Since 1989, Howard Eisner has served as Distinguished Research Professor

and Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at The

George Washington University, Washington, DC. For the prior thirty years,

he held various positions in industry, including president of two systems and

software engineering companies (Intercon Systems Corporation and the Atlantic

Research Services Corporation) and as a member of the board of three

companies. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE) and a member of several engineering honor societies. Dr.

Eisner has written two books on systems engineering and related topics and

a book on personal and corporate reengineering. He holds a B.E.E. from the

City College of New York, an M.S. from Columbia University, and a Doctor

of Science from The George Washington University.

This book has two primary objectives: (1) to define and describe the essentials

of project and systems engineering management, and (2) to show the relationship

and interconnection between project management and systems

engineering.

The subject of project management is well-trodden territory and is explored

at considerable length in numerous books. Systems engineering, on the other

hand, is not as well known, as measured perhaps by the literature that describes

and supports it. Like project management, it deals with a variety of

methods for designing and building a system that are independent of the

domain of the system itself. Slowly, but noticeably, systems engineering is

finding its way into a greater number of college curricula and taking its place

alongside the more traditional engineering disciplines such as electrical engineering,

mechanical engineering, and the like.