NDLI: Lessons Learned From Developing New Engineering Managers at JPL

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Aster, R.
Copyright Year	2008
Description	Author affiliation: Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA (Aster, R.)
Abstract	Engineers who become managers must acquire essential knowledge about management to be successful. Major aerospace projects are complex organizations with three or four levels of management, and often have over a hundred cost account managers. Management skills are critical to the planning and implementation of these projects, especially in today's cost-conscious world. Aerospace organizations must address the gaps between excellent engineering educations and excellent knowledge about engineering management if they hope to succeed with major aerospace projects. Essential engineering management knowledge includes how to: plan work, estimate cost, prepare schedules, manage performance under normal circumstances, manage performance under adverse circumstances, and handle people. While some engineering students learn about cost estimation in their university education, many do not. Few engineering students get significant training on the other management skills mentioned above. However, the best and brightest engineers often become cost account managers within several years after they graduate, and many of these move on to higher levels of management within several more years. Their management skills, or lack thereof, lead directly to the success or failure of complex aerospace projects. There are at least four approaches for developing engineering managers: (1) let them watch other managers perform on real jobs; (2) active mentoring; (3) self-directed study of books and journal articles on management; (4) formal training sponsored by the employer. Formal training is the foundation for sound development of engineering managers. All of the other approaches can be helpful, but are seriously undermined if formal training is absent or otherwise inadequate. Bad habits and inconsistent practices can be learned, until the organization gets itself into serious trouble. This paper describes successful practices at JPL in developing engineering managers through formal training. The author has been engaged in project and proposal work for over thirty years at JPL, and in formal training over the last ten years. Over the last decade he has addressed the needs of approximately 1,500 students.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	8
File Size	577231
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781424414871
ISSN	1095323X
DOI	10.1109/AERO.2008.4526671
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2008-03-01
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Engineering management Management training Knowledge management Aerospace engineering Project management Costs Acoustical engineering Research and development management Engineering students Knowledge engineering
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Aerospace Engineering Space and Planetary Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in