1. A look at Project Management’s Origins
The Manhattan Project
A look at Project
Management’s Origins

2. What was the Manhattan Project?
The US Government’s secret project to research, develop, and test an atomic weapon.

3. Scope Management of the Manhattan Project

4. Scope Research and Develop an Atomic Bomb Uranium-235/Plutonium
Scientists
Resources
Packaging

5. Scope A huge undertaking like no other.
Production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain reaction .

6. Scope
Scientists
Robert Oppenheimer
Enrico Fermi
Albert Einstein

7. Scope Resources Money Buildings/Sites Materials
Oak Ridge and Hanford Laboratories
Los Alamos, NM
Materials
Oak Ridge Facility

8. Scope Complete and Test the Bomb
The two bombs. "Little Boy" is seen on the left, and "Fat Man" is seen on the right

9. Time Management of the Manhattan Project

10. Germans had an early lead
Originally the Manhattan Project was a race against the Germans to be the first to make an atom bomb
In 1938 Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann's discovery of fission steered Germany toward developing an atomic weapon. This motivated the U.S. to launch the Manhattan Project
By 1941, the Germans were leading the race for the atomic bomb
Germans had a heavy-water plant, high-grade uranium compounds, a nearly complete cyclotron, capable scientists and engineers, and the greatest chemical engineering industry in the world

11. WWII Slows German Research
Time became an ever increasing factor in the Manhattan Project
As WWII continued, many factors including internal struggles, scientific errors, and the destruction from war limited any successful research toward a German atom bomb
Unlike the American program, the Germans never had a clear mission under continuously unified leadership

12. The Project Succeeds
From the creation of the Manhattan Engineer District in 1941, time was more important than any other metric
July 16, At 5:29:45 a.m. the first atom bomb, Gadget, is exploded at Los Alamos
August 6, 1945 Little Boy is dropped over Hiroshima
August 9, 1945 Fat Man is dropped over Nagasaki
September 2, 1945 Japan surrenders

13. Cost Management of the Manhattan Project

14. Cost Initially $6,000 was invested
The entire project cost totaled $1.9 billion
$30 Billion now (2014)
Approximately 12.7% of ammunitions for WW2

15. How the money was spent

16. Project Management in the Manhattan Project

17. Project/Program Manager
Leslie Richard Groves
Lieutenant General,
United States Army
In command of the Manhattan Project
$10b experience in construction projects including the Pentagon

18. Groves understood the challenge
Groves asked for what he needed, and got what he asked for
Overtook all other programs in priority
Virtually unlimited money available
Limited only by how quickly the program could find qualified personnel

19. Insisted unity of PMs
January 11, An implosion theory group is set up with Teller as head.
May, Teller is removed as head of the implosion theory group, and also from fission weapon research entirely, due to conflicts with Bethe and his increasing obsession with the idea of the Super (hydrogen bomb).
Source:

20. Redundant, parallel R&D
All promising solutions were pursued simultaneously
Prevented unexpected problems from affecting critical path
When the best solution became apparent, other solutions were frozen
Example: implosion vs. gun technique to use for detonation

21. Aggressive Timelines Any timeline is better than no timeline
No one knew exactly how long R&D would take, but through building a timeline the critical path could be assessed
Refining Plutonium and Uranium was on the critical path
Other components were prepared during refining process

22. References