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| Professor Hal Rumsey with an ETM student. |
When the Boeing Company was developing its new 777 airplane and wanted a moving assembly line to increase production, engineers took information directly from their WSU classes to make changes that optimized production.
“We were not only able to do the project, but we beat our targets,” said Tad Skrobecki, a manager in the airframe engineering department at Boeing who was then a recent graduate of WSU’s Engineering and Technology Management Program.
The program, which graduates about 20-25 students per year, has significant and tangible results that show up in companies throughout the Northwest and the world.
“We don’t just receive an academic benefit,” said Skrobecki. “This program has an impact on our bottom line. It’s real, and it’s significant.”
Management in technical fields
The program started in the early 1980s. At that time, when engineers wanted to build their management skills, they returned to school for a MBA. Increasingly, however, they wanted to learn management skills that applied better to technical fields, said John Ringo, director of the program.
Out of this need came the engineering management program, providing a more analytical approach than a traditional MBA.
Most of the students in the program are engineers, although some students come from other disciplines, such as business. Students graduate with a master’s of engineering and technology management degree. The program also offers professional certificates in eight specialized areas.
Tailored to professionals’ schedules
When people graduate with an undergraduate engineering degree, they have a reasonable knowledge of technology, but little practical experience, said Ringo. The ETM program, he said, teaches them how to efficiently manage all aspects of a project. Classroom activities are applied directly to the workplace.
“You are the most practical academic I’ve ever met,” a student once told James Holt, who teaches in the program.
Because the courses are for working professionals, they are taught online and generally from late afternoon until 10 p.m. Students take one to two courses per semester. The program includes four full-time faculty members – based in Spokane, Seattle, Vancouver and Pullman – and two adjuncts.
Alex Nocivelli, CEO of Luceat, a fiber optics company in Italy, rises at 4 a.m. to attend the WSU classes before his work day starts.
“I’m always challenged, interested and taught in wonderful ways,” he said. “Because of WSU, I’ve doubled my profits and plan to double them again.”
Connected to industry
According to Holt, a survey of 85 graduates of the program found that the students felt it had helped them save, on average, approximately $70,000 on work projects.
“These working professionals bring the problems from their workplaces into the classroom for discussion,” he said. “They learn from each other as well as from excellent faculty guidance. They often comment on how much it means to see other industry problems because it helps them better understand how to fix their own.”
Skrobecki was one of about 15 or 20 Boeing commercial airplane engineers who went through the program in the mid- 1990s.
“WSU’s program was a perfect fit,” he said.
200 Boeing employees among those taught
Today, the program remains very connected to industry, and about 200 Boeing employees have been enrolled, he said.
Faculty who teach in the ETM program, he said, stay contemporary on industry trends. They were preparing students for virtual teaming in the 1990s, and now they are active leaders of sustainability, said Skrobecki.
The faculty do a good job of making themselves available to students, which adds to the program’s strength. The program also provides a pathway of advancement for its students, said Skrobecki. Many of those who receive certificates go on to management and senior technical careers.
“These programs are vital to our industry success,” he said. “The university is doing a fantastic job.”