MSE 401 RA3: Engineering Management Degree Improvements and Careers

MSE 401 RA3: Engineering Management Degree Improvements and Careers

1. Introduction

The increasing number of manufacturing and technological

industries on the market has increased the job demand for technology

related degrees. Nowadays, Engineering majors are of high popularity

within the industries. Because of the popularity, engineering majors has

improved gradually to match the industry demand. Also, other

engineering majors have been founded due to the business demand

such as, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, and

engineering management.

In the previous years, the new majors have been attracting many

students, especially for master degree students with engineering

background. For engineering management, as the degree is new to the

market, an analysis of improvements will aid the degree by attracting

more students to join and more organizations to support the degree.

This report will demonstrate a brief history of the engineering

management degree, analyze the degree offered at California State

1


University Northridge with different universities, study the future jobs

available for engineering management graduates, and examine the

current curriculum and student body for improvement

recommendations.

1.1 History of Engineering Management degree:

Engineering management as a major has been available as an

official degree since the mid 1940s. The formation of the major started

at 1902 when Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) founded the

department of business engineering. The aim of the new department

was to teach students to become efficient managers. Around 1913,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) started to offer a degree in

industrial management.

After the 2nd world war, engineering management type degrees

became more familiar to the industry due to the industry expansion.

Several universities started to provide the degrees within the

engineering collage of the universities. Examples of universities adopted

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the degree are University of Washington at 1947and Michigan

Technological University at 1949.

Within the 1960s and 1970s, the engineering management major

had grown rapidly. The first Engineering Management department has

been created at the University of Missouri at Rolla (UMR) in 1967 and

started the PhD program for the major in 1984. Nowadays, more than

85 universities in the United States have formed an engineering

management department, including CSUN, where the degree is provided

for students (1).

For California State University Northridge (CSUN), the collage of

engineering and computer science started in the early 1960s as the

school of engineering. In the 1970s, Development from faculty

members, and other internal nontraditional organizations within CSUN

helped establishing the engineering management field of study. The

collage of engineering and computer science has founded the

department of manufacturing systems engineering and management in

2001. The department offers the undergraduate degree in

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manufacturing systems engineering and graduate degrees in

automation engineering, materials engineering, and engineering

management (2).

1.2 Number of schools that started the degree:

Due to the popularity of the major, many universities and

engineering schools are providing the degree in both undergraduate

and graduate levels. Below is a list of the pioneers in applying the

engineering management major:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stanford University

University of Washington

University of Southern California

California State University Northridge

Georgia Institute of Technology

University of California Berkeley

University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Virginia Tech Blacksburg

4


Northwestern University (McCormick) Evanston, IL

Pennsylvania State University

Cornell University Ithaca, NY

Texas A&M University

University of Wisconsin Madison (3).

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2. Comparing Engineering Management degree between

CSUN and other Universities

2.1 CSUN Engineering Management Curriculum:

2.1.1 Required Core Courses:

Core classes in CSUN consist of 6 courses total of 18 units

required to complete the program. Also, elective courses have to be

approved by the department of engineering management total of 12

units. Elective courses are limited to 9 units if they are 400 levels. At

least 9 of the 12 units must be in engineering. In addition, Elective

courses can be chosen from any engineering discipline such as

electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical, automation, quality and materials.

The last course in the program is MSE697 directed comprehensive

studies.

MSE 601 Engineering Statistics (3)MSE 602 Advanced Engineering Management (3)MSE 604 Economic Analyses of Engineering (3)MSE 606 Engineering Operations Research (3)MSE 608B Mgmt of Technical Personnel (3)MSE 608C Financial and Cost Analysis (3)

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2.1.2 Elective Courses:

MSE 401. Introduction to Engineering and Technology Management

MSE 415. Product Design

MSE 504. Engineering Management

MSE 505. Engineering Decision and Risk Analysis

MSE 507. Lean Manufacturing Systems

MSE 603. Computer Integrated Manufacturing

MSE 607B. Systems Engineering and Management

MSE 608A. Seminar in Engineering Management

MSE 612. Seminar in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies

MSE 617. Seminar in Quality Management

MSE 618. Six Sigma Quality Engineering

MSE 624. Failure Analysis

MSE 649. Seminar in Engineering Materials

MSE 699A-C. Independent Study (4)

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2.2 University of Colorado Boulder Engineering Management

Curriculum:

The following is the Master of Engineering management program

in University of Colorado at Boulder. It’s one of the best schools in the

United States. The Master of Engineering (M.E.) degree in Engineering

Management consists of 30 credit hours. The length of the program can

be finished to maximum of six years. As we notice in the core courses,

most of the classes are similar to the ones in CSUN except Software

project management, Quality and value creation and leadership. Also, in

the elective courses we notice more classes in quality systems

engineering, Performance excellence and project management.

