What classes me take?

I forgot to make a post about what classes I am taking this semester so here is a quick rundown. A cheap excuse is that I just found out on Wednesday that I got into a class (I’ve been working the drop/add process).

1.155/2.963/3.577/6.938/10.816/16.862/22.82/ESD.72 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis: Why so many numbers? This class is co-listed for just about every engineering major out there. I definitely selected this class because it was one of the easier engineering classes (low work load). I don’t typically select classes because they are easy but I have two time intensive classes and i needed to balance out the rest of my schedule. This class is really about looking at the risk involved in complex systems (such as nuclear reactors). I get the feeling that it will combine risk assessment, statistics, cost/benefit analysis, etc.

15.281 Advanced Managerial Communication: This class will be extremely good for me, but I will be miserable half of the time. This class is with the same communications teacher that I had in the fall (if you read my fall review you know that I really enjoyed his class) and I expect more of the same. Communication is one of my weaknesses that I know I need to work on, hence I am taking communication classes. In this class we will practice a number of forms of communication that a manager will typically have to use. One of the events that I am looking forward to (or is it dreading?) is presenting to a hostile crowd.

15.402 Finance Theory II: This is one of the time intensive classes that I spoke of. We have class twice a week and in each class you have to turn in a 1-2 page writeup about the case you read and then discuss the case in class. The cases need to be prepared in groups (and they are typically difficult enough that you need a group to make sure nothing falls through the cracks) which adds to the time intensiveness. You can’t B.S. the case in class either (at least with the teacher I have). You have to have read the case and understand the calculations…and even then you’re probably not prepared…because you will be cold called.

15.521 Management Accounting: This class is about how companies work their internal accounting and how that information can be used (or typically misused) to make business decisions. I highly recommend this class for anyone who may work in any way with a manufacturing facility. We spend most of our time talking about the typical mistakes companies make (just like the company I came from) when using their internal accounting system to make business decisions. Good stuff.

If you can convince an auditor that there are either 27 or 29 beans (depending on what you would rather have) in this picture you are ready to be an accountant

15.615 Business Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager: Don’t let the title fool you, this is basically an overview of business law. MIT Sloan has two different versions (same teacher) with one that focuses on finance and one that focuses on entrepreneurs. The classes are almost identical, with a slight focus at the end. This one worked better for my schedule. This is a class that is good to have…solid advice about how and where to get legal advice once we return to the real world. While I planned on taking this class either way, I took it this semester because it is a low workload class (read some cases and show up…the professor does most of the talking).

15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing:  This is the same class that we had last semester.  Companies come in and we listen to them once a week.

15.871/15.872 System Dynamics: This class is a great class at MIT. Most people want to take this in the fall with Professor Sterman (he literally wrote the book on System Dynamics, I know…I had to buy it for well over $100) but I could not get it in because of the engineering classes I wanted take this past fall (and as I’ve told you about before, we only get one fall at MIT). So far I like the professor I have so I don’t see what the big deal is and it should be a good class. The class basically looks at complex systems and how people interact with those systems. An easy to understand example (not the best example, but easy to understand) of what this class is about is forest fires. If we take the outlook that we want to put out all forest fires as soon as they start (to reduce/eliminate property damage) what we end up with is a forest that is packed with underbrush. In a natural system, small fires burn out this underbrush. So after immediately putting out fires year after year, the forest (packed with underbrush) eventually catches fire and soon we have a super fire on our hand that causes extreme damage and typically the lives of firefighters. By analyzing the whole system and the effects of all contributing factors we can see that we are better off with a number of smaller and controlled fires.

These systems are easy to understand afterwards, but how do we get better at understanding them before they are a problem

ESD.941 Tiger Teams: This class is an LFM/SDM class where a group of students go and work on a project for a local company (free for the company, minus travel expenses if they are not local). This class is a great chance to put into practice the skills we are learning here at Sloan. MIT’s motto is Mind and Hand (Mens et Manus for the Latin speaking readers) and this class is a great example of that. My team (me and two other ChemEs) will be working with a local chocolate company. I’ll update my blog when I know more.

Overall I am very happy with my schedule. I wanted Finance II on Monday/Wednesday to balance my classes throughout the week but I was not able to get into that section. Instead I’ve got two classes on M/W and four classes on T/R. The only thing I have on Friday is a recitation session (extra session with a TA where we talk about homework problems). It is pretty nice not having class on Friday. As I’ve said before, MIT loves they vacation.