Applications of System Dynamics

Projects

Project Schedule 
Student Final Presentations

Project Schedule

15.875 is centered around a project that teams complete in steps during the semester, which is outlined the table below. Each project is sponsored by a real-life company or organization, who will act as the students’ client throughout the semester. More information on the progress reports that teams give in the weekly “breakout sessions” can be found on the lecture notes page.

WEEK #	TOPICS	PROJECTS
1	Introduction	Indicate project preferences from list of topics
2	Guidelines for Kickoff Meeting - Breakout Session	Project topics assigned Teams have “Kickoff Meetings” with Clients
3	Definition of Concern and Momentum Policies - Breakout Group Presentation 1	Begin the Causal Looping Process Second Client Meetings: Rough Hypotheses
4	Rough Dynamic Hypotheses - Breakout Group Presentation 2
5	Dynamic Hypotheses - Breakout Group Presentation 3
6	Mini-presentations - Breakout Group Presentation 4
7	Partial Model of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 5
8	Model and Analysis of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 6
9	Partial Model of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 7 Molecules Out
10	Model and Analysis of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 8
11	Partial Model of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 9
12	Model and Analysis of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 10
13	Partial Model of First Hypothesis - Breakout Group Presentation 11
14	Insights Presentation - Breakout Group Presentation 12
15	Final Presentations and Models	Final presentations and models due

Student Final Presentations

Examples of the student teams’ final presentations are available:

1. The Dynamics of Multiple Project Contracts, or Big is Beautiful…right?
2. Burlington Resources: Canada-MIT Alliance (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Chen-Wen Huang and David Miller. Used with permission.
3. The Future of Fiber Optical Communications
4. Countdown to Launch: Managing New Product Development
5. Cost and Schedule Overruns in NASA Programs: Analysis and Recommendations (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Alex Denissov, Tina Laforteza, and Jay Wynn. Used with permission.
6. Phlebotomy & Delayed Discharges at an Academic Teaching Hospital (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Timothy Quinn and Jenny Rudolph, PhD. Used with permission.
7. Forecasting Market Price Movements with System Dynamics (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Chris Lim, Xiao Lin, and David Steinmiller. Used with permission.
8. Challenges to Economic Growth in Nigeria (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Michael Amati, Jose Ardavin, and Jeanette Fershtman. Used with permission.
9. Forecasting ATE sales at Teradyne, Inc. (PDF) 
   Presentation courtesy of Kapil Dev Singh, Torben Thurow, and Truman Bradley. Used with permission.