Purdue Offering New Paths For Engineering Masters
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Engineering Management program at Purdue University includes two new ways to earn a Master of Science in Engineering degree. The program, a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the Krannert School of Management, is offering an accelerated track and an additional two-year track. September 4, 2013
News Release
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Engineering Management program, which is a collaborative effort of the College of Engineering and Krannert School of Management, now offers recent engineering graduates two new tracks: a one-year accelerated option and a two-year track that includes one year of applied work experience. A student completing either track earns a Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) degree.
“We have been offering Engineering Management as a graduate degree option to employed engineers for a number of years now though our distance education program. It has grown to be our most popular distance program and one of the largest in the country,” says Dale Harris, executive director of Engineering Professional Education, the unit that administers EM for the College of Engineering. “We are now bringing the essence of that program on campus for recent engineering graduates wishing to prepare themselves to be leaders in their profession.”
The new tracks include graduate-level engineering and business courses, which provide an emphasis in systems and business management. In addition, students in the program have options for customizing their engineering degree for their specific disciplines and career goals.
“We noticed that most engineering management programs are more management than engineering, resulting is something akin to a slightly customized MBA program,” says Harris, who also is professor of engineering education. “We differentiate ourselves by emphasizing both depth and breadth. Our students gain engineering depth, plus interdisciplinary breadth through courses and experiences focused on business and leadership.”
Harris says companies both large and small have already expressed an interest in the 23 students taking part in the new on-campus tracks and company leaders have told him that the program's educational goal is well-aligned with the needs of industry.
“The work experience that I've been getting while pursuing this degree has been invaluable,” says Alex Byers, who interned at Honeywell. “With no other degree would I have had the chance to get a year of real work experience under my belt, all while still being in school.”
Zachary Flohr, who interned at Cook Biotech, says, “This is a unique program where you can get a year of deeper engineering and management and business learning paired with a year to gain work experience and application of your undergraduate and graduate studies. This master's is perfect for anyone wanting to work in industry but take extra, more relevant graduate courses.”
More information about the new program options is at www.engineering.purdue.edu/EngineeringManagement.
Source: Purdue University