College of Engineering Multidisciplinary Programs

The mission of the PhD-ESM program is to educate future researchers, practitioners, innovators and academics. The program seeks to give students cutting-edge knowledge, skills and abilities in engineering systems management that can be utilized to meet societal needs and shape contemporary market trends in the UAE, the region and globally.

• a minimum of 24 credits (8 courses) of required and elective coursework:

• a minimum of 6 credits (2 courses) of required courses
• a minimum of 18 credits (6 courses) of elective courses
• a zero-credit seminar course

• a minimum of 30 credits of research work (dissertation)

The expected minimum duration for completion of the PhD ESM degree program is four years.

Required Courses

Students must successfully complete the following required courses:

• ESM 701 Research Methods
• ESM 702 Multivariate Data Analysis
• ESM 795 Doctoral Seminar
• ESM 799 Dissertation (for a minimum of 24 credits)

Elective Courses (minimum of 18 credits)

Students must successfully complete a minimum of six elective courses (for a minimum of 18 credits) selected from the following research areas. The electives courses must be approved by the program coordinator.

Supply Chain Management Research Area

• ESM 710 Advanced Decision Making Analysis
• ESM 711 Deterministic Optimization Techniques
• ESM 712 Advanced Supply Chain Management
• ESM 713 Supply Chain Modeling
• ESM 714 Modeling and Analysis of Logistics Systems)
• ESM 794 Special Topics in ESM­–Supply Chain Management

Sustainable Construction Project Management Research Area

• ESM 720 Sustainable Development for Engineers
• ESM 721 Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness
• ESM 722 Sustainable Analytics and Resource Management
• ESM 723 The Living Building
• ESM 724 Sustainable Ecosystems
• ESM 725 Programs and Portfolio Management
• ESM 794 Special Topics in ESM–Sustainable Construction Project Management

Smart Cities Research Area

• ESM 730 Tools for Big Data
• ESM 731 Smart Cities Infrastructure and Services
• ESM 732 Networking Architectures for Smart Cities
• ESM 733 Electronic, Social and Sensor Network Applications for Smart Cities
• ESM 734 Trust and Security for Smart Cities
• ESM 794 Special Topics in ESM–Smart Cities

Engineering Management Research Area

• ESM 740 Advanced Quality Engineering
• ESM 741 Organizational Performance Management
• ESM 742 Strategic Human Resources Management
• ESM 743 Strategic Management
• ESM 794 Special Topics in ESM–Engineering Management

Course Descriptions

Required Courses

ESM 701 Research Methods (3-0-3)

Equips PhD students with a good understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods at both the conceptual and applied levels to prepare them to undertake substantiated and rigorous scholarly research work, particularly dissertation and research papers. Familiarizes students with basic tenets of research, knowledge, methods and success in research. Includes problem formulation, literature review, hypotheses formulation, proposal preparation and empirical testing techniques. Enables students to formulate empirical research using experimental or descriptive research approaches. Utilizes commonly used statistical models such as nonparametric association and correlation measures and analysis of variance to analyze and interpret actual data.

ESM 702 Multivariate Data Analysis (3-0-3)

Discusses techniques for analyzing multivariate experimental and observational data. Provides students with a working knowledge of several multivariate data analysis techniques to conduct empirical research. Covers exploratory multivariate data analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, multivariate regression analysis, principal components analysis, factor analysis, clustering analysis and structural equation modeling. Utilizes commonly used statistical software for data analysis, such as Minitab, STATA, and the R free open-source package.

ESM 795 Doctoral Seminar (1-0-0)

Provides a unique discussion forum for all doctoral students to interact with a diverse group of faculty from different CEN departments and AUS colleges, as well as with outside presenters. Encompasses a wide variety of pertinent topics from ESM research areas/themes.

ESM 799 Dissertation (24 credits)

Includes the preparation of a dissertation proposal, presentation and defense of the research proposal, write-up of the dissertation, and presentation and defense of the dissertation.

