Watch Course Overview by Faculty

The program's curriculum features two modes: synchronous and asynchronous. For synchronous components, you'll attend live class sessions at the same time each week -- Thursdays at 6 p.m., for instance. These live weekly sessions are scheduled for maximum flexibility and involve lectures and discussions with faculty and classmates. Asynchronous components, meanwhile, are activities that can be done on your own time, such as discussion boards, videos, presentations and other on-demand content.

The EM program begins with MSE 600, which is a course on decision tools for engineering managers. This decision-making ability is a fundamental skill that all engineering managers must possess in order to make decisions related to diverse project elements. Students then engage in an engineering economics and financial analysis course, in which they acquire the decision-making tools related to a project’s economics and financial aspects. This is followed by a course on leadership and marketing. The student then transitions into a course on innovation and entrepreneurship, which focuses on developing entrepreneurial skills, and thus on the creation of an entrepreneurial mindset.

Further courses address the topics of Project Management, Operations Management, as well as Quality Management; students will gain a deep familiarity with these topics, and know how to apply them. Lastly, participants receive instruction on sustainability and supply chain management – both crucial components of the modern engineering industry. Since these two factors give engineering projects a major competitive advantage, they are a must-know for all engineering managers.

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)

  • 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
  • MSE 564: Knowledge Discovery from Databases and Data Visualization for Engineering Managers
  • MSE 617: Engineering Quality Management & Analytics
  • MSE 515: Engineering Supply-Chain Systems & 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.
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.
 
view video 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.
 
view video 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.
 
view video 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.
 
view video 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.
 
view video 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.
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).
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.