ENGR 4760: Engineering Economics

Course Description: The primary course objective is to add economic consideration of design to the analysis capacity of engineers. Following this course, students will be able to apply an integrated systems perspective to the practice of their chosen engineering field, apply computing and related engineering tools when performing engineering economic analysis in the business and the public sector, have the knowledge to pass the engineering economics portion of professional licensure exams, and have the skills and tools to include economic considerations in design decision making.

Assessments: Homework and exams.

Offerings: I have taught this course once, in an accelerated summer format: Summer '25.

Textbook

• Chan S. Park, Fundamentals of Engineering Economics, Fourth Edition, Pearson Education, 2018.

Students who successfully complete this course should be able to demonstrate:

• an ability to apply time-value-of-money concepts — interest, economic equivalence, and cash flow analysis — to engineering decisions;
• an ability to evaluate and compare engineering alternatives using present worth, annual worth, rate of return, and benefit/cost methods;
• an ability to incorporate depreciation, taxes, inflation, and replacement considerations into after-tax economic analyses;
• an ability to assess risk, sensitivity, and breakeven behavior in design and investment decisions;
• an ability to use computing tools to perform engineering economic analysis in business and public-sector contexts;
• preparation for the engineering economics portion of professional licensure (FE/PE) exams.

The course follows the sequence of topics below (readings refer to Park; subject to change). Topics link to study notes as they are written.