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Session 3263

A GRADUATE CURRICULUM FOCUSED UPON MANUFACTURING & INTEGRATING ENGINEERING & BUSINESS

C.O. Ruud, M.P. Hottenstein The Pennsylvania State University

Abstract A unique, new graduate program, Quality and Manufacturing Management (QMM), has been introduced at Penn State. The QMM program is an integrated two-semester academic program created jointly by the Colleges of Engineering and Business with cooperation and stimulation from industry. The courses are all required and taken in lock-step by each class cohort. Faculty members from both colleges teach in the program, often with both being present in the classroom to provide continuous integration of course material. The students have backgrounds in business, engineering, science, and industry and are selected to provide diversity in each cohort class. The first year has been successful beyond expectations and has met or exceeded all of the parameters selected for its evaluation. In terms of acceptance of the new, unknown Master’s in Manufacturing Management (MMM) degree by employers, all but one of the graduates had accepted a suitable employment position or elected to continue his/her education by graduation day. In terms of interest from prospective students, applications increased nearly three fold from the first to the second year.

Introduction Manufacturing today not only refers to the making of hard goods, but also to enterprises that “produce” information, transportation, health care, etc. Manufacturing is not simply the cutting, shaping, grinding, and assembling of materials; it includes product design, materials and processes, plant design, capacity management, product distribution, product costing, performance measurement, plant scheduling, quality management, workforce organization, equipment maintenance, strategic planning, supply chain management, interplant coordination, and direct production. This is sometimes referred to as “Big M”. All of the activities typically included in “Big M” manufacturing are part of the unique new integrated Engineering/Business graduate program at Penn State called Quality and Manufacturing Management (QMM).

Industry is driving for a competitive edge through quality, cost, speed, and flexibility. Corporations are streamlining, asking not for specialists, but for personnel with the ability to integrate and work across traditional boundaries. These forces have combined to create an emerging need for a new breed of professional: women and men who can think broadly as business people, engineers, and technologists, and who have the skills needed to bring new products to the marketplace in the most cost-efficient way possible.

Penn State’s one-year QMM program helps prepare professionals as leaders capable of bringing together collaborative teams of engineers, scientists, and business managers whose common aim is developing and delivering a quality product to the customer for a profit.

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Hottenstein, M., & Ruud, C. (1998, June), A Graduate Curriculum Focused Upon Manufacturing & Integrating Engineering & Business Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7150