paper: to identify bestpractices related to implementing professional development skills into an academic curriculum.Subsequently, we would utilize this information in the development, planning, implementation,and assessment of our GAPS program. Part II: Literature Review: We identified literature using Google scholar, EBSCO host Education Full Text, andEBSCO host ERIC. We used the following keywords in our search: engineering education,graduate education, project management, professional skills, soft skills, lean manufacturing, leansix sigma, and project management methodology. We then reviewed each article specificallynoting the population that was studied, methods, and primary results. The following