Curriculum
The Master's in Engineering Management program offers two degree options: general and data analytics.
The general degree option provides students with the expertise needed to master project management in technical firms.
The data analytics degree option provides students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of data analysis and programming, equipping you with the skills needed to manage teams that increasingly depend on data across industries, including manufacturing, preventive maintenance, quality engineering, and designing supply chain systems.
Both options are designed to produce well-rounded professionals who can navigate the evolving engineering landscape.
The EM (Engineering Management) program begins with MSE 600, a course focused on decision-making tools for engineering managers. This decision-making ability is a fundamental skill that all engineering managers must possess to make decisions related to diverse project elements. Students then take a course in engineering economics and financial analysis, where they acquire decision-making tools related to a project's economic and financial aspects. This is followed by a course on leadership and marketing.
The program then transitions into a course on innovation and entrepreneurship, which focuses on developing entrepreneurial skills and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.
From this point, the program splits into two options: the general degree option and the data analytics option. The general degree option includes courses on engineering project management, marketing, and sustainability. The data analytics option focuses on data analytics for managers, knowledge discovery, data visualization, and programming for data science and analytics.
The program then reunites to cover topics in Quality Management and Supply-Chain systems, ensuring students gain a deep understanding of these crucial components and essential knowledge for all engineering managers of the modern engineering industry.
The program’s culminating experience focuses on the integration of skills obtained from the curriculum to carry out a real-life case study/project. This final program component instills within students the selectivity necessary to choose the most accurate and relevant skills for any given project.
Course List (11 courses, 33 units)
| General | Data Analytics |
|---|---|
| MSE 600: Decision Tools for Engineering Managers | |
| MSE 604: Engineering Economy and Financial Analysis | |
| MSE 608B: Leadership of Engineering Professionals and High-Tech Firms | |
| MSE 606: Production and Operations Management for Engineers | |
| MSE 602: Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Engineering Professionals | |
| MSE 402: Engineering Project Management | MSE 562: Introduction to Data Analytics for Engineering Managers |
| GBUS 593: Management/Marketing Seminar | MSE 564: Knowledge Discovery from Databases and Data Visualization for Engineering Managers |
| MSE 540: Sustainability for Engineers | COMP 502: Programming for Data Science and Analytics |
| MSE 617: Engineering Quality Management and Analytics | |
| MSE 515: Engineering Supply-Chain Systems and Analytics | |
| MSE 697MGT: Engineering Management Directed Comprehensive Studies | |
Course Highlights
Courses are offered in the following sequence:
| Course | Name | Units | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSE 600 | Decision Tools for Engineering Managers | 3 units | In this introductory course, students undertake data collection and learn to utilize appropriate statistical, forecasting, optimization, and simulation tools to make and analyze engineering management decisions. The focus is on formal quantitative modeling, with a strong recognition of the behavioral and political contexts of decision making in complex organizations. The course uses appropriate software to teach spreadsheet modeling.  Watch MSE 600 overview |
| MSE 604 | Engineering Economy and Financial Analysis | 3 units | This course enables students to use an engineering mindset to evaluate a project's economic feasibility. Students learn to compare, analyze, and apply economic alternatives while studying the implications of depreciation, inflation, currency-exchange rates, and taxation on project profitability. The course also provides a review of cost estimation, accounting, and essential financial statements, including income, cash flow, and balance sheets. Additional financial decision-making applications are also briefly covered. Watch MSE 604 overview |
| MSE 608B | Leadership of Engineering Professionals and High-Tech Firms | 3 units | Students study the leadership attributes, theories, and concepts needed to succeed in today's rapidly changing, high-tech workplace. They also examine the field's unique management considerations, including employee selection, performance evaluation, conflict resolution, and termination. Watch MSE 608B overview |
| MSE 606 | Production and Operations Management for Engineers | 3 units | In this course, students explore a variety of production and operations management topics, including production planning and systems management. The course also outlines specific strategies to help students gain a competitive edge in the manufacturing and service industries. Watch MSE 606 overview |
| MSE 602 | Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Engineering Professionals | 3 units | In this course, students gain the entrepreneurial competencies necessary to approach the engineering discipline with a fresh, innovative mindset. The class seeks to instill within students an entrepreneurial thought process so that, upon course completion, concepts, theories, and principles remain practice-ready. As a final course component, students will write a business plan for a new or existing company. Watch MSE 602 overview |
| MSE 402 | Engineering Project Management | 3 units | This overview of the engineering project management process—from the feasibility stage through close out-covers project initiation, screening, and selection. It also examines organizational and project structure, time-and-cost estimation, budgeting, work-plan development, and resources scheduling. This course provides additional insight into risk management, work tracking, team management, partnering projects, and close out. Students learn to use appropriate project-management software. This course provides the necessary hours of project management education to be completed in order for students to be eligible to sit for the Project Management Institute (PMI) CAPM certification exam. Watch MSE 402 overview |
| MSE 562 | Introduction to Data Analytics for Engineering Managers | 3 units | This course provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts and tools of data analytics for improving decision-making for engineering management and overall organizational performance. It makes the fundamental topics in data analytics approachable and relevant by using real-world examples and prompts learners to think critically about applying this new knowledge and understanding to the real world from an engineering management perspective. An overview of data analytics is covered, including an introduction to data quality, prediction, causality, visualization, data wrangling, privacy, and ethics. The major topics discussed are: the process of data analytics in engineering, the core concepts of big data and its application for improved decisions, the principles of data visualization and dashboard design, and the methods, tools, and approaches for data analytics. |
| MSE 564 | Knowledge Discovery from Databases and Data Visualization for Engineering Managers | 3 units | This course provides an overview of how manufacturing and other engineering organizations are infusing their business practices with data analytics led by engineering teams to improve business efficiency. Through case studies and assignments, engineering managers will learn how to interact with their organizations data and have knowledge discovery through databases and visualize their findings through Tableau software. This knowledge discovery will help engineering managers make technical decisions and consider technical changes as well as various business options for engineering organizations. |
| MSE 617 | Engineering Quality Management & Analytics | 3 units | Comprehensive overview of quality management needed by engineering managers, including case studies for understanding the application of theory into the current dynamic technical business environment. Includes tools and techniques for data analytics, as guided by past, present concepts and strategies, including a proposal for a future concept and strategy for quality management. Watch MSE 617 overview |
| MSE 515 | Engineering Supply Chain Systems & Analytics | 3 units | In this course, engineering management students examine the technical aspects of supply chain design and integrated distribution networks, with a data analytics and system's coordinated approach in the global environment. While using systems engineering practices to focus support on channel alignment within operations and supply management, an emphasis is placed on the planning, modeling, and analysis of integrated engineering supply chain systems through design, sourcing, machine learning, digital transformation, location modeling, risk pooling, and the internet of things™ (IoT), along with sustainability and social justice aspects of modern supply chain management (SCM). Watch MSE 515 overview |
| MSE 697MGT | Engineering Management Directed Comprehensive Studies | 3 units | Both preparation for and completion of written comprehensive case studies as well as successful completion of the program's Comprehensive Examination are required to earn CSUN's Master of Science in Engineering Management. Watch MSE 697MGT overview |