Elective Courses

ESM 710 Advanced Decision Making Analysis (3-0-3)

Provides the necessary theoretical knowledge towards analyzing and making decisions. Covers multiple objectives, influence diagrams, decision trees, risk assessment and quantification, single and multi-attribute utility, techniques for multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) and game theory.

ESM 711 Deterministic Optimization Techniques (3-0-3)

Covers deterministic operations research techniques and their underlying theory. Includes advanced topics in large-scale optimization, integer programming, non-linear programming, and meta-heuristic optimization techniques.

ESM 712 Advanced Supply Chain Management (3-0-3)

Covers leading-edge topics in global supply chain management including the latest supply chain strategies, strategic sourcing, technological advances in supply chain management, supply chain risk management approaches, sustainable supply chain, ethical issues in supply chain management, and humanitarian supply chain.

ESM 713 Supply Chain Modeling (3-0-3)

Explores how optimization techniques can support decisions in the design, planning and operation of a supply chain. Covers deterministic and stochastic models in supply chain management. Includes advanced topics in supply chain design, supply chain coordination, closed loop supply chains, supply chain risk and sustainability.

ESM 714 Modeling and Analysis of Logistics Systems (3-0-3)

Discusses the modeling and analysis of logistics and physical distribution systems. Includes location and design of facilities, tactical and operational decisions related to warehousing, management of logistics systems and management of ports operations and container terminals.

ESM 720 Sustainable Development for Engineers (3-0-3)

Covers both the rudimentary and radical concepts of sustainable development and economic growth in a social and environmental context. Discusses, analyzes and evaluates patterns of development. Investigates the impacts of engineering projects in local and international communities via well-structured research questions utilizing theoretical and empirical research techniques. Evaluates contemporary trends in sustainable technology in relation to the different project settings.

ESM 721 Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness (3-0-3)

Introduces students with technical backgrounds to the macro realm of sustainable development, international economics, and urban planning and regeneration. Highlights the role of multinational corporations and mega projects in global competitiveness. Presents the subtle overlap between design patterns, development, and regulations in sustainable development projects. Deliberates the latest UN sustainable development goals and their expected aftermath in an international setting. Uses case studies and research workgroups to demonstrate the comprehensive link between economic growth and social progress.

ESM 722 Sustainable Analytics and Resource Management (3-0-3)

Focuses on sustainability data analyses and covers current and innovative methodologies in optimal energy and water resource management in construction projects. Explores data driven resource management techniques during design, construction and operation. Utilizes regression analysis, economic impact analysis, and feasibility studies in answering research questions through a series of case studies and projects

ESM 723 The Living Building (3-0-3)

Focuses on the Living Building Challenge performance areas. Introduces the “beyond regenerative” concept of an organic, living building envelope for commercial and residential construction.  Explains the core construction practices in relation to net zero energy and net zero water techniques. Presents traditional and renewable grid balance techniques through a series of projects and seminars.

ESM 724 Sustainable Ecosystems (3-0-3)

Covers integrated ecological planning and sustainable land management in coastal ecosystems. Discusses fundamental concepts and practical quantitative
problem-solving techniques dealing with contamination, environmental toxicology and ecosystem turbulence due to manmade construction projects.

ESM 725 Programs and Portfolio Management (3-0-3)

Presents a view of managing projects from an organizational perspective. Discusses strategic alignment, project and program selection techniques, the role of effectively managing organizational assets through an enterprise project management office as a governance entity, portfolio management and program management. Covers schedule integration, resource management and portfolio risk management. Covers tools such as Analytic Hierarchy Process, Earned Value Management and Monte Carlo Simulation. Uses specific examples and case studies to explore and apply practices to create and manage portfolios of programs and projects to efficiently leverage organizational assets.

