System Design and Management
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EM.411 Foundations of System Design and Management I
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Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 4-2-9
 Lecture: MW11-1 (1-390) Recitation: TR12 (1-390) or TR1 (1-390)
Presents the foundations of systems architecture, systems engineering and project management in an integrated format, through a synchronized combination of in-class discussion, industrial guest speakers, team projects, and individual assignments. Topics include stakeholder analysis, project planning and monitoring, requirements definition, concept generation and selection, complexity management, system integration, verification and validation, cost modeling, systems safety, organizational design and effective teamwork, risk management, and leadership styles. Restricted to students in the SDM program.
B. Moser
No textbook information available
EM.412 Foundations of System Design and Management II
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Prereq: EM.411
Units: 2-1-3
Deepens the foundations of systems architecture, systems engineering and project management introduced in EM.411 though a synchronized combination of lectures, recitations, opportunity sets, guest speakers, and team projects. Topics emphasize the transition from early conceptual design to detailed design and system integration. Features a technology showcase and project forum where students, faculty and company sponsors meet to discuss and select projects for EM.413. Includes team-based exercises and design challenges. Restricted to students in the SDM program.
Staff
EM.413 Foundations of System Design and Management III
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Prereq: EM.412
Units: 4-2-9
Presents advanced concepts in systems architecture, systems engineering and project management in an integrated manner through lectures, recitations, opportunity sets, guest lectures, and a semester-long team project. Topics emphasize complexity management, systems integration, verification, validation, and lifecycle management. Specific lifecycle properties addressed include quality, safety, robustness, resilience, flexibility and evolvability of systems over time. Additional topics include monitoring and control, the rework cycle, managing portfolios and programs of projects in a multi-cultural and global context, and managing product families and platforms. Restricted to students in the SDM program.
B. Moser, B. Cameron, E. Crawley
EM.415 SDM Research and Thesis Seminar
(New)
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Prereq: None
Units: 1-0-2 [P/D/F]
Lecture: F12 (E51-395)
Introduces practical principles, methods, and tools of research and thesis preparation for engineers and managers. Topics include: thesis formulation, abstract and proposal writing, literature search and review, data collection, modeling, construction of argument, time budgeting, and research presentation. Through a sequence of structured assignments building toward a mock thesis proposal, students develop skills in scoping a research question, identifying and evaluating sources, planning data collection, budgeting time and resources, and pitching their work to potential advisors. Culminates in a mock thesis proposal presentation and pitch to experienced SDM thesis advisors. Priority to SDM students.
Staff
No textbook information available
EM.420 Model-based Engineering in the Product Development Lifecycle
(New)
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-1-8
Lecture: MW2.30-4 (2-131) Recitation: R4 (2-131)
Explores the application of digital design tools in a digital thread of linked applications and a common data structure. Investigates how this environment may improve productivity, collaboration, decision-making, and innovation in product development. Students use industry-standard digital methods and tools to create key design artifacts in a product development project. Periodic design reviews assess design evolution and progress. Students use processes for requirements traceability and management, configuration control, and engineering change management in a multidisciplinary team setting. Concludes with an examination of digital transformation, exploring concepts such as digital thread and digital twins. Students analyze both the opportunities and challenges in digital transformation, including the strategic implementation and potential pitfalls of using model-based engineering methods and tools.
Staff
No textbook information available
EM.421 SDM Certificate Capstone
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Prereq: EM.413
Units: 1-0-8 [P/D/F]
Practical application of systems management problems within a real company. Teams of 1-4 students are matched with a company to work on a project in which they identify systems challenges and devise methods for solving problems utilizing the system architecture, systems engineering and project management methodology covered in the EM core sequence. Mentors and sponsors are identified for each team. Restricted to System Design and Management Certificate students.
I. Vazquez
No textbook information available
EM.422 System Design and Management for a Changing World: Combined
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Engineering School-Wide Elective Subject.
