Engineering Management

What Our Program Offers

Learn from industry leaders, world-renowned faculty, and peers from leading industry organizations. This degree is a top-ranked, interactive online program where you will immediately apply what you learn to your work projects. If you are an individual contributor, the engineering management degree will help you transition to a management role. If you already hold a leadership position, the degree will help hone your technical leadership skills.

Our program is designed to encourage participation through insightful discussions, collaboration on team projects, and learning from your peers. You will be able to interact in each course with your fellow engineers, in a learning and networking environment, alongside other professionals.

Each summer, we offer a one-day, on-campus residency to meet faculty and fellow students. We encourage you on that day to begin to develop close, supportive relationships with fellow professionals as you progress together through the core curriculum.

What You Will Learn

• Skills to immediately apply to real projects and needs in your workplace
• Confidence to lead engineering teams and projects to successful results with stakeholders and decision makers
• Financial understanding of how your daily work and engineering decisions affect the budgets of your employer
• Knowledge of engineering-specific legal, marketing, and HR issues to deftly navigate internal and external challenges

Admission Requirements

• A bachelor of science (BS) degree from a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or the equivalent.*
• A minimum of two years’ post baccalaureate engineering experience. Engineering co-op or intern experience may be applied to the experience requirement.
• A minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00. Applicants from an international institution must have a strong academic performance comparable to a 3.00 for an undergraduate or master’s degree. All GPAs are based on a 4.00 scale. We use your institution’s grading scale; do not convert your grades to a 4.00 scale.
• Applicants whose native language is not English must provide scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The minimum acceptable score on the TOEFL is 580 on the written version, 243 on the computer version, or 92 on the internet version.
• International applicants must have a degree comparable to an approved U.S. bachelor’s degree.
• GRE is not required. Applicants who have taken the test are encouraged to submit their scores.

*Equivalency to an ABET accredited program: Applicants who do not hold a bachelor’s degree from an ABET-accredited program may also qualify for admission to the program. Such applicants must have a BS in science, technology, or a related field with sufficient coursework and professional experience to demonstrate proficiency in engineering practice OR at least 16 credits of math and science coursework.

Registration as a professional engineer by examination, if achieved, should be documented to support your application. All applicants are advised to determine whether this program meets requirements for licensure in the state where they live. See the National Society of Professional Engineers website for contact information for state licensing boards.

Exceptions to standard admission requirements are considered by the admissions committee on an individual basis.

Application Requirements

For our applicants, we require the following items:

• Your résumé/curriculum vitae
• A one-page essay that describes your reasons for wanting to pursue graduate studies
  • Please be sure to address your interest in this program; your academic and professional preparedness for this program; and any other information not presented elsewhere you want the admissions committee to know about
• Your unofficial academic transcripts
• The contact information of three recommenders
  • Request references from professional and/or academic connections best equipped to address your strengths. Include your direct supervisor if appropriate. References will be asked to rank your skills and submit a recommendation letter
• A $75 application fee (plus $6 fee for international applicants)

Tuition

$1,300 per credit payable at the beginning of each semester. Students are billed for courses in which they are enrolled each term. The University of Wisconsin does not offer payment plans.

Total tuition for this program is $39,000, which is based on 30 total credits. This total does not include travel and living expenses for summer residency programs, textbooks, course software, or additional credits beyond 30. Many students receive some financial support from their employers.

Students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to receive some level of funding through the Federal Direct loan program. These loans are available to qualified graduate students who are taking at least four credits during the fall and spring semesters, and two credits during summer. Private loans are also available. Learn more about financial aid.

Faculty and Staff

• Program Director: Heather Smith, MS, PMP
• Graduate Academic Advisor: Daryl Harrison
• Enrollment Coach: Michelle Gullickson

Faculty

• Joe Barich, JD, MS
• Shawn Belling, MS, PMI-ACP, PMP, CSP, S@S
• Christopher G. Dakes, PHD, LEED
• Laura Grossenbacher, PhD
• Christine Haas, MBA
• Thomas Heffner
• Deb Houden, PhD
• Raj Kamal, MS, MBA
• Steve King, MA
• Katie Krueger, MBA
• Jason Lin, PhD
• Terry Mann, MS
• John Nelson, MS, PE
• Barry Roberts, MS
• Jeff L. Russell, MS
• Jeffrey S. Russell, PhD, PE, Dist.M.ASCE, NAC, F.NSPE
• Bart Skarzynski, MA, MFA
• Dennis O Smith, MS
• Lyn M. Van Swol, PhD
• George Watson, EdD, MBA, BSB, MCPM, PMP
• Chuck West, MBA
• Cynthia E West, EdD, MAE, MBA

Advisory Board

• Dan Winter, Trachte, Chair
• Brandon Banks, John Deere
• Christopher Dakes, PhD, MEM faculty
• Geoffrey Goll, Princeton Hydro
• Michele Kaiser, John Deere
• Steve King, MEM faculty
• Jessie McMasters, Collins Aerospace

Curriculum

The online Master of Engineering in Engineering degree program with an emphasis in Engineering Management requires 30 graduate credits. You will typically take two courses each semester. Course web conferences are the only time-constrained course activities; all other weekly assignments can be accomplished on days and times of your choice. You can expect to spend about 20 hours a week on coursework and participating in team project activities.

The Engineering Management curriculum includes 22 credits of required courses and 8 credits of electives. Other appropriate electives may be selected upon approval by the program director.

Required Courses

• EPD 518 Quality Engineering and Quality Management
• EPD 611 Engineering Economics and Management
• EPD 612 Technical Project Management
• EPD 614 Marketing for Technical Professionals
• EPD 616 Engineering Law
• EPD 617 Communicating Technical Information
• EPD 618 Applied Leadership and Management of Engineering Organizations
• EPD 710 Foundations of Engineering Leadership

Electives

• ISYE 412 Industrial Data Analytics
• ME/​ISYE 512 Inspection, Quality Control and Reliability
• EPD 613 International Engineering Strategies and Operations
• EPD 706 Change Management
• EPD 708 Creating Breakthrough Innovations (Cannot be taken with EPD 619)
• EPD 619 Fostering and Leading Innovation (Cannot be taken with EPD 708)
• EPD 712 Ethics For Professionals
• EPD/​GEN BUS/​MHR 785 Effective Negotiation Strategies