Furthermore, this school tends to offer more business classes. On the

other hand, they lack marketing classes, as a need for marketing classes

according to the survey is needed to most of the EM students.

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EMEN 5010 Introduction to Engineering Management (Fall

or Spring)

EMEN 5020 Finance and Accounting for Engineering

Managers (Fall)

EMEN 5030 Project Management Systems (Fall)

-or- EMEN 5031 Software Project Management (Fall)

EMEN 5040 Quality, Strategy, and Value Creation (Spring)

EMEN 5050 Leadership (Fall or Spring)

EMEN 5825 Entrepreneurial Business Plan Preparation

(Fall)

-or- EMEN 5900 Research Methods (Spring) (5)


Project Management (5030, 5031, 5032)

Research and Development (5900, 5300, 5400)

Engineering Entrepreneurship (5825, 5710, 5090, 5051, 5400)

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Leadership (5050, 5080)

Performance Excellence in Technology Management (5040, 5041,

5042)

Quality Systems and Engineering (5040, 5042, 5900, 5043)

Operations and Logistics (5500)

Managing Applied Research (5900, 5042, 5610, 5620) (5)

2.3 University of Southern California

The University of Southern California (USC) offers the Master of

Science degree in Engineering Management in an innovative approach

different than other universities. The degree consists of 30 units, 21

units of requisites and 9 units of electives. Students select the core

courses in the degree from a main criterion stated by the Engineering

Management department. Each student has to take at least one course of

each part to complete the degree. The next part will discuss the core and

elective courses.

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Accounting:

ACCT 509 Concepts of Financial and Management Accounting

CE 502 Construction Accounting and Finance

ISE 566 Financial Accounting Analysis for Engineering

PPD 516 Financial Accounting in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors

Projects and Teams:

ISE 515 Engineering Project Management

ISE 544 Management of Engineering Teams

Technology:

ISE 545 Technology Development and Implementation

ISE 555 Invention and Technology Development

ISE 585 Strategic Management of Technology

Information Systems:

IOM 535 Database Management

ISE 582 Web Technology for Industrial Engineering

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ISE 583 Enterprise Wide Information Systems

Engineering Economy:

ISE 561 Economic Analysis of Engineering Projects

ISE 562 Value and Decision Theory

ISE 563 Financial Engineering

Enterprises:

ISE 507 Six-Sigma Quality Resources for Health Care

ISE 508 Health care Operations Improvement

ISE 517 The Modern Enterprise Systems

ISE 527 Advanced Quality Control

SAE 550 Engineering Management of Government-Funded Programs

ISE 564 Performance Analysis

SAE 551 Lean Operations

Quantitative Methods:

ISE 513 Inventory Systems

ISE 514 Advanced Production Planning and Scheduling

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ISE 525 Design of Experiments

ISE 530 Introduction to Operations Research

ISE 536 Linear Programming and Extensions

ISE 538 Elements of Stochastic Processes

ISE 580 Advanced Concepts in Computer Simulation


Students in pursuit of a master degree must register for at least 9

units of the previous courses. For that, students have the option to have

a concentration within the degree. Also, student can register for

undergraduate courses as electives with permission of the department

(6).

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2.4 Cornell University

Another excellent degree plan in engineering management can be

found at Cornell University. The program has a total of 9 required

courses, 30 units. The system of courses selection differs from CSUN

because it gives the student the choice of building his or her own degree

plan. As for elective courses, the department modeled the degree to

direct student to many concentrations to select from. The courses are as

follows.

2.4.1 Required Core Courses

Required Courses:

CEE 5900 – Project Management (Fall, 4 credits)

CEE 5910 – Engineering Management Project (Fall or Spring, 4

credits)

CEE 5930 – Engineering Management Methods (Fall, 4 credits)

CEE 5970 – Risk Analysis and Management (Spring, 3 credits)

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One course in finance and/or accounting (many students take

either NBA 5530 – Accounting and Financial Analysis for

Engineers, ORIE 5150 – Economic Analysis of Engineering

Systems, or NCC 5560 – Managerial Finance)

One course in individual and/or organizational behavior (many

students take CEE 6900 – Creativity, Innovation and Leadership;

NCC 5530 – Marketing Management; NCC 5540 – Mgmt. and

Leading in Organizations; NBA 6630 – Managerial Decision

Making; NBA 6660 – Negotiations; or ILROB 5200 –

Organizational Behavior & Analysis)

Three specialization courses in either a disciplinary or functional

area (7).

