Consulting Engineer flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Earned Value Management

A technique integrating scope, schedule, and cost by comparing planned value, earned value, and actual cost to forecast performance and completion.

Critical Path

The longest-duration sequence of dependent activities through a project network; it determines the shortest possible project duration and has zero total float.

Total Float

The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date, calculated as late start minus early start.

Integrated Change Control

The formal process of reviewing, assessing, approving, or rejecting changes to scope, schedule, cost, and quality baselines, then updating plans and documents.

Net Present Value

The sum of discounted future cash flows minus the initial investment; a positive NPV indicates the project adds value at the required rate of return.

Internal Rate of Return

The discount rate at which a project's net present value equals zero; compare it with the hurdle rate to accept or reject the investment.

Weighted Average Cost of Capital

The blended after-tax cost of a firm's debt and equity, weighted by capital structure; it serves as the minimum required return on average-risk investments.

Break-Even Quantity

The sales volume at which total revenue equals total cost, computed as fixed costs divided by unit price minus unit variable cost.

Sunk Cost

A cost already incurred and not recoverable by any future decision; it must be excluded from incremental economic analysis.

Root-Sum-Square Uncertainty

A method combining independent random uncertainties by taking the square root of the sum of their squares, appropriate for uncorrelated error sources.

Design Factor

The ratio of failure strength to allowable working stress; it accounts for uncertainty in loads, material properties, and consequences of failure.

Steady-Flow Energy Equation

The first-law balance for open systems relating heat, work, and changes in enthalpy, kinetic energy, and potential energy between inlet and outlet.

Model Verification and Validation

Verification confirms the model is implemented correctly; validation confirms it represents the real system adequately for the intended use.

Sensitivity Analysis

A technique testing how changes in individual input variables affect model output, often ranked visually with a tornado diagram.

Standard of Care

The degree of skill and care ordinarily exercised by competent professionals under similar circumstances; it does not guarantee a perfect outcome.

Negligence Elements

Four required elements: duty of care owed, breach of that duty, causation linking breach to harm, and actual damages.

Conflict of Interest

A situation where personal or financial interests could improperly influence professional judgment; it requires disclosure and often written consent or withdrawal.

Cost-Reimbursable Contract

An agreement paying the seller allowable incurred costs plus a fee; the buyer bears cost-overrun risk, often bounded by a ceiling price.

Fiduciary Duty

A legal obligation to act in another party's best interest, exercising loyalty, confidentiality, and avoidance of undisclosed self-dealing.

Stakeholder Power-Interest Grid

A mapping of stakeholders by influence and concern, guiding engagement intensity from manage closely to monitor based on their position.

Communication Plan

A documented schedule defining who receives what information, through which channel, at what frequency, and who is responsible for sending it.

Requirements Traceability

The documented linkage from each stakeholder requirement through design, implementation, and verification, ensuring nothing is dropped or added silently.

Active Listening

A communication technique using paraphrasing, summarizing, and open questions to confirm understanding and surface unstated concerns.

Escalation Path

A pre-agreed sequence identifying who addresses an issue at each level and the trigger for raising it to senior authority.

Quality Assurance vs Control

Assurance is preventive and process-focused, aiming to avoid defects; control is detective and product-focused, finding defects through inspection and testing.

Hierarchy of Controls

Risk control ordered by effectiveness: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment.

ALARP Principle

Requiring risks be reduced so far as is reasonably practicable, balancing further reduction cost against the benefit of reduced harm.

Risk Score

The product of probability and impact used to rank risks; higher scores receive priority response and closer monitoring.

Contingency Reserve

Budget or time set aside for identified risks with accepted responses; management reserve covers unidentified risks outside the baseline.

Root Cause Analysis

A structured investigation, using tools such as the 5 Whys or fishbone diagram, to identify underlying causes rather than symptoms of a failure.

PDCA Cycle

Plan-Do-Check-Act: an iterative improvement loop that plans a change, implements it, measures results, and standardizes or corrects accordingly.

Cost of Poor Quality

The sum of internal and external failure costs, including rework, warranty, and liability, typically exceeding prevention and appraisal spending.