2021 Training Summit – International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association

CEBoK® Training Track SCEBoK Pilot Program

2021 Training Summit Registration Rates:

	Registration Rate
ICEAA Members	$400
Non-Members*	$520
ICEAA Member & Government Employee	$300
Non-Member Government Employee*	$375
For companies sending 5 or more paid registrants:
5+ Group Registrant ICEAA Members	$350
5+ Group Registrant Non-Members*	$465

All prices listed in USD

All attendees who purchase a non-member registration will receive a discount coupon for a free year of ICEAA membership after the conclusion of the Workshop.

Schedule:

Download the schedule here

Tuesday, September 21, 2021: 11:00 am EDT – 5:00pm EDT
Wednesday, September 22, 2021: 11:00 am EDT – 5:00pm EDT
Thursday, September 23, 2021: 11:00 am EDT – 5:00pm EDT

*All times Eastern. Convert to your local time zone with this online time calculator.

All sessions will be recorded and recordings will be made available to attendees by Monday, September 27. Attendees will have access to all recordings until March 15, 2022.

CEBoK® Training Track:

For the first time ever, ICEAA is offering official CEBoK® training online! This will be an outstanding educational experience for candidates preparing for our PCEA® or CCEA® exams, individuals new to the field looking for an introduction to cost estimating and analysis, or experienced professionals who want to brush up on their skills. All registrants are expected to have a either a copy of CEBoK® v1.2 or have access to the CEBoK®2.0 beta via their ICEAA membership, and to be prepared with some familiarity with the material to be presented. These courses are designed to enhance and strengthen your studies of the CEBoK® material, and are not intended provide enough preparation for the exams alone.

Basics & Techniques
The Basics & Techniques session introduces an overview of cost estimating and analysis and the reasons for doing cost estimates, as well as four essential cost estimating techniques most often used to develop realistic and credible estimates. Additionally, we will review cost estimating products and related topics such as schedule and operations and support estimating, providing the background information and fundamental knowledge from CEBoK® Modules 1-3.

Instructor: Kellie Wutzke, CCEA®
Kellie Wutzke, CCEA® is a senior consultant with over 13 years of experience in the field of operations research and cost estimation. She has a BS in Applied Mathematics, a BS in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, and an MS in Data Analytics from CWU. She is currently an Associate Director at Cobec Consulting as well as an adjunct professor at Central Washington University. Kellie serves as the Region 5 Director on the 2021-2023 ICEAA International Board of Directors.

Data Collection & Normalization
This session covers the Core Knowledge section of CEBoK® Module 4: Data Collection. All estimating techniques and cost estimating models require credible data before they can be used effectively. In this module we will discuss the various types of data, processes needed to collect and analyze the data used in parametric applications, as well as data types, sources, and adjustment techniques.

Instructor: Christina N. Snyder, CCEA®
Always being passionate about math and logic, it was a natural fit when Mrs. Christina Snyder, CCEA® became a cost estimator in 2005. Since that time, she has supported multiple DOD programs with various aspects of decision analysis, cost estimating, project management, and strategic planning including: business case analysis, analysis of alternatives, should cost analysis, acquisition planning, risk assessment, and logistics analysis. She holds a B.S. in Applied Computational Mathematics from Virginia Tech. Christina serves as Executive Vice President on the 2021-2023 ICEAA International Board of Directors, and is the recipient of ICEAA’s 2021 Association Service Award.

Inflation
This session covers the Core Knowledge section of Inflation and Index Numbers (CEBoK® Module 5). Proper inflation analysis is essential to the success of any cost estimate or economic analysis. Calculating inflation correctly and understanding the fundamental concepts will enable you to produce cost estimates that are timely, accurate, and credible to support your program’s lifecycle needs. It will also empower you to communicate with key stakeholders on the need to adjust your financial estimates based on changes in the economy.