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3. Future Jobs of Engineering Management

3.1 Future Job Titles of Engineering Management:

Engineering manager

Manufacturing engineering manager

Systems engineering manager

Mechanical engineering manager

Engineering management

Software engineering manager

Test engineering manager

Engineering manufacturing

Industrial engineering manager

Product engineering manager

Business Analyst

Project Manager

Quality Assurance Analyst

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3.2 Sample Job Description:

3.2.1 Engineering Manager:

1. Assure the Department conducts projects according to prescribed

project management methodology.

2. Review, Estimate, Manage and Control capital and expense

budgets for facilities projects. Manage capital and expense

spending to within defined targets.

3. Coordinate with all appropriate validation and/or regulatory

groups to assure proper regulatory documentation and smooth

approval.

4. Establish, develop and drive Good Engineering Practices in all

projects undertaken.

5. Create, develop and continuously improve the standard

Engineering Specifications, Engineering Standards and

Engineering Guidelines.

6. Participate in and facilitate the harmonization and coordination of

efforts between other teams; such as, Quality Engineering, Process

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Engineering, Maintenance, Technical Services, R&D, EHS and

Regulatory.

7. Recruit, hire and develop talent.

8. Develop, mentor and coach the Facility Engineering group

members.

9. Partner closely with the other Engineering Managers and the

Project Management Office to conduct projects effectively and

efficiently

10. Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills

11. Must have good organization, prioritization and follow-up

skills. Ability to overcome obstacles and to deliver results.

12. Must have excellent communication skills in order to

effectively communicate with all levels of professionals, both

internal and external.

13. Bachelors Degree in Engineering. Masters Degree is highly

desirable (8).

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3.2.2 Business Process Analyst:

Lead process design and project implementation teams in process

improvement activities

Diagnose process improvement opportunities and develop

solutions using principles of process excellence and related tools

Quality reporting, analysis and audits and develop plans and

programs to support continuous quality improvement using

applicable tools

May lead or assist in the creation, implementation, and evaluation

of specialized fraud and abuse detection, avoidance, and recovery

programs

Work with persons across the enterprise and within client

companies in functions including systems, operations,

investigations, analytics, policy, and management

Analyze and investigate potential fraud through designing and

implementing new approaches

Provide explanations and interpretations within area of expertise

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Document customer business processes, work-flows and existing

system operations

Work with stakeholders to document gaps in current processes

and operations, and desired end-state solution

Support small-scale process-improvement projects

Produce reporting to clients show results of process improvement

initiatives (9)

3.2.3 Quality Analyst:

Develop, implement and manage test plans, test scripts, schedules,

and detailed reporting for new software builds and releases.

Identify and implement automated QA testing programs

Work closely with developers and product management teams on

all aspects of the product including reviewing specifications,

designing, and implementing automation procedures

Coordinate with account managers to diagnose errors reported by

end users and determine appropriate steps to resolve issues.

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Work within bug tracking system (bugs reproduced, written up,

and tracked from identification, repair, testing, and successful

completion) (10)

3.3 Interview Questions:

3.3.1 Financial Questions:

1- Explain the different pricing models of OPTIONS. (N/A)

2- Explain the different types of SWAP.

3- Explain the different types of FUTURES. (N/A)

4- Explain the different types of OPTIONS.

5- Explain the different types of BONDS.

6- How BONDS are priced and traded?

7- What are the differences of BONDS, NOTES and BILLS?

8- How OPTIONS are done?

9- How are the DERIVATIVES traded and how do they function?

10- What are the popular FIXED INCOME INSTRUMENTS?

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11- What is the role of a BROKER DEALER?

12- What is the role of a COMMERCIAL BANK?

13- What is the role of a MARKET MAKER?

14- What is the role of a SPECIALIST?

15- Explain, what are the CORPORATE AUCTIONS?

16- Explain about COMPLIANCE.

17- Explain about PRICING.

18- What is BACK OFFICE?

19- What is MID-OFFICE?

20- What is FRONT OFFICE?

21- Tell me about ORDER MANAGEMENT. (N/A)

22- Tell me about the TRADE SETTLEMENT process.

23- Explain how the IPO UNDERWRITING process works.

24- What is “SECURITIES LENDING”?

25- How does the lending process work?

26- What is ACCCOUNT MASTER?

27- Give me information about SECURITY ROSTER.

28- What is DID, explain different types of DID?

29- What is CUSIP?

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30- What is CMBS?

31- Who are the five “big players” in the brokerage industry?

32- Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan,

33- Who are the big players in the BOND market?

34- Who are the five big trade settlement houses?

35- How do you get pricing data from BLOOMBERG?

36- What are the different products of REUTERS?

37- Explain what does THOMSON FINANCIAL do and tell me about its

products?

38- Explain what does SUNGARD do and tell me about its products?

(11)

3.3.2 Technical Questions:

1. What were your responsibilities in your last project?

2. Have you been involved in compliance issues?

3. Tell me something about the project at the Deutsche Bank.

4. How did you document the requirements?

5. What is a JAD?

6. Who do you invite in a JAD session?

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7. Have you ever worked with the management?

8. What was the scope of the project?

9. What are the issues you came across during the project?

10. How did you make sure that the requirements you gathered

from the users are exactly what they are looking for?

11. At the end of the project, was there any case when the user

might have come up and said this is not what I desired from the

system? (In other words, they expected more from the system.)

How did you handle that? Did you enhance the requirements and

re-released the product?

12. What are Business Requirement Document, Use Case

Specification Document and Functional Specification Document?

13. How do you come up with functional specific documents?

14. What are Conceptual, Logical and Physical designs?

15. Have you worked on any Rational tools?

16. How far were you involved in the testing phase?

17. How do you decide which features to include in what

releases?

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18. What is your main strength or what do you think that you

have accomplished in your last project with which you are most

proud of?

19. What were the risks involved in the project? How did you

come with the solutions for those risks? (11)

3.3.3 Behavioral Questions:

1. Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation

that demonstrated your coping skills.

2. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good

judgment and logic in solving a problem.

3. Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able

to meet or achieve it.

4. Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills

to influence someone's opinion.

5. Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a

policy with which you did not agree.

6. Please discuss an important written document you were required

to complete.

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7. Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the

call of duty in order to get a job done.

8. Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you

were required to prioritize your tasks.

9. Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split

second decision.

10. What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me

an example.

11. Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with

another person even when that individual may not have

personally liked you (or vice versa).

12. Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last

year.

13. Give me an example of a time when something you tried to

accomplish and failed.

14. Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took

the lead.

15. Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal

with a very upset customer or co-worker.

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16. Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.

17. Tell me about a time when you delegated a project

effectively.

18. Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-

finding skills to solve a problem.

19. Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution

to a problem.

20. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems

and developed preventive measures.

21. Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an

unpopular decision.

22. Please tell me about a time you had to fire a friend.

23. Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too

low).

24. Why are you interested in working for us? (11)

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4. Case study: Engineering Management Degree Improvements

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MSE 401

MSE 415

MSE 504

MSE 505

MSE 507

MSE 603

MSE 607B

MSE 608A

MSE 612

MSE 617

MSE 618

MSE 624

MSE 649

MSE 699A

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

First Elective Choice

first

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MSE 401

MSE 415

MSE 504

MSE 505

MSE 507

MSE 603

MSE 607B

MSE 608A

MSE 612

MSE 617

MSE 618

MSE 624

MSE 649

MSE 699A

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Second Elective Choice

second

MSE 401

MSE 415

MSE 504

MSE 505

MSE 507

MSE 603

MSE 607B

MSE 608A

MSE 612

MSE 617

MSE 618

MSE 624

MSE 649

MSE 699A

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Third Elective Choice

third

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MSE 401

MSE 415

MSE 504

MSE 505

MSE 507

MSE 603

MSE 607B

MSE 608A

MSE 612

MSE 617

MSE 618

MSE 624

MSE 649

MSE 699A

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Fourth Elective Choice

fourth

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32


33


34


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The result of our research assignment and the surveys lead us to

make some recommendations that will improve the Engineering

management program. The department should make this survey

available and mandatory to all students in their last years .We suggest

for example that the survey could be part of the MSE 697 class. This will

allow the MSE program to always make some self-improvement and

compete with top 5 schools.

The department should make more online classes available to

students. That will allow students to be more flexible in the schedule

and also it will attract more students in the working environment.

Based on the survey 68% of the students answer positive and would

like to have more online classes.

Marketing classes should be part of the program; to be able to be an

effective manager today you have to be able to have some marketing

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skills. We also believe marketing should be part of the prerequisite

class. From the survey 95% of students answer positive to marketing.

To be able to be more marketable after graduation Student would

like to have more certification classes such as six-sigma engineering.

That will allow CSUN students be more competitive in the market

industry. From the survey 100% answer yes, meaning the change

needed is urgent.

Resume Building course should be available to student and could be

taking as elective classes. Such as marketing, student should be able to

good market their self in order to get a good job. From the survey 86%

of the student answer positive to the question.