(Offered under: 1.146, 16.861, EM.422, IDS.332)
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Credit cannot also be received for EM.423, IDS.333
Lecture: TR10.30-12 (1-390)
Practical-oriented subject that builds upon theory and methods and culminates in extended application. Covers methods to identify, value, and implement flexibility in design (real options). Topics include definition of uncertainties, simulation of performance for scenarios, screening models to identify desirable flexibility, decision analysis, and multidimensional economic evaluation. Students demonstrate proficiency through an extended application to a system design of their choice. Complements research or thesis projects. Class is "flipped" to maximize student engagement and learning. Meets with IDS.333 in the first half of term. Enrollment limited.
R. de Neufville
No textbook information available
EM.423[J] System Design and Management for a Changing World: Tools
(); first half of term
(Same subject as IDS.333[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-3
Credit cannot also be received for 1.146, 16.861, EM.422, IDS.332
Ends Oct 23. Lecture: TR10.30-12 (1-390)
Focuses on design choices and decisions under uncertainty. Topics include identification and description of uncertainties using probability distributions; the calculation of commensurate measures of value, such as expected net present values; Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis; and the use of decision analysis to explore alternative strategies and identify optimal initial choices. Presents applied analysis of practical examples from a variety of engineering systems using spreadsheet and decision analysis software. Class is "flipped" to maximize student engagement and learning. Meets with IDS.332 first half of term.
R. de Neufville
No textbook information available
EM.424[J] System Design and Management for a Changing World: Projects
(, )
(Same subject as IDS.334[J])
Prereq: IDS.333 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-3
Begins Oct 26. Lecture: TR10.30-12 (1-390)
Focuses on implementation of flexibility (real options) in the design of products, start-ups, ongoing management of operations, or policy plans. Applies the methods presented in IDS.333: recognition of uncertainty, identification of best opportunities for flexibility, and valuation of these options and their effective implementation. Students work on their own project concept, for which they develop a dynamic business plan for design, deployment, and most beneficial implementation of their system over time. Useful complement to thesis or research projects. Class is "flipped" to maximize student engagement and learning. Subject meets in second half of term in the fall and first half of term in the spring.
Fall: R. de Neufville
Spring: R. de Neufville
No textbook information available
EM.425 Research Seminar on Engineering Projects and Teamwork
()
Prereq: EM.411 or permission of instructor
Units: 2-0-4
Lecture: M EVE (5-6.30 PM) (E51-372)
Review of research on engineering as work and problem-solving by teams, including cases, professional practices, experimental results, and teamwork fundamentals. Topics include: projects structures and dependence; communication, coordination, and concurrency; exception handling, rework, and quality; awareness, attention, and engagement; and information, uncertainty, and learning. Students consider engineering teamwork phenomena which integrate technical and organizational aspects, leading to insights on performance during project shaping, ideation, planning, control, adaptation, and lessons learned. In the second half, students work as small teams to propose an experiment which explores teamwork during engineering. Proposed experiments often become basis for research and thesis activity.
B. Moser, I. Vazquez
No textbook information available
EM.426 Model-building and Analysis Lab for Engineering Project Teamwork
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Prereq: EM.425 or permission of instructor
Units: 1-1-4
Explores agent-based models and simulation for engineering project management. Students build and validate models of engineered systems and engineering teamwork, which integrate technology and organization useful during project shaping, ideation, planning, control, adaptation, and lessons learned. Models capture phenomena discussed in EM.425 and are simulated to forecast performance such as feasible scope, human activity, interactions, cost, schedule, quality, and risks. In the first half, students build a model and agent-based simulation from scratch. In the second half, students work in small teams on either a case modeled using methods introduced in the first half or an extension of said methods to explore a particular engineering phenomenon introduced in the first half.
Staff
EM.427[J] Technology Roadmapping and Development
 ()
(Same subject as 16.887[J])
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Provides a review of the principles, methods and tools of technology management for organizations and technologically-enabled systems including technology forecasting, scouting, roadmapping, strategic planning, R&D project execution, intellectual property management, knowledge management, partnering and acquisition, technology transfer, innovation management, and financial technology valuation. Topics explain the underlying theory and empirical evidence for technology evolution over time and contain a rich set of examples and practical exercises from aerospace and other domains, such as transportation, energy, communications, agriculture, and medicine. Special topics include Moore's law, S-curves, the singularity and fundamental limits to technology. Students develop a comprehensive technology roadmap on a topic of their own choice.
