Case program is national model that
breeds success for graduating students
TiME’s master of engineering and management
program generates ‘business-minded engineers’
February 11, 2005 | For more information: Laura
M. Massie (216)-368-4442
 The Institute for Management and Engineering (TiME) at Case Western
Reserve University is reporting one success story after another this
year. According to its 2004 annual report, TiME graduated its second
set of master’s of engineering and management (MEM) students last
year – not only a larger graduating class than in 2003, but an
even more successful second year of job placement, with 71 percent of
its graduates placed in high-paying jobs.
The MEM program, described by the Ohio Board of Regents as a “national
model” for its emphasis on providing companies with engineers
who have the people management skills needed to be effective in today's
workplace, also is designed to help the graduate quickly integrate technical
solutions to meet the needs of a company’s bottom line. Case is
the only university in the country to offer a fully integrated academic
program. The program treats engineering and management as they occur
in the real world.
As business becomes more technologically sophisticated, the key change
agents in business find themselves leading their organizations with
the technology they manage, says A. Dale Flowers, co-director of TiME
and a professor of operations management at the Weatherhead School of
Management. That means a shift in focus from tactical application of
engineering and technology to strategic business development driven
by technology.
“Engineering and business management do not happen independently
in industry,” Flowers said. “For the first time, they are
fully integrated into a 42 credit hour program that only takes three
semesters to complete. It’s clear that this new breed of engineer
has been discovered by corporations all over the country because our
placement activities have exploded in the last year.”
The combination of a better economy and the success of TiME’s
first class led to 71 percent of 2004 graduates receiving quality job
offers, Flowers says. Including signing bonuses, the range of reported
first year compensation for 2004 MEM graduates averaged between $55,000
and $77,500. Some of the companies hiring the recent graduates include
Accenture, Newell Rubbermaid, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Automation,
IBM, PCC Airfoils, Dow Chemical, Eaton Corp., Hyland Software and the
NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
“Graduates of this program will quickly contribute to not only
the technology of an organization but also to its bottom line,” Flowers
said. “The early returns for MEM students graduating in 2005 suggest
a further dramatic improvement in placement results, indicating that
companies like our ‘business-minded engineers.’ They’ll
be able to take on additional responsibility more rapidly than their
peers who have not had the integrated training.”
Gary Wnek, co-director of TiME and the Joseph F. Toot Jr. Professor
of Engineering at the Case School of Engineering, said TiME and its
MEM program are continuing to make “excellent progress” toward
its vision of becoming known worldwide as the place to come to integrate
engineering and management.
“This is not students going over to the management school and
taking courses there and then figuring how it fits together with engineering,” Wnek
said. “These two sets of disciplines have a special relationship
unlike that of any other set. Engineers and managers work hand-in-hand
in industrial organizations all over the world to invent products and
services of benefit to society and to bring them to market in both a
socially responsible and profitable manner. It is important to educate
engineers who can hit the ground running, and to offer students more
than the standard technical skills engineering students usually get.”
The MEM program has been praised by business and education leaders
as a prototype for budding programs at other universities.
“I think it is obvious to everyone in the academic and business
communities that the MEM program at Case has become a national model,” said
Harry Andrist, director of research and graduate programs at the Ohio
Board of Regents. “The university has every reason to expect truly
exciting developments to grow out of this program. The MEM program has
already provided direct support for Northeast Ohio’s efforts to
position itself as a leader in regional economic development.”
The Institute for Management and Engineering at Case, formerly known
as The Institute for the Integration of Management and Engineering,
brings together the resources of the Case School of Engineering and
Weatherhead School of Management. TiME’s mission is to foster
the integration of these disciplines through academic programs, technology
transfer and scholarly research. Besides the MEM program, TiME manages
the $100,000 CASE Business Launch Competition each spring. The competition
promotes and supports the development and formation of new start-up
technology-based ventures in Northeast Ohio and to provide entrepreneurial
experiences to students in the TiME academic program as well as entrepreneurs
from the area.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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