THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

EMSE 6850-NGA: Quantitative Models in Systems Engineering

Fall 2015

Instructor: John Fossaceca, Ph.D.

Email: jfossaceca@gwu.edu (in subject line: EMSE 6850, your last name, topic).

Course dates: Sep 8, 15, 22, 29; Oct 6, 13, 20, 27; Nov 3, 10 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm

Course location: NGA New Campus East - 7500 GEOINT Drive Springfield, VA 22150 NGA

Consultation: Available on request after class.

Textbook: Introduction to Management Science: A modeling and case studies approach

with spreadsheets by Hillier and Hillier; McGraw Hill; 5th edition.

Software: The class will make extensive use of Excel, Excel Solver and Risk Solver Platform
for Education. We will also use the textbook CD. Activation and installation
instructions for Excel Solver and Risk Solver Platform for Education are provided
at the end of this Syllabus.

Learning Objectives: To be able to formulate decision problems into models - algebraic and
spreadsheet - and solve them using management science techniques, from
linear programming (integer and binary) to decision analysis, forecasting and
goal seeking/programming.

Grading and exams: The course grade will be calculated based on satisfactory completion of the
homework, midterm exam, and final exam. The percentages of the final grade
allotted to these are as follows:

Homework 20%
Midterm 40%
Final exam 40%

Course Topics: The topics covered in the course are outlined on page 4. This list is subject to
change.

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Homework: Depending upon the coverage of the topics, a total of 6 to 7 homework
assignments will be given. Please check the due dates on page 4 of this syllabus.
No late homework (hardcopy or supporting email with Excel spreadsheet) will
be accepted. Submit the homework at the beginning of the class in hardcopy, or
email prior to class if you’re traveling or not coming to class. Please label your
homework with EMSE 6850, your last name and the HW number on top of each
page. In addition, always email the supporting Excel spreadsheets by the due
date before 5:00pm. Please always put EMSE 6850, your last name and the HW
number in the email subject line (e.g. EMSE 6850, Smith, HW1). These
spreadsheets will be used for reference when grading.

Homework problems are designed to apply the methodologies and approaches

discussed in the class examples. You are allowed to consult with other students
in order to get a better understanding of a problem. However, the homework
you submit, including the supporting spreadsheets, must represent your own
work. Homework will comprise 20 percent of the course grade.

Attendance: Attendance is strongly encouraged.

Midterm: The midterm exam will be held in class on Tuesday, September 16. It will be
closed books and notes. Acceptable reasons for missing the midterm are
personal illness and emergency situation in the family. The midterm exam will
comprise 40 percent of the course grade.

Final exam: The final exam will be held in class on Tuesday, October 14. It will be closed
books and notes. Acceptable reasons for missing the final are personal illness
and emergency situation in the family. The final exam will comprise 40 percent
of the course grade.

Academic Integrity: The George Washington University Code of Academic Integrity applies to all
aspects of this course. In no way will you take advantage of solutions available
from previous courses, either from former students or from solutions made
available by the instructor or by the book authors.

Course description: Introduction to quantitative management science modeling techniques and

their application to decision making in business and government. Applications to
production scheduling, transportation problems, network design, budgeting,
crew scheduling, etc. Spreadsheet modeling is used extensively to solve
formulated problems.

Required background: The catalog lists APSC 3115 or EMSE 6020 as prerequisite courses. It is helpful to
have a good modeling experience (optimization and other management science

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 techniques) as well as a good working knowledge of Excel and its various
functions. Appendix B of the book provides tips in using Excel for modeling.

Reference books: Excel 2010: Data Analysis and Business Modeling

By Wayne Winston, Microsoft Press, 2011

Introduction to Operations Research

By Frederick S. Hillier and Gerald Lieberman, McGraw Hill, 2005

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel

By David M. Levine, David Stephan, Timothy C. Krehbiel, Mark L. Berenson,
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005

What to do if the instructor does not arrive:

If the Instructor does not arrive for the class at the designated starting time and has not notified
the class of a late starting time or the cancellation of the class, the students should wait in the
classroom for at least 30 minutes and try to reach him under 757-560-3094 before departing.
One member of the class should be selected to notify the EMSE Department of the Instructor’s
absence by calling the EMSE Department at 1-888-694-9627 on the next business day.