Instructor: Kimberly Roye, CCEA®
Kimberly Roye is a Senior Data Scientist for Galorath Federal. Starting her career as a Mathematical Statistician for the US Census Bureau, Kimberly transitioned to a career in Cost Analysis over 10 years ago. She has supported several Department of Defense hardware and vehicle programs, as well as NASA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She is currently a lead developer of Machine Learning training for the Army and DHS. Kimberly earned a MS in Applied Statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology and a dual BS in Mathematics/Statistics from the University of Georgia.

Risk Analysis
This session will provide motivation for the need for risk analysis and introduce the basic types and uses of risk (CEBoK® Module 9). It will focus on the practical execution of the general risk analysis process: develop a point estimate; identify the risk areas in the point estimate; determine uncertainty around the point estimate; apply correlation between uncertainty distributions; run the Monte Carlo simulation; assess the reasonableness of results; calculate, allocate, and phase risk dollars; and show the results.

Instructor: Dr. Christian B. Smart, CCEA®
Dr. Christian Smart currently serves as the Chief Scientist with Galorath Federal. He is author of the book Solving for Project Risk Management: Understanding the Critical Role of Uncertainty in Project Management. Prior to joining Galorath Federal, Dr. Smart was the Director for Cost Estimating with the Missile Defense Agency. He is the 2021 recipient of the Frank Freiman Lifetime Achievement Award from ICEAA. Dr. Smart has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, and bachelors degrees in Mathematics and Economics.

Analysis, Probability, & Statistics
This session discusses the analytical steps to take after obtaining a set of cost data and covers techniques for displaying and analyzing data graphically and statistical and graphical analysis of univariate and bivariate data sets (CEBoK® Modules 6 & 10). Other topics include measures of central tendency and dispersion and important probability distributions. We also introduce the concept of a random variable; Monte Carlo simulation; and the differences between the normal and lognormal distributions. Finally, we discuss hypothesis testing.

Instructor: Dr. Darrin DeReus, CCEA®
Darrin DeReus is the former COO of Space EA Systems and has been conducting private consulting for the past year in his own company, Enterprise Analysis & Innovation, LLC. His latest projects include the merging of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s Single Supervisory Planning Platform integrating 14 legacy systems into a singular agile development cloud solution. Darrin conducted acquisition consultation and created the IGCE for the seven year project. Currently, Darrin is supporting the USCG developing an Enterprise Acquisition Strategy for the entire USCG C5 portfolio for the next five years. He is the senior subject matter expert advising the organization on the way forward to be more agile, lean and standardized in their acquisition activities.

Learning Curves
This is a training track presentation of the CEBoK® Module 7 (Learning Curves) will cover the key ideas, analytical constructs, and applications of the module. Beyond the theoretical information, we will present the study questions for Module 7 with steps required to solve the problems using only a calculator as is required on the certification exam.

Instructor: Nathan Honsowetz, CCEA®
Nathan Honsowetz has 10+ years of research, analysis, and consulting experience in business case analysis, life-cycle cost estimates, benefits quantification, and program management. He has developed a strong understanding of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investment analysis process, including cost analysis and financial planning. Nathan has developed cost estimates and other deliverables for FAA investment decisions for both large and small capital investment programs. Nathan is an associate director at Cobec Consulting and has earned two BS degrees, an MS in Environmental Science from Caltech, and an MBA from Murray State University.

Regression Analysis
This course introduces the basic concepts of regression and provides a demonstration of a simple linear ordinary least squares model (CEBoK® Module 8). This session focuses on the basics required to build and evaluate a simple linear model such as a Cost Estimating Relationship (CER). Key concepts include correlation, minimizing error, homoscedasticity, statistical significance, goodness of fit, confidence intervals, uncertainty, and analysis of variance. The better you understand these concepts, the better you will be able to make inferences about cost data and employ more complicated regression techniques.

Instructor: Bill Barfield, CCEA®
Bill has worked in basic R&D, information systems technology, and cost estimation for Federal and corporate clients. He is an Air Force veteran, a research scientist in Navy underwater acoustics, and experienced in software development. He has provided cost estimation for the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, OSD/Health Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Missile Defense Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Agriculture, and US Navy. Bill is an avid soccer player, has a MS in Technology Management from University of Maryland University College, a BS in Mathematics from Old Dominion University, and is CCEA certified.

