ME7712 Engineering Projects & Risk Management.

Assessment - Engineering Project Planning

Learning Outcome 1: The following module learning outcomes and professional body learning outcomes are tested in this assessment:

Learning Outcome 2. Use appropriate project management software to produce a clear project framework together with the broken down key tasks, their durations, required resources and any other constraints. PERT network diagrams and CPA technique will also be covered by this software session.

Learning Outcome 3. Monitor and ensure the different stages of a new project are within the time and cost constraints, and to establish exit criteria for each of the stages.

Learning Outcome 4. Demonstrate an in-depth ability to critically appraise the opportunities and threats of a given project proposal.

Assignment details

Part A - Create essential planning documents for a new hybrid handheld game console project by using the MS Project software (35%)

Background

You are appointed by a large computer manufacturer as a project manager to take charge of one of their new projects. The project is to design a new hybrid handheld game console which combines a tablet PC and a game console. The design team has already produce a work breakdown structure (WBS) report which includes all the key activities. The phase you are in right now is to plan the project schedule and calculate the subsequent project duration.

Table 1 includes all the key activities required in the project, the duration of each activity (in weeks), and resources (in number of persons). All the activities are related on the basis of Finish-Start` dependencies unless otherwise specified. This means the preceding activity must be fully completed before the following activity can be started.

Problem 1 (word count doesn`t apply):

Use Microsoft Project to create an activity-on-node precedence network consisting of the activities included in the project (Table 1). You need to indicate the starting and finishing times, floats and other information concerning the activities in the network.

Then calculate the shortest possible duration for the project, and identify the critical path in the project network.

You also need to produce a Gantt-chart corresponding to the shortest duration for the project, and mark the floats of the activities in the chart.

Attach relevant screenshots to show all the required information - total project duration, critical path and the gantt-chart.