One of the most significant challenges for civil engineers is the need to deliver infrastructure effectively and efficiently while simultaneously ensuring quality, mitigating risk, and controlling project delivery. Engineering economics, also called capital allocation theory, financial decision analysis, and management economics, provides engineers with a logical set of tools evaluating various mutually exclusive investments or engineering projects to support and facilitate decision-making processes.

This course covers the significance of engineering economics, cost concepts and behaviors, the relationship between time and money, comparison and evaluation methods of engineering projects, risk and uncertainty analysis, and special discussions. By the end of the course, students will learn how to incorporate engineering economics as part of the evaluations occurring at each phase in the practical engineering project lifecycle.

Modern engineers are often involved in various management roles or decisions in their vocational training. Technical knowledge alone is not enough for engineers in today's complex and dynamic environments. Engineers need to know how to analyze industry and economy, and evaluate projects quantitatively to choose the best solution.

The major objectives of the Engineering Economics course are: (1) to introduce the basic concepts suitable for economic analysis of engineering; (2) to familiarize students with the fundamental quantitative analysis techniques required for large-scale engineering projects.