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    Hidden Clues, Fictitious Companies & Lean Six Sigma – What’s the Common Link?

    It’s not often a line can be drawn from an Agatha Christie-esque mystery to a course in operational excellence, but The Ohio State University College of Engineering’s online Master of Engineering Management (MEM) degree offers a course that does just that. 

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    The MEM curriculum includes courses in engineering management, business and policy through a partnership with The Fisher College of Business and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. A capstone course in operational excellence is the culminating experience where students put their learned problem-solving skills to the test. 

    During the course, each student will complete a project based in their real-world industry to address a problem that involves cost, quality, delivery or a combination of the three. 

    “The goal of this project is to get the students to see how everything they learned during the semester fits together and how to think more strategically about challenges at work,” says Sky Goodwin, MEM lecturer. “For the final exam, there is a complex case study where each student is given the assignment of working as a consultant who is brought into a fictitious company to help solve some of their problems.” 

    To tackle the case study, students are given production, staffing, inventory, shipping information and paperwork that represent notes from interviews and other observations, with hidden bits of information that reveal some of what is happening at this made-up company.

    “The cumulative course provides MEM students with a blend of lectures covering project management, application of improvement methodologies (heavily focused on Lean Six Sigma, a set of techniques and tools used to improve processes), data analytics, leadership, strategic thinking and management systems,” says Goodwin. 

    These specific topics are chosen to show the MEM students how the materials they have learned throughout their degree program blend together in order to make them become better engineering managers.

    For the final presentation, students present their findings in a video, along with a written recommendation to the company and documentation of a couple of the tools that they utilized to complete the project. 

    “This gives the students another opportunity to learn about how to present a report of findings to senior management and how to organize their findings into an organized set of recommended actions,” Goodwin says.

    MEM students come from numerous undergraduate fields of study and go on to be stand-out leaders in a variety of technical positions. 

    The Master of Engineering Management degree is offered 100% online with applications accepted year-round. Applicants are encouraged to apply at least one month prior to desired start date. 

    Whatever your career goals may be or if you’re looking to advance your skills, the Professional and Distance Education Programs office in the College of Engineering is here to assist with flexible, online programs. 

    Learn more at go.osu.edu/mem

    This series is brought to you with paid support by The Ohio State University, Professional and Distance Education Programs, College of Engineering.

    About Professional & Distance Education Programs (PDEP) 

    The Ohio State University’s Professional and Distance Education Programs in the College of Engineering provide learning opportunities for innovative leaders in engineering and architecture. Our executive education and workforce development programs include online professional master’s degrees, certification programs and short courses, offered online and in-person. 

    Photo provided by OSU PDEP
    Photo provided by OSU PDEP
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    OSU College of Engineering Professional & Distance Education Programs
    OSU College of Engineering Professional & Distance Education Programs
    The Ohio State University’s Professional and Distance Education Programs in the College of Engineering provide learning opportunities for innovative leaders in engineering and architecture. Our executive education and workforce development programs include online professional master’s degrees, certification programs and short courses, offered online and in-person.
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