Engineering with broad shoulders

A key tenet of Berkeley Engineering is to educate leaders. To us, engineering leadership extends beyond simply creating new technologies and managing technology innovation. Truly transformative engineering leadership calls for a comprehensive understanding of the economic, legal, social and environmental implications of novel and emerging technologies and services in societal scale systems.

Now we have a direct path to provide our students with the educational resources to achieve just that. We are proud to announce a bold, new program designed to meet the mounting demand for engineers who can successfully lead projects and organizations in global environments: It is the Berkeley Engineering Professional Master’s Program, a one-year, 24-unit course of study culminating in the master of engineering (M.Eng.) degree.

The first major initiative of the Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, this program is designed to close the gap between engineering theory and industry practice and groom engineers for top CEO, CFO and other executive positions in leading technology-dependent enterprises and in the top global centers of innovation.

After months of intensive research, consultation and planning, we are now preparing the curriculum for a fall 2011 launch. Several programs will be offered on campus, taught through the college’s departments by top engineering faculty. Coursework is based on the “T-model” for engineering leadership education: vertically supported by deep technical specialization (represented by the vertical portion of a capital “T”) and extending outward through broad instruction in key management and leadership concepts (the cross atop the “T”).

All of the programs will share the common core curriculum in engineering leadership, an entirely new menu of value-added skill sets including financial and risk management tools, organizational leadership, enterprise strategy and policy and regulatory frameworks. A team-oriented “capstone” project will bring groups of students face-to-face with industry and faculty mentors to develop their learning by applying emerging technologies to solve societal-scale, real-world problems.

Our vision is to continue to evolve the program over time in collaboration with industry partners and add to our undergraduate entrepreneurship courses as well as our executive education offerings.

Once again, we thank Coleman Fung (B.S.’87 IEOR) for the generous gift that allows us to expand the college’s offerings and amplify its beneficial impact by educating a new type of engineer, one with broad shoulders, leadership skills and the outlook of a global citizen.

I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

S. Shankar Sastry
Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering
Director, Blum Center for Developing Economies
Email Dean Sastry