Conference Session

Contemporary Practices in Engineering Management Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stanislav Karapetrovic, University of Alberta; John Doucette, University of Alberta

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

used in engineering courses orprograms. Examples of the related studies and applications can be found in Cheng et al. (2004)1,Shariff (2006)2, Sakhtivel and Raju (2006)3, Heitmann (2000)4 and other similar papers.However, a number of new standards now exist that can be deployed for the same purpose ofproviding quality assurance to students, professors, administrators and other stakeholders, butcan be much more easily applied than ISO 9001. Such efficient application is possible due totheir streamlined and effective focus on a single component of a quality management system, forinstance complaint handling and internal auditing5. Examples of these standards coming from theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) include the four

Conference Session

Engineering Management Program Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Raper, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Susan Murray, Missouri University of Science and Technology; Christa Weisbrook, Missouri University of Science and Technology; William Daughton, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

years ago and it is one of only five ABET accredited undergraduateEM programs [1]. The initial degree program included a senior year of management courses inconjunction with three years of courses in common engineering disciplines such as mechanical,electrical, and civil engineering. In the 1990s the program underwent a major restructure andstudents combined core engineering management classes with an emphasis area inside thedepartment. Industrial, manufacturing, packaging, and quality engineering emphasis were addedas well as management of technology, while maintaining the ability to pursue traditionalengineering emphasis areas.Recently major changes were made to extend the set of core courses and to streamline thetechnical emphasis areas. The

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Management Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ertunga Ozelkan, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Agnes Galambosi, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

the instructor are scheduled, or when first and last class sessions meet inperson in a classroom setting. For further details on online teaching techniques the reader canrefer to e.g. Bender[1].Scope:This paper tries to answer the following three research questions: 1. what are the students’preferences for different online delivery techniques?; 2. what is the perception of engineeringand engineering management students towards online courses compared to the traditional on-campus courses?; 3. Do factors such as previous exposure to online programs, differentengineering programs or different demographics affect the outcomes of the survey. In order toaddress these research questions, a survey has been conducted in the engineering college at

Conference Session

Engineering Management Program Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ertunga Ozelkan, University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Agnes Galambosi, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

education delivery techniques.IntroductionMotivationBased on Gibbons[5], the number of Master’s-degree students enrolled in engineeringmanagement programs doubled between 2003 and 2006, despite an overall decrease of9% in engineering Master’s enrollment. In 1999, the total engineering managementMaster’s enrollment was about 1,767 students. In 2003, this number went further up to2,229 and it was up to 4,625 in 2006. This trend is also supported by the continuedincrease in the number of programs over the past 30 years. As reported in Alvear et al. [1],about 30 engineering and technology management programs existed in 1970s, andcurrently this number is over 160.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics[4], the need for Engineering and NaturalScience

Conference Session

Contemporary Practices in Engineering Management Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ivan Lidon, University of Zaragoza; RUBEN REBOLLAR, University of Zaragoza; Palle Qvist, Aalborg University; Juan Luis Cano, University of Zaragoza

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

in groups while theydevelop their projects, in order to prevent possible failure once projects are completed.The Democratic Learning Questionnaire developed at Aalborg University, which studies thedecision-making process within project groups in order to obtain an indication of the degree ofstudent participation in a democratic learning system.The results obtained have confirmed the validity of the first questionnaire for the early detectionof teamwork functioning problems in groups. The second questionnaire has made it possible toestablish a correlation between a group's decision making process and the quality of itsfunctioning as a team.1. Introduction.A project can be understood as a temporary effort undertaken to achieve a particular aim

Conference Session

Contemporary Practices in Engineering Management Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gene Dixon, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

] is a US GOCO overseen by agovernment agency. Operations and management of the site are contracted to a private services provider.These providers are usually, a consortium of major construction and engineering firms. Thecommuniqués in the case are a series of announcements from the management and operating (M&O)contractor’s president. For the time period covered by the case study, the M&O contract was managed bythe [company], a subsidiary of the [parent org].The issues addressed in the case are qualitative in nature and cover organizational structure, culture,finance and management. Table 1 provides a summary of issues that are addressed. The analysis of thiscase study, because of its construct as a series of company president letters

