College launches plethora of new degree programs

Undergraduate entrepreneur certificate

Undergraduate students can now pursue formal studies in ventures engineering thanks to a certificate program launched last fall.

The new program takes advantage of three course offerings in the WSU School of Business as well as two new engineering courses, says Nancy Philippart, executive-in-residence of the College of Engineering's Engineering Ventures Program. Engineering students working toward a bachelor's degree in any one of the college's six departments can earn a certificate in engineering entrepreneurship by taking an additional five classes (15 credits).

With an economy in transition, particularly in Michigan, traditional engineering career tracks are opening to greater and more diverse career opportunities. The new landscape gives students firmer control over their own destinies. Philippart says the entrepreneur certificate program is designed to help students understand the structure of companies and the differences between them. They will also learn marketing fundamentals and the basic set of financial tools to run a company.

First U.S. industrial engineering doctorate for working executives

Today's business managers and executives can gain a competitive edge through a new doctoral program within the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering designed specifically for their experience level.

The first doctoral program of its kind in the United States, the Global Executive Track (GET) Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering complements students' managerial positions by promoting the skills necessary to thrive in today's global marketplace. Comprehensive research and coursework allows GET program students to foster integrative thinking, global awareness and the ability to produce sustainable value for organizations worldwide.

The program consists of two and a half years of coursework and two years of research. Courses address and explore topics like product development and operations research, and are taught by a cohort of experts from such areas as business, industrial engineering and anthropology, as well as senior executives from industry.

The program seeks candidates with a minimum of 10 years' managerial experience, a bachelor of science in engineering and a relevant master's degree or M.B.A.

Undergraduate biomedical program

This past fall, biomedical engineering administrators welcomed the first class of undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) students to the college. "The new program recognizes that biomedical engineering now stands by itself as a basic engineering field," says Michele Grimm, associate professor of biomedical engineering, who leads the planning team for the new program.

At Wayne State, biomedical or bioengineering, a relatively new field encompassing the application of engineering to the understanding of human physiology and how the body responds to outside forces, was originally driven by the need to understand the mechanisms of injuries caused by automobile crashes and other impacts, and the desire to develop safety devices and systems to reduce the number and seriousness of these injuries. Much of the research and development addressed head and back injuries.

Today, biomedical engineering at Wayne State has broadened substantially. Designing new materials for controlled drug delivery, developing robotic control systems to assist with finely detailed surgery, adapting systems to assist individuals with disabilities, and assessing the mechanism of injury from sports impacts or blast trauma are just some of the applications of biomechanics, biomaterials, and biomedical instrumentation that students and faculty explore every day.

Advanced energy storage certificate

The college will be the first in the country to offer graduate and undergraduate certificate programs in advanced energy storage systems as the state's automotive industry transitions to produce more electric drive vehicles.

The new certificate program beginning in fall 2011 draws from Wayne State's curriculum and research in electric drive vehicle and alternative energy technologies. "Offering this program strengthens Wayne State's role as a leading education provider and gives our diverse community of students the opportunity to improve their capabilities in state-of-the-art energy storage as a career option," says Chih-Ping Yeh, director of the Engineering Technology Division where the programs are administered.

New electric energy storage technologies are essential to a better utilization of existing and future power grid systems. Benefits include increasing grid reliability, reduction of system transmission congestion, better load management and more suitable renewable electricity base load suppliers. In addition to infrastructure, the curriculum also addresses on-board electric vehicle high-power storage, particularly advanced battery technology. Energy storage is critical to the development of the emerging population of advanced, fuel-efficient light- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles.

Fundamental and advanced energy storage, fundamental hybrid and electric vehicle technology, applied thermodynamics and power management, and applications for energy storage systems are included in the certificate program curriculum. Kwo Young, chief scientist of Energy Conversion Devices of Rochester Hills, Mich., and his team of scientists, along with Gene Liao, associate professor of engineering technology, will be the instructors.

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth is partnering with Wayne State to provide tuition for 60 undergraduate and 50 graduate candidates recommended by the Michigan Works Association, supported by a $710,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant. The National Science Foundation granted $250,000 to Liao and the WSU Engineering Technology Division to run the program.