E/SEC 103, Winter 2025

Management of Technology
Instructors Richard Murray (CDS/BE), Stu Feldman, Eric Schmidt Lectures: Mon/Wed, 1:30-2:55 pm Office hours: Wed, 3-3:45 pm, Annenberg lounge	Teaching Assistants Madison Dunitz, Liz Hughes Office hours: Fri, 1-2:30 pm

This is the course homepage for E/SEC 103, Winter 2025.

Catalog Description

This course is intended for students interested in learning how rapidly evolving technologies are harnessed to produce useful products or fertile new areas for research. Students will work learn about how technology and innovation leaders identify and shape emerging technologies and how technology can be harnessed and scaled to create new products and services. There will be a term project where students predict the future evolution of an exciting technology and explore the potential implications of that technology. The course is team-based and designed for students considering choosing an exciting research area, working in companies (any size, including start-ups), or eventually going to business school. Topics include technology as a growth agent, financial fundamentals, integration into other business processes, product development pipeline and portfolio management, learning curves, risk assessment, technology trend methodologies (scenarios, projections), motivation, rewards and recognition. Industries considered will include electronics (hardware and software), aerospace, medical, biotech, etc. Students will perform both primary and secondary research and present defensible projections based on their technology research.

Learning Objectives

• Teach students how to identify and analyze new technology areas/trends and explore the potential new applications of those technologies with potential for large impact
• Provide students with access to technology leaders in different fields who can provide new insights, ideas on how to manage technology, and help build students’ networks
• Identify new areas of research for potential investment by funding agencies and philanthropic organizations, with anticipated roadmap/path to impact

Lecture Schedule

Week	Date	Topic	CollapseLecturer(s)
W1	6 Jan (Mon)	Class organization, project frameworks Mon lecture slides (Caltech only)	RM, ST
	8 Jan (Wed)	ES talk, veteran presentation [Class cancelled]	ES, SF, RM, ST
	10 Jan (Fri)	Project pitch workshop (1-2:30 pm, 213 ANB)	TAs
W2	13 Jan (Mon)	Project pitches + What is Technology (De Weck, Ch 1) Pitches: 1 slide, 2 min each (+ 2-3 min Q&A) Mon lecture slides (Caltech only)	MK, ST, RM
	15 Jan (Wed)	ES talk, veteran presentation [Rescheduled] Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit (excerpt) Wed lecture slides	ES, ST
W3	20 Jan (Mon)	No class (Martin Luther King Day)
	22 Jan (Wed)	Quantifying Technological Progress (De Weck, Ch 4); Scaling Laws (ES notes), Zero to One Thiel, Ch 1-6 [skim] Scaling Laws paper (Caltech only) Wed lecture slides (Caltech only)	RM
W4	27 Jan (Mon)	Best practices for carrying out interviews (Fitzpatrick, Ch 3 and 8); Market Analysis (De Weck, Ch 7)) Mon lecture slides (Caltech only)	MD
	29 Jan (Wed)	Fermi Problems; project updates Wed lecture slides (Caltech only)	SF
W5	3 Feb (Mon)	Techno-Economic Analysis; Systems Modeling and Technology Sensitivity Analysis (De Weck, Ch 11) Department of Energy Videos (or PDFs) Introduction to Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) Estimating Manufacturing Costs for Pre-Commercial Technologies Optional: Defining Functional Units for Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and TEA Optional: Technology Benchmarking for Comparative LCA and TEA Mon lecture slides (Caltech only)	LH
	5 Feb (Wed)	Patents and Intellectual Property (De Weck, Ch 5) Wed lecture slides (Caltech only)	RM
	7 Feb (Fri)	Practice presentations (15 min + feedback; times TBD)	TAs
W6	10 Feb (Mon)	Midterm presentations (1:30-3:30 pm)	SF, RM, ES*
	12 Feb (Wed)	Regulations + Midterm feedback Regulation: A Primer, Dudley and Brito, 2012. Chapters 1-3, 7 (skim). Wed lecture slides (Caltech only)	RM
W7	17 Feb (Mon)	No class (Presidents Day)
	19 Feb (Wed)	External speaker (BG)