If I was a project manager for this week's simulation in a real life situation. I would get in contact with everyone from day 1 so there is no falling behind. I would make a WBS and assign parts of the simulation to each person in the team. For example, every single person would be asked to do their own research and bring their findings to the team. This way as a project manager I can organize the information and assign each person according to their level of understanding and expertise on the subject. This is very critical. If we look at the simulations, many team members wait until the last day to respond and this kind of delays everyone else in the process of making the all of the inputs are correct and we aren't rushing to meet the deadline. This ensures we submit a quality simulation and each team member should gain knowledge from the simulation. This can only happen if each member in the team has to research the project and then discuss their findings and then as a project manager I can assign each person with a specific task. For example, someone with the most relevant and excellent literature findings would be asked to find more details regarding a device. On the other hand, someone with a more technical understanding of the project would be asked to manipulate protocols where all the conditions are met. And someone who is more focused on the product on the market would be given the task to evaluate similar devices on the market and their records.

But all of this can only be done with time management. As a project manager, I would make sure if a team member is not able to deliver a task in a timely manner than maybe it is time to reconsider someone else for that task because we would be on someone's time and we do not want to end up in money issues. For example, we are unable to complete the simulation and deliver but we also wasted money and time of the company.

And to the answer your question. I think this would fall under class II devices because animal testing is required.

Time management is crucial for any project. If I would be a project manager for this week’s simulation, I would like each team members to read simulation’s instruction and find related articles that help towards this simulation at least by Monday night. Then each team member can discuss their findings in the forum and come up with an idea or solution to propose as soon as possible. It often happens people wait till last minute to read due to busy schedule, but this simulation cannot be done in a day or so. As a project manager, I want everyone to response and check their discussion forum as often during the day, so we can complete this simulation on time with quality solution.

For our online simulation a project manager will have to priorities time management. Since the assignment is given a time limit of a week a project manager would have to take into account the team members work/ school schedule and the time it takes for Dr.Simon to respond to rounds. The project manager should be able to understand what the simulation is about and break it down into the questions that Dr. Simon asked on the last page of the simulation. As a project manager for this weeks simulation I would ask everyone to take a question and research information on it. Then I would ask that by the end of the second day we share our ideas on the google forum. WE hypothesize on the solution we can come with and start proposing ideas to Dr. Simon but at least the third day or second night. And each time we get feedback we all brain storm ways to overcome the obstacles to reach the end goal. Throughout this time, I would ask everyone to pick a section of the report that they would like to do so that we are organized and ready to submit everything by Sunday night.

If I were to play the role as the Project Manager for this week's simulation, then I would push for everyone to start researching the day the simulation comes out. Since the span of this simulation is only a week's worth, time management is crucial just like others have already stated in this thread. So as soon as everyone has absorbed all the information, understand the problem and what we need to do, then everyone should be doing some research on the solution. After the first day, I would have everyone share their research and then for everyone's proposed solution we would all come to and agree on the most common. Since there are around 4-5 project team members on each team, I would anticipate there to be a common solution that people have researched. After our first solution is given to Dr. Simon, then it's all situational from there. After each round, I would have anyone who has an idea to just submit it in a round, no matter how off it may be. The purpose of this is to make use of how much the project life cycle we have because the more information we have the better and sooner we are to finding the perfect solution. Once we actually have the solution, then as Project Manager I would sum up the report myself. If I have difficulty with a question then I ask input from the project team member I feel had the most familiarity with that question. I would then share the report with all project team members for any changes they may feel are necessary and submit.

If i were the project manager for this week's simulation, first and foremost
1. I would have come up with a game plan for the simulations by defining the timelines that can be achieved realistically.
2. Afterwards, I would have assigned the work to the team members by applying work breakdown structure(WBS) on the simulation.
3. Next step would have been visual representation of the project using the Ghantt Chart for all the team members to see, so that the simulation can be completed well before the deadline.
4. I would highlighted the critical paths if any to follow so that the potential risks that could slow down the project is mitigated on time.
5.Then i would have tracked the project visually to see what milestones have been achieved and where is the work slacking if any. This way all the team members could have been held accountable for their work as they all can see what others are doing.

1. Be prepared for issues regarding third party components: Suppliers have the potential to ship late, ship faulty components, or even not ship the components to you at all. You have to be prepared for all scenarios

2. Time management: Allocate time towards the most crucial aspects of design. This may seem obvious, but sometimes defining what is crucial is a challenge in it of itself.

3. Communication: Make sure everyone understands what is on the project timeline and be transparent about the goals, missed milestones, and any contingency plans. In order for the project to be successful, everyone must be on the same page.

4. Foresight: Being able to anticipate issues in a project can only come from two avenues; experience or research. A good project manager will have both under his/her belt.

These are the points I would highlight when creating the Gantt chart.

When creating my group's Gantt Chart I would organize our tasks considering the following (in order of importance):

1. What tasks must be completed before this task can begin?

2. What is an ideal time to complete this task? A realistic time? A worse-case-scenario/behind-schedule time? (based on task history and work force)

3. How many members will be working on this task? What are their qualifications? Necessary involvement times? Any foreseeable shift changes?

4. How to organize the tasks to allow for slack or delay? How to organize for a setback on a critical path task?

5. Evaluate and review with all team members.

You make a great point jp582. Since often situations, simulation and real life, are time sensitive it is of utmost importance that the team is entirely caught up and act as soon as possible. This ensures that there will be time to offer various proposals in the case the initial does not succeed. It is also important that all members contribute in order to exhaust all view points on possible solutions to the problem. Additionally, some may have expertise in various fields and topics that would be able to add valuable input. As a project manager one must be sure to rightly use these team members in order to arrive at a solution promptly and accurately.

If I was a project manager for this simulation, I would first post on the group and find out each person’s qualification. First, I will brainstorm with the team for possible ideas on how to proceed with the project. Then I would break down the team into groups so that we can focus on an aspect of the project such as research and writing the report. Then I would set dates and times at which each group must have something submitted so that we can finalize the project at a timely manner. Also, I will make time to ask each member of the team for some inputs on what else we can do to add and improve the project. To factor in some issues that may arise, I will always add some leeway time during the week where I will ask them to submit their parts in advance so that we can modify and add accordingly.

As most of the posts above this are comparing the charts, I will chose to answer the second question to change it up. I think the bone drug delivery from the 2nd simulation would be classified as a Class II medical device. The injection would not stay in the body permanently as it is absorbable and designed to stimulate natural bone growth. It is also minimally invasive, yet has precise instructions on how to use and store beyond the general rules of a Class I device. This is the American way of classifying though. While confirming my decision of a Class II device, I saw the europeans had a Class IIa and a Class IIb.
I now ask you, what would the european classification be? Do you think my american classification is wrong?