Engineering Economics: Financial Decision Making for Engineers, 7th edition

Published by Pearson Canada (8 February 2021) © 2022

  • Niall M. Fraser Open Options Corporation , University of Waterloo
  • Elizabeth M. Jewkes University of Waterloo
  • Mehrdad Pirnia University of Waterloo
  • Ketra Schmitt Concordia University

Title overview

For courses in Engineering Economics.

Canadian engineers have a unique set of circumstances that warrant a text with a specific Canadian focus. Canadian firms make decisions according to norms and standards that reflect Canadian views on social responsibility, environmental concerns, and cultural diversity. This perspective is reflected in the content and tone of much of the material in this text.

Engineering Economics: Financial Decision Making for Engineers is designed for teaching a course on engineering economics, and intended to match engineering practiced in Canada today. It recognizes the role of the engineer as a decision maker who has to make and defend sensible recommendations. Such choices must not only take into account a correct assessment of costs and benefits, they must also reflect an understanding of the environment in which the decisions are made.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Engage! boxes near the beginning and end of each chapter recount the fictional experiences of a young engineer at a Canadian company. These vignettes reflect and support the chapter material. The first box in each chapter usually portrays one of the characters trying to deal with a practical problem. The second box demonstrates how the character has solved the problem by applying material discussed in the chapter above. 
  • Close-Up boxes in the chapters present additional material about concepts that are important but not essential to the chapter.
  • Case in Point boxes present material relevant to the appropriate chapter. The issues raised can be difficult, curious, and possibly disquieting. There may be no obvious “right” answer or “correct” application of principles. Students are invited to challenge rigidity, and encouraged to exercise flexibility in their problem- solving approaches. 

The 7th edition of Fraser will retire on June 1, 2026. Please speak to your rep about updating your course to the new 8th edition.

New and updated features of this title

  • As the world shifts to a greater reliance on digital media, it is appropriate that this text evolves as well. This seventh edition is the first fully digital version of Engineering Economics. Instructors and students will find that, although the medium has changed, the content is fully consistent with prior editions.
  • A new section on calculation of levelized cost has been added to Chapter 5. This method has become very popular in recent years, especially in studying the feasibility of energy resource planning projects.
  • Chapter 13, “Qualitative Considerations and Multiple Criteria,” has been restored to the text. This topic has become more critical as a tool for engineers in recent years as engineers have taken on more responsibility for managing decisions in the public interest.
  • Some educators have reported that students have trouble seeing and appreciating the relevance of the content covered in the Engineering Economics course. We have added a completely new set of experiential learning simulations that provide a novel way to integrate material across chapters and to help students engage more deeply with the course content. 

Table of contents

  1. Engineering Decision Making
  2. Time Value of Money
  3. Cash Flow Analysis
  4. Comparison Methods: Part 1
  5. Comparison Methods: Part 2
  6. Financial Accounting and Business Plans
  7. Replacement Decisions
  8. Taxes
  9. Inflation
  10. Public Sector Decision Making
  11. Project Management
  12. Dealing With Uncertainty And Risk
  13. Qualitative Considerations and Multiple Criteria

Author bios

Dr. Beth Jewkes is a Professor in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Her general research interests fall into the broad area of operations research models of manufacturing and healthcare systems. More specifically, her research deals with topics such as "real world" academic course scheduling, applications of queueing theory and optimization to ambulance location/relocation issues and ambulance offload delays.

Dr. Mehrdad Pirnia received his Ph.D. degree from University of Waterloo in 2014 in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Power Systems Optimization). He also obtained his MASc degree in Management Sciences (Optimization Specialty). His undergraduate degree is in Industrial Engineering. The main focus of his research is on applying AI, optimization and stochastic techniques to enhance the operation and planning of energy systems.

Currently, he is a faculty member at the University of Waterloo, Department of Management Sciences. Before joining UWaterloo, he worked full-time in California ISO and ALSTOM Grid. He also did an internship at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) during his PhD program.

Dr. Ketra Schmitt is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Engineering in Society at Concordia University. She founded the Systems Risk Laboratory to conduct technology policy research using systems models to evaluate social-technical problems. The Systems Risk Laboratory uses agent-based models to act as a policy laboratory so the potential economic and social impacts of policies can be understood prior to implementation. She also develops online systems to facilitate stakeholder engagement in technology assessment. Her research has been funded by NSERC, FQRSC, Public Safety Canada and Natural Resources Canada. She supervises students in the Concordia Institute for Systems Engineering (where she is also an associate member) and in Industrial Engineering, and co-supervises students throughout the engineering faculty.

Before joining Concordia, she worked as a research scientist at the Battelle Memorial Institute, leading an interdisciplinary team to develop a method to estimate economic impacts of biological, chemical, nuclear and radioactive terrorism as well as underlying systems models. Her work applying systems methods and agent-based models has been used to inform policy for federal agencies in Canada and the US on topics ranging from social media governance, deference, terrorism and environmental protection. She serves as Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and is a board member for the Society for the Social Implications of Technology.

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