Engineering Inc. - September/October 2008 - 28

takING By Jim Parsons thE A 28 ENGINEERING INC. t some point in their careers, many engineers confront the question, “Where do I go from here?” n The answer is not always easy. When most engineers earn their bachelor’s degrees, they focus first on landing a job. As they gain experience in the field, that focus often shifts from the short-term challenges of daily work to long-term career goals. ponents of the design process, MEM programs reflect the industrywide shift toward systems integration. “Engineers need to think differently, as they are increasingly being called on to put sophisticated subsystems together for other people,” says Selcuk Güceri, dean of the Drexel College of Engineering in Philadelphia, which recently announced its new MEM graduate degree program. “MEM provides a bird’s-eye view so that they can integrate the elements of technology, people and resources into successful projects.” Professor Wade Shaw of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne, Fla., and editor-in-chief of Engineering Management Review, says MEM graduates are valuable for their skill sets and ability to understand clients’ needs beyond the technical minutiae of a spec sheet. “An MEM graduate degree also communicates that an engineer is sensitive to the issues in an organization that lead to effective decision-making, teamwork, communication and business performance,” he says. And well-trained MEM graduates don’t require an extensive learning curve to apply their skills. “Our graduates are able to jump in, be productive and contribute to a project, something that’s not always true of other master’s-level programs,” says Northwestern’s Krizek. These and other attributes appealed to Chris DeGood, a senior civil/site engineer for URS Corporation based in the company’s Business in the Engineering Environment Several colleges and universities across the country now offer a master’s degree in engineering management (MEM). Designed to attract engineers from all disciplines, MEM programs combine key business and management concepts, new and advanced technologies, and analytical and quantitative tools and apply them to the engineering environment. The curriculum typically is tailored to the needs of civil, structural, mechanical and other engineering professionals. Contrary to the traditional approach, in which firms specialize in specific comsEptEmbER / oCtobER 2008 Background Image: duane rIeder/getty Images, man: ZuBIn shroff/getty Images Longer-term goals, however, often require augmenting current technical skills with additional training in the business of engineering—such as project and personnel management, leadership, budgeting and finance, communication, marketing, even law. “In today’s world, you don’t advance by sitting in an office with a calculator and doing design,” says Raymond Krizek, a professor at Northwestern University’s Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in Evanston, Ill. Engineers looking to expand their knowledge of business concepts have a variety of educational options: full-blown master’s programs in engineering management; shorter courses, including the five-week ACEC-sponsored Senior Executives Institute (SEI); or intensive multiday seminars targeting key firm-management issues.
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2008

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