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Management Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Wyrick, Texas Tech; Adji Cisse, Texas Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

others to constitute avirtual team” [1]. With the concept of virtuality, the notion of “working together apart” [2]very well captures the essence of what the virtual world presents to organizations. In fact,people no longer have to be confined in the same continent, let alone building or room, inorder to work on a project. The new face of organizations is that of a much decentralizedgroup, with diverse sub-groups dispersed all over the four corners of the world. Virtualteams and networked organizations are the latest stage in the evolution of organization [3].Virtual teams are a type of small group. They differ from other small groups in forms ofcommunication, number of relationships, and in the ability to create in a global context.The

Conference Session

Engineering Management Program Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natalie Cherbaka, North Carolina State University; Jerome Lavelle, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

on the design of a proposed program. From this we describe and evaluatepotential proposals for an EM program at NCSU.1. Engineering Management TodayDefining Engineering Management: Engineering Management as a discipline is not tightlydefined, as demonstrated by a relatively wide variance among academic EM programs. Thediscipline is often grouped with Industrial Engineering, Systems Engineering, or Management ofTechnology. Although very few EM definitions exist, current discipline trends are representedby the following:  Engineering Management is the art and science of planning, organizing, allocating resources, and directing and controlling activities which have a technological component.2  Engineering Management is

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Management Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lenisha Gandhi, IBM

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

fundamental practices that will helpbuild this trust are:1. Building virtual relationships within the team will greatly help in building trust among the global team members. Nothing can replace the importance of a face–to-face meeting. However, in today’s economy and budget constraints, that is not always possible. But if at all possible, when an initial global team is formed, the first thing to attempt is to arrange a face- to-face meeting between the global team members and the leader of the project. For example, on a recent joint work effort between Germany and Silicon Valley, a face-to-face meeting between the German architect and the US team was not done until the end of the project. When the fact-to-face meeting happened, it was

Conference Session

Contemporary Practices in Engineering Management Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raymond Price, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Rose Mary Cordova-Wentling, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

and multidisciplinaryfield that constitutes engineering in today’s global environment. Additionally, Manseur (2003) refers tothe need of a “broad education that goes beyond traditional engineering topics and includes areas such asethics, team work, oral communication, life-long learning, and an awareness of the impact of engineeringon society to name just a few” (p.1). Goldberg (2006) noted that preparing engineers for organizationaland people-related challenges assists them in being more effective throughout their careers. All theauthors mentioned above have brought attention to the human behavior related skills that engineers needin order to successfully apply their technical knowledge in today’s ever-changing and multidisciplinaryworld

Conference Session

Engineering Management Program Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Abel, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

usedby the Engineering Management Program at Stevens Institute of Technology todemonstrate these concepts.Different data displays are used for varying reasons. For example, data displays ofaverage starting salaries are used to show that the Engineering Management Program wasnot standing still by having salaries stagnate, but was keeping pace with the nation byhaving graduates whose starting salary was comparable to those in the rest of the nation.Thus, Stevens Engineering Management graduates may be considered to be sought afterand competitive in the marketplace. See Table 1. Page 14.972.6 Table I: Career Profile and Salary Report of

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Management Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Howard Eisner, George Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

The George Washington UniversityAbstract This paper provides an overview of Systems Engineering education in the context of anEngineering Management program. This program has successfully integrated systemsengineering into the broader perspective of engineering management. From a base of corestrengths and competencies in engineering management, the systems engineering courseshave grown in substance and acceptance in the marketplace. Combinations of thesecourses lead to Certificates and Master’s degrees. Further study in systems engineering,together with research and dissertation activities, can lead to a doctorate degree. Aspectsof the offerings discussed in this paper include: (1) system requirements, (2) the systemsapproach, (3) system