Not all students are blessed with the skills and aptitude for design and research. Several students get into undergraduate degrees in engineering following a herd mentality or because they assume that their curiosity for technology makes them natural engineers. Are you one of those students who, instead of working on the improvisation of a supercritical steam generator, would rather design a highly efficient thermal plant? Or one, who instead of designing the next best-in-class off-roader SUV would prefer working on integrating lean manufacturing techniques in the automobile manufacturing plant and help it achieve six-sigma certification? If yes, then fret not. There are a whole host of opportunities waiting for you, where you get to employ your analytical aptitude developed during your undergraduate degree. 

If you wish to work on projects as described above, you need to equip yourself with a Master’s degree in Engineering Management. The program trains students to apply various management techniques in technology-driven businesses. The student has the flexibility to choose from courses in accounting and finance, engineering statistics, economic decision making, project management, operations research, marketing, organizational behaviour, and strategic management. A few universities also offer courses in tech-entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and business law. Touted as the ‘Engineer’s MBA’, the MEM program offers a less expensive alternative to an MBA, especially if you do not wish to wait until you acquire the required amount of work experience to satisfy the eligibility requirement of the MBA program.

After completing MEM degree, engineering managers can explore a wide range of career options. One can choose to be a technology consultant with firms such as KPMG and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, or work with core engineering firms such as BHP Billiton, Exxon Mobil, power utility companies, or infrastructure firms such as T. Y. Lin. Some engineering managers also choose to pursue off-beat careers in sales and marketing, human resources, and in the public sector. The average salary for an MEM degree holder can range anywhere from $90K – $130K. 

Some of the leading Universities which offer the MEM degree include:

1. Georgia Institute of Technology
2. Stanford University
3. University of California-Berkeley
4. University of Michigan
5. Purdue University
6. Northwestern University
7. University of Wisconsin-Madison
8. Virginia Polytechnic Inst and State University
9. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
10. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
11. Pennsylvania State University
12. University of Southern California
13. Texas A&M University
14. Ohio State University
15. Auburn University
16. University of Iowa
17. Northeastern University
18. Lehigh University
19. Arizona State University
20. University of Pittsburgh
21. North Carolina State University
22. State Univ of New York- Buffalo
23. University of Nebraska-Lincoln
24. Oklahoma State University
25. University of Oklahoma
26. Kansas State University
27. Wayne State University
28. Iowa State University
29. University of Massachusetts Amherst
30. University of Florida