Master of Science in engineering management

Wayne State University's Master of Science in engineering management program is designed to build both technical competence and business acumen. The program builds understanding and skills critical to the support of fast-to-market strategies, which also guarantee product quality and cost minimization. A systematic analytical framework is developed and coupled with tools for managing the engineering and technical functions within manufacturing-based companies.

This cross-disciplinary program draws from the expertise of the College of Engineering and School of Business Administration, and develops the engineering leader who is responsible for designing and implementing strategies to successfully compete in the 21st century.

What you will learn in the M.S. engineering management program

  • Understand and integrate the design, test and build product life cycle
  • Model, analyze and control design and production activities
  • Understand the impact of quality, cost and timeliness metrics on manufacturing performance
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of manufacturing processes and technologies
  • Perform data analysis and optimization for decision making
  • Develop business cases for justifying process, organizational and technological projects
  • Support for systems engineering and project management
  • Communicate effectively (written, verbal and presentation) across all levels in the enterprise
  • Develop an ability to grow through life long acquisition of knowledge

M.S. in engineering management program curriculum

The degree program is a 36-credit degree program. The program includes 18 credits of engineering courses and 6 credits of business administration course. The final 12 credits can be completed in two different ways:

  • Engineering and business electives (12 credits) OR
  • Project at a company (6 credits) plus engineering electives (6 credits)

Learn more about the engineering management program curriculum

Plan of Work

The Plan of Work is intended to assist the student in structuring the course work for the MS degree. Students are urged to discuss their program with the appropriate program coordinator (identified along with the program description). The Plan of Work should be filed in DegreeWorks by all students in the program before completing 12 credits. Students will be notified by the Graduate School regarding the acceptance of the plan. The Plan of Work is a contract that describes all requirements to be met for the degree. The Plan of Work should be treated as a living document. If there are any changes to your program, you must file a revised Plan of Work and receive approval from department graduate program director. Failure to keep your Plan of Work updated can delay graduation. 

Admission requirements

Attention must be paid to any restrictions established in the admission process. Such restrictions often deal with the requirements to take courses above the 30-credit minimum in the case of MSIE and MSME programs and above 36-credit minimum in the case of the MSEM program to make up for background deficiencies. Occasionally, there is reason to change these stipulations made in the admission process. The only way to change any requirements established in the admission process is through a "Memo of Change" initiated by the appropriate program coordinator (identified along with the program description). If such a change memo has not been processed, the student will be required to satisfy all requirements established in the admission process. This may impact the ability of the student to graduate on time. Apply to the program via the Graduate School application.

Admission to the M.S. Engineering Management program is contingent upon admission to the Graduate School. These are the additional requirements:

Academic credentials

  • Students with Baccalaureate degree in engineering from an institution accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) with honor point average of 3.0 in the upper division of their undergraduate program are prime candidates for this program.
  • Applicants from non-ABET institutions will be considered on a case by case basis.  
  • No GRE is required.
  • Students without a Baccalaureate degree in engineering or other mathematically rich field who have work experience in a technical field will be considered for admission on probation only after demonstrating mathematical proficiency by scoring a grade of "B" or better in the following three courses or their equivalent: MAT2010 (Calculus I), MAT2020 (Calculus II), and BE2100 (Basic Engineering: Probability & Statistics). Students on probation must complete eight credits of ISE courses with a grade of "B" or better before changing to regular status.

Applicants with less than 3.0 honor point average might be considered for admission under special circumstances.

Work experience

This program is designed to enrich the learning journey by integrating students' professional backgrounds. While we highly encourage applicants to possess two years of full-time work experience and/or significant internship/co-op/research experiences, it is not a mandatory requirement for admission. 

Application deadlines

  • Fall (begins in August): July 15
  • Winter (begins in January): Nov. 1
  • Spring/summer (spring begins in May; summer begins in June): Feb. 1

Learn more about graduate admissions.