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David Zimmerman

ENGL 211

28 April 2020

Why Study Engineering Management

Engineering Management? What is that? Why do you need to manage an Engineer? He

spent years getting his degree, he knows what he is doing. These are all examples of how people

react when the subject of Engineering Management comes up. Engineering Management is the

next big degree surge that is coming to college campus’ worldwide. The use of Engineering

Management will change the way business’ do work for customers and in their own workplaces.

Let’s start with what is Engineering Management. According to Wikipedia “Engineering

Management is the application of the practice of management to the practice of engineering”

(Wikipeadia). Or more simply put it brings together the problem solving of engineering and the

organization and planning of management. Another way of looking at it is that it allows a

business to get the most value for projects that are performed.

In the past an Engineer was hired to solve a specific problem from his office never really

seeing the problem. Problems were seen to have clear cut and defined answers. That method

does not work in the real world now days. Now many things must be taken into consideration.

In today’s world "you have to solve a customer problem, an engineering problem, an

organizational problem and a shareholder problem” according to Jeffery Glass, faculty director

of Duke University’s Master of Engineering Management Program in an interview in 2018

(Abrams). According to Michael Abrams article “The Rise of the Master of Engineering

Management Degree” the new Engineers must know not only the problem that they are working
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on but the context of it also. Professor Glass went on to say that “You’re going to have to decide

when enough is enough and make a decision based on ambiguous information” (Abrams).

If decisions must be made with ambiguous information, then some form of management

must be applied to ensure that the end results solves the original problem to the fullest extent

possible with the parameters that are given to the Engineer. That management comes from

Engineering Management. Putting together plans, budgets and tracking the project from

inception to completion is the job of someone trained in Engineering Management. More

companies are employing people to perform the functions of Engineering Managers in the future.

So, what kind of business need an Engineering Manager? Just about every kind of

business that makes product for distribution, performs construction, provides services such as

plumbing and electrical or does research can benefit from hiring an Engineering Manager.

Based on the information from Washington State University “… job opportunities for

engineering managers are expected to grow at an increasing rate especially in the fields of

environmental and biomedical engineering” (Engineering Manager- Salary, Managers and

Management) What an Engineering Manager does will depend on the type of company that they

are employed by. If they work for an electrical contractor, then they will like to be overseeing

electricians that are working on a major project for the company. According to the Occupational

Outlook Handbook “… about 35 percent of all engineering management jobs are in

manufacturing and 25 percent are in technical and professional services. The remaining

managers are employed in government agencies and engineering firms” (Bureau of Labor

Statictics)

The typical engineering manager would have many jobs and responsibilities placed on

them. They would coordinate quality control and production. They could potentially be
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assigned to relay any staff issues to the HR department, hiring and firing necessary personnel and

perform performance evaluations on workers. They would typically oversee technicians,

engineers and scientist working on design and installation of the required project. They would

be assigned the responsibility of maintaining the budget, ordering equipment, accepting delivery

and ensuring proper installation. They would be responsible for developing the master schedule

for the project and tracking the progress of various parts of the project, especially any item that

was identified as a “critical path” item. These are parts of the project that can cause the entire

project to come to a halt if they are not done in a timely manner.

Now that we know what an Engineering Manager does, let’s look at what kind of person

becomes an engineering manager and what does it take to become an Engineering Manager. The

most common source of engineering managers is from within Engineering or technical jobs.

They normally will have a bachelor’s or associate degree in some engineering field. They will

normally be goal orientated with a strong attention to details. A strong set of communication

skills are a must.

Once the decision has been made to become an engineering manager the educational

requirements must be met. Course study will include Managerial Science, Marketing,

Accounting, Material Handling and Plant Layout, Computer Science, Physics and Chemistry and

System Engineering. The exact requirements depend on the university that is chosen. There are

several concentrations within Engineering Management such as Crisis, Emergency and Risk

Management or Economics, Finance and Cost Accounting or Environmental and Energy

Management, Information Security Management, Operations Research and Management Science

to name a few.
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The next decision is where to go to school. There are numerous options including a

multitude of online degrees available. Based on information from Wikipedia, Stevens Institute

of Technology has the oldest program for engineering management having established the

department in 1908. Syracuse University established the first graduate degree in the U.S., first

offered in 1957. The largest Master of Engineering Management programs (in term of degrees

awarded for 2005-2006) are shown in the following chart: (Wikipeadia)

Based on the information in the chart, if you want one of the largest programs then your

destination is the state of Virginia. If you want the top ranked school, then that depends on what

website that you visit. Some of the ones that appear on most lists are Duke, Ohio University and

Vanderbilt.

Maybe you are just getting started, although most engineering management programs are

designed for a master’s degree there are some that have an undergraduate program. There are

over twenty schools that offer engineering management related programs including Virginia
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Tech. Maybe it is your doctorate that you want then you would want to apply to Missouri

University of Science and Technology which awarded the first Ph.D. in the subject in 1984.

Now that we know where to study, we need to get an idea of some of the classes that

might be required. That is a much broader grouping of classes than some would imagine. Some

of the areas of studies include: Leadership and Organization Management, Operations,

operations research and supply chain, Management of technology, New product development

and product engineering, Systems engineering, Industrial engineering, Management science and

Engineering design management. Each university will have its own requirements but be sure

that they will work in classes on business as well as engineering.

Of course, the whole reason to go to college and get a degree is how much can you make

when you get done and graduate. Based on Occupational Outlook Handbook, based on the

industry that you work in salary can range from about $65,000 starting with a bachelor’s degree

up to $140,000 or more working in the manufacturing fields. Finding a job in the scientific

research industries could bring a paycheck of over $160,000 a year (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The argument could be made that hiring and using an engineering manager is an extra

expense that companies don’t need. According to Freek Van Heerden’s article for

OwnerTeamConsultation “… a successful project is typically described as a project that meets

cost, schedule and production objectives within a specific margin of, say, +-5%. While meeting

these objectives would imply that a project has been successfully implemented, it does now

guarantee that the resulting venture would be an economic success” (Heerden). The conclusion

that Heerden comes to after reviewing all the aspects into engineering management is

“Engineering Managers who focus on these aspects will, during the development and
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implementation of projects, prove their value and contribution towards successful projects”

(Heerden).

Now that we know about the job, the education and the salary that can be earned we need

to revisit the questions from the start of our discussion. We have determined what Engineering

Management is and it is not managing an engineer. It is a process that when used and

implemented properly under the supervision of a trained individual will provide better product to

the customer at a more reasonable price while still providing profit for the company and a

dividend for the shareholders. The properly trained and qualified Engineering Manager can be

the center of the business, providing information to all levels of the company, its suppliers,

subcontractors and customers.

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I. Works Cited
Abrams, Micheal. "www.amse.org/topics-resources/content/rise-master-engineering-management-
degree." 23 May 2018. www.ASME.org. Webpage. 20 April 2020.

Bureau of Labor Statictics. "Occupational Outlook Handbook." 10 April 2020.

www.bls.gov/ooh/management/architectural-and-engineering-managers.htm#tab-3. internet.
24 April 2020.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Occupational Outlook Handbook." 10 April 2020.

www.bls.gov/ooh/management/architectural-and-engineering-managers.htm#tab-5. 24 April
2020.

"Engineering Manager- Salary, Managers and Management." n.d.

careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/cvy163uw4y/engineering-manager.html. Web. 24 April 2020.

Wikipeadia. "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_management." n.d. Wikipedia. Web. 20 April 2020.