Manufacturing Cost Estimating
The goal of the Manufacturing Cost Estimating module (CEBoK® Module 11) is to arm the student with a set of techniques used to address issues unique to estimating in the manufacturing environment. It will be our objective in this module to raise a few of the most common general issues, considerations and concerns the estimator must be aware of in a typical major manufacturing environment and to provide techniques for addressing them. Depending on time and interest of attendees, example problems can be worked as exam preparation.

Instructor: Patrick McCarthy, CCEA®
Pat McCarthy, a Program Manager and site lead of Technomics’ Troy, MI office, has over 19 years of experience in Federal and private industry performing cost analysis and Industrial Engineering studies. He has previously worked as a Cost/Price Analyst and Team Lead with Booz Allen Hamilton and the Army Contracting Command and as a Senior Industrial Engineer and Team Leader with General Dynamics Land Systems. Pat is CCEA and PMP certified and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.

Software Estimating
This session covers the Core Knowledge section of Module 12 Software Cost Estimating of CEBoK®. It will be of particular interest to anyone studying for the ICEAA certification exam. The session provides an introduction to the basics of the software development process and how to estimate the related effort. The key ideas of Software Cost Estimating include the cost drivers of size, complexity, and capability. In the sizing area, we’ll focus on the competing metrics of Source Lines Of Code (SLOC), Equivalent Source Lines Of Code (ESLOC), and Function Points. We’ll also discuss the primary software development methodologies – waterfall, Agile, evolutionary, and spiral – and how to model them from a cost estimating perspective.

Instructor: Denise Nelson
Denise Nelson currently leads the Boeing Defense Systems (BDS) Software Estimating processes and supporting tool set, which includes defining and collecting standard software metrics across BDS programs. Prior to her current position, Denise Nelson was a Systems Engineering specializing in Affordability trades, lifecycle cost estimates and parametric modeling. She has worked multiple programs and platforms supporting various government and space customers. Denise Nelson graduated from California Polytechnic University Pomona with a BS in Statistics and a MS in Pure Mathematics. Denise is the recipient of ICEAA’s 2021 Educator of the Year award.

Economic Analysis
This session covers the Core Knowledge section of Module 13 Economic Analysis of CEBoK®. It will be of particular interest to anyone studying for the ICEAA certification exam. The session provides a practitioner’s perspective for conducting an economic analysis (EA) by reviewing EA concepts, terminology, variables and measures-of-merit. By accounting for monetized costs, monetized benefits, opportunity costs and time-value-of-money (“discounting”), an EA enables one to calculate economic measures-of-merit.

Instructor: Daniel J. Harper, CCEA®
Dan Harper, CCEA has over 25 years of professional experience and a passion for sharing knowledge throughout the federal cost and acquisition community. He founded and promotes the Cost FACTS Group, a networking forum of over 500 cost and acquisition professionals. Dan is a co-lead for the MITRE Cost CoP and serves as a founding member of the ICEAA Machine Learning Working Group. He has a Finance degree from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Technology Management from George Mason University.

Contract Pricing
This session explores the basics of contract pricing (CEBoK® Module 14). We explore various contract types and the factors and considerations related to choosing a contract type. We also explore fee, shared risk, cost-price proposal preparation, the makeup of a good Basis of Estimate (BOE), and evaluation efforts. This session also provides an introduction to cost management. Some methods discussed include Total Ownership Cost (TOC), Cost As an Independent Variable (CAIV), Target Costing, and Activity Based Costing (ABC).