ESM 730 Tools for Big Data (3-0-3)

Covers software tools for manipulating, storing and analyzing Big Data in various formats such as sensor and web logs, videos, speech recordings, images, emails, social media messages and more.  Covers use of R system for data manipulation and for statistical and machine learning.  Explains the use of MapReduce/Hadoop scalable data processing in conjunction with Hive/Pig. Introduces NoSQL databases such as MongoDB and CouchDB. Includes techniques for processing streaming real-time data.  Discusses tools for visualizing large data and integration strategies for various Big Data tools.

ESM 731 Smart Cities Infrastructure and Services (3-0-3)

Identifies and investigates the major infrastructure pillars of smart cities.  Discusses smart cities’ physical layer and enabling technologies, developing smart cities’ conceptual model and multi-criteria assessment transformation based on SWOT.  Studies smart cities’ resources and services such as smart energy, smart buildings, smart transportation, smart water, smart waste, smart physical safety and security, smart health care and smart education. Explores the social impact and ethical issues of smart cities.

ESM 732 Networking Architectures for Smart Cities (3-0-3)

Introduces communication networks for smart cities. Discusses architectures, models, protocols and the emerging new Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. Addresses the principles of flow and congestion control, addressing, signaling switching and routing, multiple access approaches, convergence sublayer solutions and standards, physical layer technologies, and network security.

ESM 733 Electronic, Social and Sensor Network Applications for Smart Cities (3-0-3)

Covers the foundations of electronic, social and sensor network applications including infrastructure, services and application layers with special emphasis on sensors and mobile devices. Explores harvesting and processing techniques for large-scale near real-time data from smart cities. Discusses the role of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and associated spatial analysis. Covers the design of networks for capturing resource consumption and mobility patterns. Discusses use of statistical and big data techniques to improve city services based on harvested data, and business models for sustainable deployment of smart city applications. Covers the ethics of data-driven urbanism. Includes case studies in selected areas of learning, recreation, energy, production and health.

ESM 734 Trust and Security for Smart Cities (3-0-3)

Covers advanced security and trust concepts and implementation in wired and wireless computer networks and computer systems especially in the context of smart cities. Includes malware defenses, impact of channel fragility, node mobility, cooperative functionality, and resource constraints on security and trust at the different layers of the Internet protocol stack. Discusses special topics in privacy for personal data such as mobility patterns, resource consumption (food, water, energy), and individualized health profiles.

ESM 740 Advanced Quality Engineering (3-0-3)

Covers emerging issues with quality engineering and management such as innovation, happiness and process re-engineering with a focus on both quantitative and qualitative analytical skills essential to conducting research. Examines organizational development and deployment of service management systems utilized in achieving service quality. Includes analysis of business case, enablers and detractors of Six Sigma and quality awards deployment in both manufacturing and service sectors through critical articles reviews.

ESM 741 Organizational Performance Management (3-0-3)

Explores traditional and contemporary performance management (PM) frameworks and models at the organization level, unit level and the individual level. Focuses on designing PM systems that integrate strategy, execution, methodologies and risk. Details the design of the added-value PM systems including goals and objectives, operational process, support process, evaluation and control, and organization behavior. Covers PM measurements system’s design and analysis using the various key performance indicators, key risk indicators, and key control indicators. Includes PM implementation pitfalls and critical success factors

ESM 742 Strategic Human Resources Management (3-0-3)

Explores how human resources management (HRM) policies and procedures can add value to an organization. Covers state-of-the-art human resource management approaches to become a strategic partner in improving resource utilization and help companies achieve their goals. Includes the processes of developing and implementing human resource strategies to promote a healthy social and psychological environment for the workforce. Discusses key theories and research approaches within the field of human resource management in the following areas: strategic HRM (the link between HRM and outcomes at the firm and individual level), the HR function (the roles and capabilities of the HR department and of individual HR professionals), and international HRM (HRM in multinational corporations, comparative HRM and global mobility). Examines the particularities of HRM in the public sector and in the GCC countries.

ESM 743 Strategic Management (3-0-3)

Covers analysis of internal and external environments of an organization. Explores the development of appropriate strategies, objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs).