TEACHING
Prof. Sussman in his office (Photo: Andrés Archila, candid camera)
2014-2015 ACADEMIC YEAR
Professor Sussman spent time this past summer preparing for his academic year teaching. In the fall, he will teach the ESD PhD seminar, ESD.83, required for all ESD PhD students. He and Professor Chris Magee have partnered on this subject since 2009. It plays a substantive role in introducing the students to a variety of engineering systems domains and methods, tracing the intellectual basis of the field, as seen through many lenses. In the spring, he turns his attention to undergraduate teaching in CEE. This promises to be an exciting year since the scope of his classes will be substantially expanded going beyond project evaluation to include new material on project management as a contribution to CEE's new undergraduate program called 1-ENG.
Professor Sussman's subjects draw upon insights from the group's research. For example, Joel Carlson's research on the Keystone XL pipeline illustrates many important concepts in critical infrastructure and decision making under uncertainty and Ryan Westrom's research on HSR and economic development (specifically agglomeration) has created content for project evaluation through his comparative study of HSR opportunities in Portugal and the U.S.
2013-2014 ACADEMIC YEAR
ESD.83, Doctoral Seminar in Engineering Systems
Examines core theory and contextual applications of the emerging field of Engineering Systems. Focuses on analysis of scholarship on key concepts such as complexity, uncertainty, fragility, and robustness, as well as a critical look at the historical roots of the field and related areas such as systems engineering, systems dynamics, agent modeling, and systems simulations. Contextual applications range from aerospace to technology implementation to regulatory systems to large-scale systems change. Special attention to the interdependence of social and technical dimensions of engineering systems. Restricted to students enrolled in ESD doctoral program.
1.011, Project Evaluation
Methodologies for evaluating civil engineering projects, which typically are large-scale and long-lived, involving many economic,
financial, social and environmental factors. Emphasis on dealing with uncertainty. Presents basic techniques of engineering economics,
including net present value analysis, life-cycle costing, benefit-cost analysis, and other approaches to project evaluation. Examples
drawn from both contemporary and historical projects in various fields, including transportation systems, urban development, energy and
environmental projects, water resource management, telecommunications systems, and other elements of the public and private projects
and programs.
Former TAs from the research group: Rebecca Heywood '14, Ryan Westrom '13, Andrés Archila '12, Rebecca Heywood (undergraduate TA) '12, and Naomi Stein (undergraduate TA) '10
Earlier Years
Prof. Sussman teaches several courses variously related to the research topics pursued by this group. He encourages both undergraduate and graduate students in his group to get involved in the courses as Teaching Assistants. Courses previously taught by Professor Sussman include:
ESD.00, Introduction to Engineering Systems
Students work on projects to address large, complex and seemingly intractable real-world problems, such as energy supply,
environmental issues, health care delivery, and critical infrastructure (e.g., telecommunications, water supply, and transportation).
Introduces interdisciplinary approaches - rooted in engineering, management, and the social sciences - to considering these critical
contemporary issues. Small, faculty-led teams select an engineering systems term project to illustrate one or more of these
approaches.
Former TAs from the research group: Regina Clewlow '11
IST, Transport Systems Analysis
Professor Sussman has served as a visiting lecturer for this course at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. It provides students with knowledge and skills for efficient network planning and design, as well as with knowledge for modeling of large-scale systems in decision making domains and the optimization of such systems using appropriated optimization tools.