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 EMSE 6850-HI4
Course Calendar (Subject to change)

Textbook Homework
Session Topic Reading Problems

Sep. 8, Tue Introduction Chapter 1 HW1 due

1
Linear Programming: Basic Concepts Chapter 2 Aug. 25

2 Linear Programming: Formulation and HW2 due

Sep. 15, Tue Chapter 3
Applications Aug. 25

HW3 due
3 Sep. 22, Tue What- If Analysis for Linear Programming Chapter 5
Sep. 15

Network Optimization Problems

Chapter 6 HW4 due
4 Sep. 29, Tue (Including Transportation and Assignment
Chapter 15* Sep. 15
Problems)

HW5 due
5 Oct. 6, Tue Binary Integer Programming Chapter 7
Sep. 29

6 Oct. 13, Tue Midterm Exam in Class

Decision Analysis HW6 due

7 Oct. 20, Tue Chapter 9
Oct. 13

Chapter 9 HW7 due

8 Oct. 27, Tue Decision Analysis (cont.)
Oct. 13

Forecasting Chap 10
9 Nov. 3, Tue
Goal Programming Chap 17*

10 Nov. 10, Tue Final Exam in Class

Note: *This chapter is on the book’s CD.

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Activation and installation of course software:
Excel Solver:
See Hiller and Hiller (2014) section 2.5 on page 38 for accessing the Excel Solver for the first
time. Tips for using Microsoft Excel for modeling are provided in Appendix A, starting on page
599.

Risk Solver Platform for Education:

Preparation:
1. If you have a Mac, visit and read www.solver.com/using-frontline-solvers-macintosh. To use
the software for this course, you’ll need to install Windows alongside Mac OSX, and install
Excel or Office for Windows. This will also allow you to use other Windows software, as well
as Mac software on your machine.
2. Check whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit Excel – this determines which software version you
should download. You probably have 32-bit Excel. You have 64-bit ONLY if (i) in Excel 2010,
you click File – Help, and you see 64-bit in the lower right, or (ii) in Excel 2013, you click File
– Account – About Excel, and you see 64-bit at the top of the dialog.
Registration:
1. Point your browser to www.solver.com/student. (Do not attempt to register or download
anywhere else on Solver.com – this will cause trouble later.)
2. Fill out the form on this page. Enter your email address (to ensure you receive your license
activation code), enter a login password you can remember, enter your first and last name,
and George Washington University for your school.
3. Enter HIMSMC5 for the Textbook Code and EMSE6850F14 for the Course Code. These are
special for our course – entering these will give you a 140-day license. (Leaving them blank
will give you a 15-day license.)
4. Check the box to acknowledge that you accept the Frontline Systems license agreement.
Note: Frontline receives no money from you, or the textbook publisher, or the university;
this free 140-day license is a courtesy that they offer to students.
5. Click the button Register to Download. If everything is OK, this will take you to the
Download page.
Download
1. On the Download page, change 32-bit to 64-bit ONLY if you’ve confirmed that you have 64-
bit Excel. Click the blue Download Now button.
2. In some browsers you will see a dialog "Do you want to run or save this file?" Click Save to
save the file, named either SolverSetup.exe or SolverSetup64.exe.
3. Now check your email, at the email address you entered above, for a message containing an
installation password and a license activation code. Frontline sends this email twice, from
different servers, to ensure that you receive it. If you don’t get it, visit
www.solver.com/installation-password-request and login to request another email
message.
Installation
1. Make sure that Excel is closed (not running), then run the program SolverSetup.exe (or
SolverSetup64.exe). SolverSetup will prompt you to enter the password and activation code

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 from the email message above – enter them exactly as shown in the email (you can copy
and paste).
2. The SolverSetup program will prompt you to choose between Analytic Solver Platform, Risk
Solver Platform and XLMiner. Choosing Analytic Solver Platform gives you all the features of
Risk Solver Platform and XLMiner, so this is usually the best choice. You can CHANGE this
choice later in Excel, by choosing a menu option Help – Change Product on the Ribbon.
3. When the SolverSetup program finishes, start Excel (the last Setup dialog prompts you to do
this). You should see new tabs on the Ribbon for Analytic Solver Platform or Risk Solver
Platform, and XLMiner. Click the Solver Platform tab – you should see a “Welcome” dialog
with various links. Use the Help dropdown menu to open Help text, the User Guide and
Reference Guide, and load example workbooks.
If all has gone well, you’re ready for our class exercises. If you have problems, the best avenues
to get help are to email support@solver.com (this creates a support ticket in Frontline’s Help
Desk) or start a Live Chat from any page on www.solver.com, or from within Excel (Help –
Support Live Chat).