Enhancing Engineering Education through Engineering Management

Abstract

Engineering Management courses are added to a traditional engineering curriculum to enhance the value of an undergraduate’s engineering degree. A four-year engineering degree often leaves graduates lacking in business and management acumen. Engineering management education covers topics enhancing the value of new graduates by teaching management skills that are immediately applicable. Thermodynamics or circuits or heat transfer may not be immediately useful to an engineering graduate. Companies often use software (or software versions) unfamiliar to a graduate or their specialization requires a lengthy break-in period. Team building using personality inventories or behavioral profiling or conflict resolution techniques are immediately applicable in any work setting. Project management and engineering economics are applicable if tailored to a particular engineering genre or workplace environment. A coordinated set of courses designed to give a student a lead over other workplace entrants has shown to enhance the likelihood of a person being hired based on feedback from employers, alumni and advisory boards.