O. L. de Weck
EM.428[J] Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
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(Same subject as 16.888[J], IDS.338[J])
Prereq: 18.085 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-1-8
Systems modeling for design and optimization. Selection of design variables, objective functions and constraints. Overview of principles, methods and tools in multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO). Subsystem identification, development and interface design. Design of experiments (DOE). Review of linear (LP) and non-linear (NLP) constrained optimization formulations. Scalar versus vector optimization problems. Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions of optimality, Lagrange multipliers, adjoints, gradient search methods, sensitivity analysis, geometric programming, simulated annealing, genetic algorithms and particle swarm optimization. Constraint satisfaction problems and isoperformance. Non-dominance and Pareto frontiers. Surrogate models and multifidelity optimization strategies. System design for value. Students execute a term project in small teams related to their area of interest.
O. de Weck
EM.429[J] Systems Architecting Applied to Enterprises
()
(Same subject as 16.855[J], IDS.336[J])
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Focuses on understanding, designing and transforming sociotechnical enterprises using systems principles and practices. Includes discussions and reading on enterprise theory, systems architecting, transformation challenges and case studies of evolving enterprises. Covers frameworks and methods for ecosystem analysis, stakeholder analysis, design thinking, systems architecture and evaluation, and human-centered enterprise design strategies. Students engage in interactive breakout sessions during class and participate in a selected small team project to design a future architecture for a real-world enterprise. Selected projects are based on student interests in enterprises such as small, medium, or large companies, government agencies, academic units, start-ups, and nonprofit organizations.
D. Rhodes
EM.431[J] Applied Category Theory for Engineering Design
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(Same subject as 1.144[J], 11.214[J], 16.880[J], IDS.344[J])
(Subject meets with 1.044[J], 11.114[J])
Prereq: (Calculus II (GIR) and 18.06) or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Lecture: MW11-12.30 (1-150) Recitation: F1 (1-246)
Considers the multiple trade-offs at various abstraction levels and scales when designing complex, multi-component systems. Covers topics from foundational principles to advanced applications, emphasizing the role of compositional thinking in engineering. Introduces category theory as a mathematical framework for abstraction and composition, enabling a unified and modular approach to modeling, analyzing, and designing interconnected systems. Showcases successful applications in areas such as dynamical systems and automated system design optimization, with a focus on autonomous robotics and mobility. Offers students the opportunity to work on their own application through a dedicated project in the second half of the term. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
G. Zardini
No textbook information available
Internship and Thesis
EM.451 Internship Experience
(, , , ) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Provides insight into the challenges of an organization that develops products or systems. Before enrolling each student must have a department approved internship opportunity. At the end of the internship, students deliver a report, for evaluation by the sponsoring faculty member, documenting ways that the organization addresses product or system development issues and applies the methods taught in the SDM or IDM core. Intended for students who have completed the SDM or IDM core course sequence.
J. Rubin
No textbook information available
EM.S20 Special Subject in Engineering Management
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
Opportunity for study of advanced topics in Engineering Management not otherwise included in the curriculum at MIT. Offerings are initiated by faculty on an ad-hoc basis subject to department approval.
Staff
EM.S21 Special Subject in Engineering Management
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Opportunity for study of advanced topics in Engineering Management not otherwise included in the curriculum at MIT. Offerings are initiated by faculty on an ad-hoc basis subject to department approval.
E. Rebentisch
No textbook information available
EM.S22 Special Subject in Engineering Management
(, )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Opportunity for study of advanced topics in Engineering Management not otherwise included in the curriculum at MIT. Offerings are initiated by faculty on an ad-hoc basis subject to department approval.
Staff
No textbook information available
EM.THG EM Graduate Thesis
(, , , )
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units arranged
TBA.
Program of research, leading to the writing of an SM thesis to be arranged by the student with an appropriate member of the MIT faculty.
W. Foley
Textbooks arranged individually
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