The combination of the economic crisis and global competition has created a demand for technical professionals who possess a better balance of technical and business training. As a result, more engineering schools are cranking up their curriculums with new so-called “interdisciplinary” programs that include course options in business, engineering management, and even public policy, as well as a broader selection of technical subjects, ranging from robotics and controls to microelectronics/photonics, nanotechnology, and “green” engineering.
Are these changes the result of engineering schools that, after having done their homework, find the industry is requiring them to tweak their programs? Are they serving new markets? Or, are the schools responding to competition from other universities that have already begun to meet a perceived demand for a broader set of skills by their EE graduates?
“Yes, yes, and yes,” says Deborah Silver, director of Rutgers University’s Professional Science Master’s Program and a professor in the school’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, is responding to the needs of industry with a new graduate degree, a master of business and science (MBS).
“The degree’s modular structure allows Rutgers to combine offerings from many disciplines and quickly develop new areas of specialization in response to changing demands of industry,” says David Finegold, dean of the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, who initiated the planning for the new degree.
New tracks that are more broad-based are under development at Rutgers in other subject areas, such as information technology, nanotechnology, and actuarial sciences that will be available for the fall 2010 semester. A certificate in Science and Technology Management is now available for those with graduate degrees, but who may want to boost their business and technology credits.
Candidates for the new degree must have an undergraduate degree in engineering or another science program offered by Rutgers, but they’re not required to have enrolled in any business programs. Sub-concentrations for the MBS are communications engineering, computer engineering, digital signal processing, solid-state engineering, and systems and control.
Requirements for the new MBS include a combination of 43 credits—24 in science or engineering and 19 in business. Silver says the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and WIRED-Bio-1, a grant program of the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as corporate sponsors are supporting the new program.
MORE INNOVATION
Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute of Technology, in collaboration with the Heinz College, Social & Decision Science Department and the Tepper School of Business, has developed an interdisciplinary master of science degree in engineering & technology innovation management (E&TIM). Carnegie Mellon jump-started the program in 2007 with a few students.
Eden Fisher, E&TIM executive director, says the program now has 15 students and applications are being accepted for the program beginning in the spring of 2011. The E&TIM program is designed to prepare technical professionals to take a lead role in innovation and building first-rate technology programs.
“We’re looking for strong students with strong technical backgrounds,” says Fisher. “It also helps if you have a work background,” even if it was an internship. In fact, Fisher says the program can be completed in one year—from January through December—and requires a summer internship project.
The Stevens Institute of Technology’s School of Systems and Enterprise has developed a similar program, and it is publishing a set of recommendations for a master’s level graduate program in software engineering. “It’s the school’s first major update to curriculum guidelines for graduate software engineering in 20 years,” says Art Pyster, editor of the guidelines and a research professor at Stevens, who led the project.
Recommendations for the Stevens program came out of the Integrated Software and Systems Engineering Curriculum (iSSEc) project, aimed at creating a reference curriculum that reflects current development practices and the greater role of software in today’s systems. The U.S. Department of Defense is a major iSSEc sponsor.
The last time a similar set of recommendations was released was in 1989, when the Software Engineering Institute released curricular guidelines that were adopted in universities across the country. The iSSEc is planning a series of workshops to support implementation of its recommendations over the next couple of years.
NANO AND ROBOTICS AT GEORGIA TECH
Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is doing several new things, including a vertically integrated projects (VIP) program and a new course in microelectronics and nanotechnology. The program assembles teams of sophomores through seniors who work closely with graduate students and faculty on R&D projects that will be deployed and used in the real world. As seniors graduate, new sophomores are added and returning students move up in responsibility.
Students can participate on a team for up to six semesters, earning up to two credits per semester. VIP courses are available in both ECE and computer science. Teams are multidisciplinary and typically have 10 to 15 members. Students gain in-depth knowledge of the technology covered by the team and learn how to contribute to and lead large projects.