Instructor: Bob Hunt
Bob Hunt has over 40 years of cost estimating and analysis experience. He received his Society for Cost Estimating and Analysis (SCA) Certification in 1991. He has served in senior technical and management positions at Dulos Incorporated (President), Galorath Federal Incorporated (President), Galorath Incorporated (Vice President for Services), CALIBRE Systems (Vice President), CALIBRE Services (President), SAIC (Vice President), the U.S. Army Cost and Economic Analysis Center (Chief of the Vehicles, Ammunition, and Electronics ICE Division, U.S. Army Directorate of Cost Analysis (Deputy Director). Bob serves as President on the 2021-2023 ICEAA International Board of Directors.

Cost Management and EVM
This session will provide an introduction to the basic concepts of earned value management (CEBoK® Modules 15 & 16), with a focus on implementation, governance, and practical application in support of a project or program. Specific topics will include basic EVM components and data elements, as well as standard earned value analysis techniques. We will use practice problems throughout the presentation to demonstrate and reinforce the basic principles of EVM.

Instructor: Maureen Deane, CCEA®
Mo Deane is a CCEA and PMP who has spent over twelve years conducting cost and IPM analysis with Tecolote Research. Ms. Deane currently supports Navy programs across the NAVWAR & NAVAIR portfolios, and has prior experience supporting SOCOM, the USCG, and DASA-CE.

Software Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge Pilot Program:

Join us for a preview of ICEAA’s soon-to-be-released Software Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge, or SCEBoK. Introductory presentations of all nine SCEBoK lessons will be presented at the 2021 Training Summit, and attendees’ comments and feedback will be used to shape and finalize SCEBoK and its certification program prior to release.

Lesson 0: Setting the Stage for SCEBoK
This short lesson outlines the goals and objectives for SCEBoK and where it fits in the context of ICEAA’s product line. The lesson provides a high-level roadmap for the SCEBoK curriculum and gives acknowledgements to the contributing subject matter experts and industry leaders who were involved in SCEBoK v1.0 development.

Instructor: Carol Dekkers
Carol Dekkers is CEO of Quality Plus Technologies, Inc. and has over 25 years of experience helping companies who want to succeed with software measurement. She is the lead author of the ICEAA Software Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge (SCEBoK) and the co-author of several books, (The IT Measurement Compendium: Estimating and Benchmarking Success with Functional Size Measurement; Program Management Toolkit for Software and Systems Development; Practical Project Estimation), an U.S. international expert to ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7, and a past president of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG). Carol is a PMP, CFPS (fellow) and a P.Eng.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Software Cost Estimating
This lesson explains the importance of software cost and schedule estimating for SCEBoK audiences, and includes historical contexts, examples of software program failures and success, and highlights what students can gain from SCEBoK. Note that SCEBoK is intended to supplement the audience’s understanding of the cost estimating tools and techniques covered in CEBoK®, .introducing the differences between software and hardware estimating and what is included in systems vs. software cost estimating.

Lesson 2: Software Paradigms
This lesson introduces the two major paradigms involved in custom software development, predictive and Agile, and presents a variety of software development methods and where they differ from perspective of software cost estimation of custom software development efforts. Included are highlights of waterfall, iterative, spiral, Agile, Scrum, SAFe, DAD, and other approaches to give the software cost estimator a basic understanding of the activities and cost drivers involved.

Instructor: Eric van der Vliet
Eric is a Director at CGI and responsible for the global CGI Estimation Center. This Estimation Center has the objective to improve Software Cost Estimation within CGI by improving processes, collecting data and performing internal benchmarks. Besides his role in CGI is Eric the president of Nesma, an international Software Cost Estimation organization with the base in the Netherlands. Eric has presented several papers in literature and on several international conferences.

Lesson 3: SCEBoK 5-Step Estimating Process
This lesson outlines the major considerations of our SCEBoK Five-step Estimating Process for custom software development including the pre-requisite data, cost drivers, and considerations involved in the software development process. We will identify and discuss types of estimates for custom software development efforts and present the SCEBoK 5-step software estimating process.

