Project Management of Complex and Embedded Systems

by Kim H. Pries, Jon M. Quigley

There are many books on project management and many on embedded systems, but few address the project management of embedded products from concept to production. Project Management of Complex and Embedded Systems: Ensuring Product Integrity and Program Quality uses proven Project Management methods and elements of IEEE embedded software development techniques, to explain how to deliver a reliable complex system to market. This volume begins with a general discussion of project management, followed by an examination of the various tools used before a project is underway. The book then delves into the specific project stages: concept, product development, process development, validation of the product and process, and release to production. Finally, post-project stages are explored, including failure reporting, analysis, corrective actions, and product support. The book draws heavily on information from Department of Defense sources as well as systems developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford to standardize the approach to designing and developing new products. These automotive development and production ideas have universal value, particularly the concept of process and design controls. The authors use these systems to explain project management techniques that can assist developers of any embedded system. The methods explored can be adapted toward mechanical development projects as well. The text includes numerous war stories offering concrete solutions to problems that might occur in production. Tables and illustrative figures are provided to further clarify the material. Organized sequentially to follow the normal life cycle of a project, this book helps project managers identify challenges before they become problems and resolve those issues that cannot be avoided.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2008

About the author

Mr. Jon Quigley works for Volvo 3P as the manager of the Electrical and Electronics Verification and Test group in North America. He is also a principal in Value Transformation, LLC--a consultancy providing value engineering, project management, test engineering, and training primarily in new product development.

Jon has experience as an embedded product developer (hardware and software) for industrial applications, as well for the heavy vehicle industry. He has had roles as a test engineer for projects, both for automotive and heavy vehicle applications. He is experienced in software engineering, software testing, embedded product engineering, test engineering (production and product testing), book writing, Product Development training, automotive quality, and real-time programming.

Jon is the coauthor, with Kim H. Pries, of Project Management of Complex and Embedded Systems (CRC Press, 2008), as well as more then a dozen magazine and e-magazine articles. These articles are in Automotive Design Line, EDN, Embedded Systems Design, Product Design & Development, Software Magazine, Software Development Times, Software Test and Performance, Quality Magazine, and Project Magazine on line. Additionally, Jon is co-authoring two other books with Kim Pries that are under contract. The books are tentatively titled: "Scrum Project Management" and "Testing of Complex and Embedded Systems" both will be available middle to late 2010.

Jon has a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and masters of business administration in marketing as well as a masters of science in project management from City University of Seattle. He has five US patents, with another three in various stages of the patent process. Additionally, he was part of the team that received the North American Volvo Technical award in 2005 going on to win the Volvo Global Technology Award in 2006. He is a member of SAE, SAVE, and PMI, and is the holder of Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. He lives in Lexington, North Carolina with his wife Nancy, and son Jackson a cat and a dog."