New certificate program expands career opportunities for engineers

Engineers interested in expanding their skills, pursuing management positions and getting more out of their careers in general can benefit significantly by enrolling in the Productivity Improvement Graduate Certificate Program offered by Oakland University's Industrial and Systems Engineering Department.

Working professionals in any of the engineering disciplines can acquire new tools that will help them in their current positions or prepare them to excel in new ones. With a diverse array of course offerings, the certificate program allows students to tailor their education to best meet their individual career needs.

"The content of these courses needs to get embedded throughout the engineering process, because everyone has a piece they're responsible for," said Robert Van Til, professor of industrial and systems engineering.

"There seems to be a groundswell out there, a real need for people to get access to these kinds of courses without have to go through a complete master's degree program."

Students in the program select any three core productivity improvement courses, as well as one elective course from a list that includes Lean Principles and Application, Human Factors, Robotic Systems, Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing and more. The productivity improvement core courses include:

• Statistical Quality Analysis
• Production Systems and Workflow Analysis
• Engineering Decision Analysis
• E-commerce and ERP
• Foundations of Systems Engineering I
• Statistical Methods in Engineering
• Engineering Operations Research - Stochastic Models
• Computer Simulation of Discrete Event Systems
• Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Systems

All courses are held two nights a week for two hours a night, and are taught by accomplished professors in a supportive, hands-on environment. Prospective students can apply now to start taking courses during the fall 2011 semester.

Applicants must have an earned bachelor of science degree in any engineering discipline and have an overall grade point average of 3.0 or above. Applicants who have earned a bachelor of science degree in an engineering technology discipline will be considered for admission.

For more information, contact Robert Van Til at vantil@oakland.edu or (248) 370-2211, or visit oakland.edu/ise.