project engineering

IE413 Engineering Operations Research I

Fall 2015 Page 1 of 4

SEMESTER PROJECT GUIDELINE The purpose of this semester project is for student to learn how to find and read a technical paper, how to write a review summary, and how to make a presentation and deliver it to the audience. The project is to be conducted by an individual student or a team of two students. You have learned about the Linear Programming modeling (LP) which involves the planning of activities to obtain an optimal result. The LP uses a mathematical model to describe the problem of concern and many real-world problems can be modeled or approximated as LP. In this project, you need to find a journal paper published within the past fifteen years, describing an application of LP to a “real-world” problem. For example, Interfaces are freely accessible if you follow the steps below:

(1) Go to http://lib.nmsu.edu/index.shtml (2) Click on "Find Articles" (3) Type "interfaces" in the search box for e-journals and press "go" button (4) Choose "INFORMS PubsOnLine" or other options (5) Optionally, type your NMSU username and password (6) Search for articles. Note: According to my past experience, some students couldn’t get

the pdf file of the article since they didn’t choose the publication year and month correctly. For example, if you selected “INFORMS PubsOnLine” in Step #4, choose the article which is published between 1998 and present year. However, if “Business Source Premier” is selected in Step #4, you have to choose the article published from 11/01/1970 to 5 years ago.

You may also want to select a problem from other journals such as Interfaces, Expert Systems with Applications, International Journal of Industrial Engineering, Computers & Industrial Engineering, IIE Transactions, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Computers & Operations Research, European Journal of Operational Research, etc. However, conference proceedings, magazines, and technical reports are not recommended as source materials. Note that NMSU library database would be a good place to search these resources for your reference. You may be required to register to request journal articles through NMSU Interlibrary loan at https://illiad.nmsu.edu/logon.html. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE AND REQUIREMENTS (5 points): The project proposal is due on Thursday, September 24, 2015 (11:45am US Mountain time). Each team (student) should submit team members’ name and the information of the journal article that you will work on. Please email your message to [email protected] and title it IE413_Proposal_your last name.

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PROJECT WRITTEN REPORT SUBMISSION DEADLINE AND REQUIREMENTS (10 points): One of the project goals is for students to demonstrate that he/she can clearly explain what the authors’ main point is and what evidence the authors used to make that point. The project report should be prepared on a word processor. Be concise in your writing and consult technical writing references as needed. The body of each project report should include two sections outlined as follows:

 Summary of the article main points including problem statement and problem issues.  Your opinion of the article including the most important information you learned. Don’t

just copy excerpts from the article. Use your own words, except for short quotations if necessary. While writing this section, you have to think about the following questions: What is the goal of the article? What research has been done? How was it presented in the article? Did the results support the main idea of the article? Was the argument convincing, or did more work need to be done? Who is the intended audience and how could the results of this article be used for them?

Your report will be formatted with the following traits:

 The title page should include the title of the project, student name, course title, and the date.

 There is no page limit but the article summary should be at least 2 pages long, double- spaced throughout

 Use a standard font (Times New Roman 12).  Use 1 inch margins for top, bottom, left, and right.  Use proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar.  All pages (with the exception of the title page) should be numbered.

The project report is due on Sunday, October 18 (5pm US Mountain time). Each team (student) should submit the following three items through the class Canvas system (see below): Electronic files with (a) written report (MS Word); (b) article used (pdf); and (c) presentation slides (MS PowerPoint).

IE-413-M01 Fall 2015

Oct 20 by 5pm

IE413 Engineering Operations Research I

Fall 2015 Page 3 of 4

Compress all files with Winzip before submission if possible. Please do not email me the electronic files of your project report. PROJECT PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS (10 points): One of the project goals is for student to build up presentation and communication skills. As a student, it is important to be able to communicate his/her thoughts and ideas effectively. Each team (student) is to make a 10 minute presentation with power point slide in class to report on the project status. The project presentation should contain figures and tables that are necessary to make the presentation easy to understand. Each team (student) will be arbitrarily assigned to either Oct 20, 22, 27, or 29 for the presentation. The presentation schedule will be notified through class Canvas website before Oct 4. The presentation slides are due on Sunday, October 18 (5pm US Mountain time). Each team (student) should submit presentation slides together with their written report (see the project written report submission requirements section above). IMPORTANT NOTES

 The project score will contribute 10% to your final grade and the maximum possible score of the project is 25 points.

 Late submission of the proposal, the written report, and the presentation slides will result in 5 point deduction for each late component.

 The following item will be considered while scoring written report: o Organization (information is presented in a logical, interesting way, which is easy

to follow. Also, points are logically ordered) o Quality of information (supporting details specific to subject, clarity of writing) o Literacy (virtually no grammatical or syntactical errors). This is a threshold

category, and you can be marked down significantly if your report does not meet a minimum standard.

o Length of report For each category, students will obtain 0 point (unacceptable), 1.5 points (acceptable), 2 points (satisfactory), or 2.5 points (Exemplary).

 Students who do not show up for their presentations without notifying me within 24 hour

notice will result in 5 point deduction. If you want to change the day of your presentation, then you have to find someone who is willing to switch with you. Notify me both of your names and the final presentation day for each of you. Keep in mind that only four days (i.e., Oct 20, 22, 27, and 29) are available for your presentation.

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 The following item will be considered while scoring presentation: o Content (Student explain what they learned by completing their project) o Delivery (Students engage their audience through voice, eye contact, and

emphasize key points) o Preparedness (Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed) o Length of presentation

For each category, students will obtain 0 point (unacceptable), 1.5 points (acceptable), 2 points (satisfactory), or 2.5 points (Exemplary).

 Please be respectful of your fellow presenter. While the presenter is talking, please do not speak to other students nor surf the internet using cell phone. Tardiness is considered lack of respect.