Compare to other school in the same program, they tends to offer

more project to student than exams. That allow student to have more

hand on the learning material. From our research we find out that

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students are more focus to pass the exams than learning the material.

Our program should force students to be good in absorbing and

applying the learning material instead to be good exams taker. From the

survey 95% of the students believe that right way to evaluate student

should be by putting more emphasizes in-group class project.

Personally as a student I learned more that way. For example this

research assignment allows me to learn more about the program than if

I had to take a onetime exam.

MSE students should be able to have more opportunities to evaluate

their faculty members. From our research students feels like the

department does not even pay attention on the faculty evaluation form

that the instructors pass around at the end of the semester. The

department take a close look at those forms at make sure that the

instructor who subject of complaint make some changes the following

semester. From the survey 38% of the students rate their instructor

with good, 29% poor, 29% fair and only 5% excellent.

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The Job placement system in the MSE department should improve,

we believed that all student goals is to have a job after graduation, and

the easiest place to get the job is through the school. The department

should make more careers fair and invite more company to be part of

program through some sponsoring. We also suggest that as requirement

class a part time semester internship concludes by a report will be very

efficient as job placement tool. From the survey 52 % of the students

judge the placement system poor, 38% fair, 10% good and 0% excellent.

Students are very excited about the upcoming of moodle as source of

communication and learning. From one of the project we had in MSE

401 class, we learned that will make big change to student life and we

can also compare it to facebook. From the survey, 76% of the student

answer yes to moodle as the new source of communication and

learning.

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5. Conclusion

In conclusion, we have found out that the Engineering

Management at CSUN has shown great improvement within

the few years. The MSEM department has progressed by

introducing new courses to the degree based on the industry

demand. On the other hand, the lack of job placement,

sponsors, and preparation of new graduates for the job market

are the main drawbacks found from the survey results. From a

student point of view, the MSEM department has to make rapid

universities forecast to discover and apply the improvements

done that are suitable for the collage in general, and the degree

in specific.

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6. References

1. Kotnour, Timothy, and John V. Farr. "Engineering Management: Past,

Present, and Future | Engineering Management Journal | Find Articles

at BNET." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back

Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Web.

<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5394/is_200503/ai_n2137072

4/>.

2. "Department of Manufacturing Systems Engineering and

Management - MSEM History." California State University,

Northridge. Web.

<http://www.csun.edu/~msem/MSEMhistory.html>.

3. "Industrial / Manufacturing - Best Engineering Schools - Graduate

Schools - Education - US News and World Report." Best Graduate

Schools - Education - US News and World Report. Web. <http://grad-

schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-

engineering-schools/industrial-engineering>.

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4. "Department of Manufacturing Systems Engineering and

Management - MS Engineering Management." California

State University, Northridge. Web.

<http://www.csun.edu/~msem/MSEM.html>.

5. Engineering Management Degree Program at CU Boulder.

Web. <http://emp.colorado.edu/degree/index.htm>.

6. Master's Program Handbook. Publication.

University of Southern California. Web.

<http://www.usc.edu/dept/ise/assets/005/55425.pdf

>.

7. Student Handbook Master of Engineering Degree Program

in Engineering Management 2009-2010. 2009-2010. Cornell

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University. Web.

<http://www.cee.cornell.edu/uploads/loader.cfm?

csModule=security/getfile&pageid=38910>.

8. "Sr Mgr, Engineering job in Los Angeles, CA: Engineering careers -

Yahoo HotJobs." Yahoo! HotJobs - Thousands of jobs. Find the right

one. Web. <http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/job-

JIGOJLTKJAJ;_ylt=Ai6MptktAiYsUl9bOI6SI.T6Q6IX?

source=SRP>.

9. "Business Process Analyst - Atlanta, GA-314811 job in Atlanta, GA:

Accounting/Finance and Healthcare careers - Yahoo HotJobs."

Yahoo! HotJobs - Thousands of jobs. Find the right one. Web.

<http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/job-

JZSH3R4SK56;_ylt=AictVUo70WCRFBiziqtAGF36Q6IX?

source=SRP>.

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10. "Quality Assurance Engineer (QA) job in Los Angeles, CA:

Engineering and Technology careers - Yahoo HotJobs." Yahoo!

HotJobs - Thousands of jobs. Find the right one. Web.

<http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/job-

JXTC8V5M9OC;_ylt=Aj0xi_UszaM9wXS6FuQj2W36Q6IX?

source=SRP>.

11. "Engineering Management Jobs and Careers." Online

interview.JIT Design and Engineering Co. Director of Operations

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