting of approximately 10-15 questions each, to be taken in a single sitting of one hour or less, open book, multiple choice and short answer, machine graded by percentage.
40% – Final Exam: – taken online in one 2.5 hour sitting over a 3-day period, it is open book, multiple choice, and short answer, approximately 40 questions, machine graded by percentage. Of these questions, 30 of them will be like homework problems and the remaining 10 will based on the material but different than previously assigned problems.
This course is machine graded! The grading program has been vetted and is accurate.

Updated 05/14/2024