Technology drives productivity, lowers cost, and drives competitiveness. Conventional managerial styles do not adapt well to managing the highly skilled technology driven professional in a technology based environment. Engineers and scientists moving toward technical management responsibilities while maintaining identity in their technology need to establish the skill set and managerial style that will enable them to generate and transfer knowledge for making and implementing decisions which provide leadership in the management of engineering and technology. This specialization focuses on integrating practical technical experience with management theory and practice.

MET5010 — Quality Management

The successful implementation of total quality management practices is a requirement for all firms/organizations to be successful. This course introduces a systematic approach for implementing total quality management for an organization with strong emphasis on “The Customer” and what the customer wants for product quality. This course covers the topics of defining quality, the history of quality management, identifying and understanding the customer, and adopting process improvements to implement quality management.

MET5015 — The Process and Impact of Technology

Technology is a key resource of profound importance for corporate profitability and growth. This course will focus on the process of technology and the impact that technology has on companies, industries, and countries. Effective management of technology links engineering, science, and management disciplines will be studied using real business cases. These disciplines address the issues involved in the planning, development, and implementation of technological capabilities required to shape and accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of an organization.

MET5016 — Improving Productivity Through Technology

This course is primarily concerned with the processes of acquiring technology to improve productivity in the firm. This includes looking at organizational change needed to successfully implement technological advances. The course will review organizations and their attempts to adopt technological innovations - especially computer and information system related innovations. This course will also examine the changes needed to make effective use of new technology and assure consistency between the technology and organizational processes and structures. This course also investigates the impact of technology on improving productivity, and the limits of such improvements.

MET5020 — Management of Technology

This course is concerned with the impact of rapidly changing technology and the problems of managing these technological changes. The success of these ventures is even more dependent on timely and often courageous technological change decisions. The traditional concepts of operational and economic life of technologies must be used with caution. The real and impending impact of technological change is ever present as a factor and it must be continually managed for a firm to survive.

MET5023 — Managing the Research and Development Organization

This course examines the R & D environment including planning, new product development, marketing, proposals and contracts, technological forecasting, innovation and creativity. The course is also going to focus on service innovation using Southwest Airlines as an example.

MET5029 — Project Management

This course considers the use of project management to accomplish unique outcomes with limited resources under critical time constraints. The course covers project management topics such as project selection, management, organization, planning, conflict and negotiation, budgeting, scheduling, control of the project and termination of the project. Microsoft Project Professional 2002 software comes with your textbook and should be used as much as possible during the course assignments to automate your answers.