MA 2210: Mathematical Methods in Decision Making

with entrepreneurship

D term 2017

 

 

Professor:       Suzanne L. Weekes

Email:              sweekes@wpi.edu

Office:             202D Stratton Hall, WPI 

 

Lect/Conf:        MTRF   10:00 – 10:50 Stratton Hall 309,      W 10:00 – 10:50 Stratton Hall 202

 

PLA:                 Natalie Wellen            nswellen@wpi.edu

 

Office Hours:  Prof. Weekes               Tues, Fri 1:30 – 3:00 pm in SH 202D, and by appointment

Natalie                        Thurs   11:30 am – 12:30 pm in Student Math Lounge 0th floor Stratton Hall

                                                             also working 5 – 6 pm in Math Tutoring Center on 0th floor Stratton Hall

 

Text:                Introductory Operations Research, by F. Hillier & G. Lieberman   ISBN 978-0-07-352345-3

 

Web Page:      Information about the course will be maintained on the course web page at http://www.wpi.edu/~sweekes/MA2210

 

Lecture &        http://users.wpi.edu/~sweekes/MA2210/Schedule_D2017.html

HW Schedule           

 

Entrepre-        Professor Weekes is a Coleman Fellow this year and, as such, she will be building self-employment

    neurship     education into this course in order to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in her students.   This fellowship is sponsored by the Coleman Foundation.

 

Overview        This course introduces students to the principles of decision theory as applied to the planning, design and management of complex projects. It will be useful to students in all areas of engineering, actuarial mathematics as well as those in such interdisciplinary areas as environmental studies. It emphasizes quantitative, analytic approaches to decision making using the tools of applied mathematics, operations research, probability and computations.           

 

                        Topics covered include: the systems approach, mathematical modeling, optimization and decision analyses. Case studies from various areas of engineering or actuarial mathematics are used to illustrate applications of the materials covered in this course.

 

Recommended background:   MA 1024

Suggested background:            Familiarity with vectors and matrices 

 

Grading:          The final grades will be computed using:

HW/Projects     50%   

Exam I                25%

Exam II               25%    

 

Homework:    Homework assignments will be posted on the course website.  Each homework assignment is due at the beginning of lecture on the due date.  http://users.wpi.edu/~sweekes/MA2210/Schedule_D2017.html

                       

Late assignments without prior consent of the professor will not be accepted and will receive a grade of 0.  Feel free to turn in homework early, if you know that you will not be able to attend a class session.  Extensions will be granted only in the event of unforeseen emergencies or in extenuating situations that you discuss with the professor well in advance.

Your work should be very legible and done neatly.  If the work is not presentable, and is illegible, you will not receive credit for it.  Please staple the sheets of your assignment together.   

 

Exams:             There will be two in-class exams.  Students are expected to attend every lecture and, hence, be able to take the exams on the dates on which they are scheduled.

 

Make-up exams are essentially not given and will only be considered in the event of a documented emergency.

 

Absence from Class:

If you need to miss class for some reason, e.g. participating in a competition, or religious observance, please discuss this with me at the beginning of the term.

 

Academic Integrity:

Please read the Student Guide to Academic Integrity at WPI http://www.wpi.edu/offices/policies/honesty and all its pages. For example, the link “What Constitutes Academic Dishonesty?” gives some examples of academic dishonesty; i.e. acts that interfere with the process of evaluation by misrepresentation of the relation between the work being evaluated  (or the resulting evaluation) and the student's actual state of knowledge.

                       

Each student must familiarize himself/herself with WPI’s Academic Honesty Policy. All suspected cases of dishonesty will be fully investigated.

 

Ask Prof. Weekes if you are in any way unsure whether your proposed actions/collaborations will be considered academically honest or not.

 

Students with Disabilities:

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you have medical information to share with me that may impact your performance or participation in this course, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible.  

If you have approved accommodations, please go to the Exam Proctoring Center (EPC) in Morgan Hall to pick up Letters of Accommodation.

If you have not already done so, students with disabilities who need to utilize accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. This office can be contacted via email: DisabilityServices@wpi.edu, via phone: (508) 831-4908, or in person: 137 or 124 Daniels Hall.