Instructor: Kevin Cincotta, CCEA®
As a Principal Cost Analyst with The MITRE Corporation, Mr. Cincotta provides technical leadership for MITRE’s Center for National Security, supporting the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. He is the co-lead of MITRE’s Cost Analysis Community of Practice and current ICEAA Certification Principal. He is the lead reviewer of ICEAA’s SCEBoK and an ICEAA Cost Estimator of the Year. He holds a BA in Economics and Philosophy from the University of Virginia, and an MS in the same fields from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Lesson 4: Estimating Custom Software Development
Lesson 4 outlines where we use relevant data & custom-built software Cost & Schedule Estimating Relationships (CER & SER) to estimate software development effort, cost and schedule duration. We will present three ways to create the software estimate using estimating techniques: an overview of estimating approaches, how to create a software development estimate based on SCEBoK Five-step Estimating Process and four estimating approaches, developing a schedule estimate, time-phasing the estimate, cross-checking the estimate, and reviewing estimates prepared by others.

Lesson 5: Software Sustainment
Software sustainment is a definable, robust term, used to describe the second stage of the software life cycle, in place of the term Software Operations and Support (O&S). The first stage, called the investment stage, has been covered in other lessons. Software sustainment is a parent term for many types of software-related work as we’ll outline in this lesson. Software maintenance, in the context of SCEBoK, is defined to be a child component within software sustainment.

Lesson 6: Estimating Procured Solutions
Identify key characteristics of cost estimating considerations for, and differences between Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) software and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems among other procured software solutions. This lesson will provide an introduction to procured software solutions, describe COTS software and the major types of procured software solutions, and cost drivers and estimating approach(es) for each. We will consider cost growth and sustainment in procured software solutions

Instructor: Dave Brown
Mr. Dave Brown is a CCEA certified Subject Matter Expert for Technomics, Inc. He has 30 years of experience providing cost estimating and analysis to DoD and DHS clients. His primary area of expertise is in the area of IT and software estimating, with products such as life cycle cost analysis, applied cost estimating, independent cost assessment, cost research, program management support, modeling and simulation, data analysis, and database development.

Lesson X: Software Size
This lesson focuses on the various units of measure for software size, options and methods for their measurement, and how to select an appropriate unit of measure suited to your estimate. We also discuss conversions and rules of thumb, and then finally how to ensure whatever size estimate you are given as the software cost estimator can be validated with a checklist of questions.

Lesson Y: Productivity
This lesson outlines the complex topic of productivity, which is often used interchangeably with several other terms including throughput, delivery rate and even velocity (in agile software development.) We discuss productivity as a concept and in general, before delving into what constitutes productivity, how to measure it, and the relationship between size and productivity.

Lesson Z: Commercial Estimating Models
This lesson highlights how various commercial estimating models provide support to our SCEBoK Five-Step Estimating Process, and how they support creating the custom software development (Lesson 4), procured software solutions (Lesson 6), and software sustainment (Lesson 5) estimates. We will use these models to cross-check out our Midnight and FFS examples from Lesson 4, using the COCOMO II Web Tool, Galorath Inc’s SEER-SEM®, PRICE Systems’ TruePlanning® for Software, Quantitative Software Management (QSM)’s Slim Estimate®and additional models including Namcook Consulting LLC’s Software Risk Master (SRM) and COCOMO II-based automated estimating tools.

Instructor: Karen McRitchie
Karen McRitchie has been with Galorath Incorporated for 30 years and leads all work related to the SEER product line. She comes from a software development and mathematical modeling background and has worked in all domains of cost estimation including software, IT services, hardware and manufacturing. As an advocate for costing professionals, she seeks new and innovative methods to improve the state of the cost estimating and analysis practice.

Instructor: Arlene Minkiewicz
Arlene F. Minkiewicz is the Chief Scientist at PRICE Systems, LLC with over 36 years of experience at PRICE building cost models. She leads the cost research activity for TruePlanning, the suite of cost estimating products that PRICE provides. She is a software measurement expert dedicated to finding creative solutions focused on helping make software development professionals successful. She is widely published and speaks frequently on software related topics.