A simulation-based approach in support of project management training for systems engineers

Project management is taught in most systems engineering graduate programs. Project management courses and training aids traditionally focus on aspects of project scope - for instance, scheduling and resource allocation methods - and tend to neglect product scope elements such as system performance. This article offers a simulation-based approach for project management training that integrates project and product aspects within simulation training. The result is an integrated approach that guides the trainee through the initiation, conceptual design, planning and execution phases of the simulated project. The trainee explores the tradeoffs between project and product constraints and demands - just as if he or she were working on a real job. A pilot experiment that we conducted and the trainees' evaluations of the simulation provide an initial indication that the proposed approach is efficient, motivating us to suggest a framework for its use in systems engineering programs.