The Master of Science in Engineering with Certificate of Specialization in Engineering Management (MSOL: ENGR MGMT) is leadership education for technical specialists.
The curriculum targets the knowledge areas that managers need most to successfully oversee project teams and product development. Students learn strategy execution and how to turn strong ideas into actionable projects that stay on time, on budget and within specifications.
The online courses are taught by faculty from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and from other renowned schools at UCLA. Our students benefit from this varied expertise while engaging with content tailored to the engineering profession.
“We are very proud that the courses we offer to online students are exactly the same courses that we offer to on-campus students. They’re being taught by the same faculty with the same rigorousness, the same homework and the same exams.”
— Jenn-Ming Yang, distinguished professor and associate dean of international initiatives and online programs
Degree Requirements
Nine courses are required (36 units). This program includes a Comprehensive Exam Requirement that every student must complete to earn their degree. This ensures that you graduate from the program with an in-depth, practical understanding of engineering management and how to implement it into your professional life.
Time to Degree
The online MSOL: ENGR MGMT is a part-time program. Students generally take one course each quarter, and they complete the program in two years and one quarter, including two summer sessions. Some choose to take more than one course per quarter to earn their degree sooner. The maximum time allowed in this program is three academic years (nine quarters), excluding summer sessions.
Coursework and Format
The engineering management coursework includes:
- Recorded lectures
- Discussion posts
- Written assignments
- Presentations
- Individual and group projects
- Exams
Course Descriptions
The progression of courses presented below is a suggestion. Courses may be taken in a different order depending on availability.
*Availability of ENGR 188 courses may vary.
*No electives are allowed for this area of study.
Fundamental Courses in Engineering Management
Year 1
Practical review of major elements of the system engineering process. Coverage of key elements: system requirements and flow down, product development cycle, functional analysis, system synthesis and trade studies, budget allocations, risk management metrics, review and audit activities and documentation.
Practical review of necessary processes and procedures to successfully manage technology programs. Review of fundamentals of program planning, organizational structure, implementation and performance tracking methods to provide a program manager with necessary information to support decision-making processes that provide high-quality products on time and within budget.
Introduction to strategic and operating issues and decisions involved in managing enterprises. Operational processes use an organization’s resources to transform inputs into goods, utilize them to provide services or do both. Conceptual framework and a set of analytical tools are provided to enable students to better understand why processes behave as they do. Given this understanding, students are able to involve themselves in an organization’s defining strategic decisions, those related to key processes affecting an organizational unit’s performance.
Introduction to concepts reflecting material generally covered in certain M.B.A. core and elective courses. This course integrates (a) theory, to introduce essential conceptual building blocks in accounting and finance, and (b) empirical practice, to emphasize how these theories are actually implemented in the real world.
Cases, comprehensive problems and recent events are presented to provide students with as much hands-on experience in applying the material as possible.
Year 2
Coverage of a wide variety of spreadsheet models that can be used to solve business and engineering problems, with emphasis on mastery of Excel spreadsheet modeling as an integral part of analytic decision making. Managerial models include data modeling, regression and forecasting, linear programming, network and distribution models, integer programming, nonlinear programming and Monte Carlo simulation. Problems from operations, finance and marketing taught by spreadsheet examples and describe general managerial situations from various industries and disciplines. Development of spreadsheet models to facilitate decision making.
Exploration of knowledge, attributes, skills and strategies necessary to succeed communicatively in a workplace, with focus on business presentation skills, visual and verbal persuasion skills and interpersonal communication skills. This course is not eligible for the comprehensive exam question.
Prior knowledge of legal doctrines or materials not required. Intellectual property law is not just a topic for lawyers. Engineers who have design responsibilities must understand how the legal system in some instances protects their designs and in other instances stands as an obstacle to what would otherwise be the most efficient design choice. Engineers with management responsibilities must understand intellectual property law implications for everything from pricing to strategic partnerships. Examination of intellectual property law, not only by learning fundamental rules associated with patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection, but by studying business strategies that these rules support. Examples and case studies to be taken from across content, technology and pharmaceutical industries.
Management as well as engineering decisions nearly always take place in environments characterized by uncertainty. Probability provides a mathematical framework for understanding how to make rational decisions when outcomes of actions are uncertain. Application of probability to problem of reasoning from sample data, encompassing estimation, hypothesis testing and regression analysis. Discussion of specific analytical techniques needed in later courses in the program. Development of basic understanding of statistical analysis.
Year 3
Special topics in engineering on an experimental or temporary basis, such as those taught by resident and visiting faculty members. May be repeated for credit with topic or instructor change. Letter grading.
OR
Study is built around the notion that product management is about managing the life cycle of the product. Focus on defining, developing, launching, scaling, and end of life for products. Consideration of why a product is needed in the market, why a particular solution is the right product, and why a particular solution creates value for the customers and the company. Focus on products that have technological characteristics in the consumer products domain, the fundamentals of which are also applicable to products within enterprise, industrial, medical, and automotive sectors. Letter grading.
Comprehensive Exam
The Comprehensive Exam Requirement entails passing designated written exam questions for three different graduate-level courses. Each written exam is completed during the same time as the final exam of each course. Students select which exams they will take.
Most courses in the online MSOL: ENGR MGMT program are eligible for the exam; those that do not qualify are marked in the course descriptions above.
MSOL students can take their exams anywhere in the world, either on campus at UCLA or off campus at a local test center. They must complete their written exam within two days during the official final exam period.
Request Information
To learn more about the Online Master of Science in Engineering with Certificate of Specialization in Engineering Management, contact an enrollment consultant at (877) 837-8352 or fill out the form below to download a free brochure.