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In today’s modern marketplace, where the technology sector increasingly overlaps with traditional business and commerce, many companies look for engineers with business management expertise to bridge the gap between these two historically separate areas. That’s where a Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) comes in. Often referred to as the ‘MBA for engineering’, these courses train students with a background in engineering to develop their business leadership skills, communicate well with workforces and make commercial decisions. If you have a passion for engineering and want to advance your career, MEM degrees are recognised internationally and give you the key skills you need.
What is engineering management?
Postgraduate courses in engineering management are designed to meet industry demand for engineers with an advanced skillset in management. As such, they cover all the key engineering areas and business management theory to create a compact and interdisciplinary degree programme.
MEM degrees often emphasize emerging technologies, computer science and data analysis, encouraging students to develop problem-solving skills and find commercially driven solutions to real-world engineering problems.
Students typically learn through a combination of taught lectures, independent research, case studies and work placements to develop their skills in project management, operations, and leadership from a highly technical perspective.
| Explore 250+ Engineering Management courses to pursue overseas! |
What is taught in engineering management courses?
Postgraduate courses in engineering management are usually highly applied courses. The courses are designed to deepen your knowledge and expand your skillset across engineering, technology, and applied science. Due to their practical nature, many include work placements to give you real-world industry experience.
Modules covered in an MEM will vary between universities and study programs, especially if you enrol on a programme aligned to an engineering specialisation. But broadly speaking, a master’s degree in engineering management will include units in:
- Accounting and finance
- Business economics
- Data analysis
- Engineering project management
- Engineering business management
- International business
- Sustainability
- Strategic leadership
- Systems engineering
It is also common for engineering management courses to include a research project, exploring a real engineering problem from several commercial, management and technical perspectives.
Popular universities for Indian students looking to pursue engineering management abroad
Students who want to study engineering management abroad can view international university league tables for engineering, such as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject, 2024.
The table below lists some of the most popular universities for Indian students looking to study engineering management overseas.
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Popular universities for engineering management courses |
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|
University |
Country |
Course Name |
Course duration (full-time) |
Total international tuition fees |
|
UK |
MSc Advanced Engineering Management |
1 year |
GBP 29,340 |
|
|
UK |
Engineering Management MSc |
1 year |
GBP 25,000 |
|
|
UK |
MSc Engineering Management |
1 year with optional industrial placement year |
GBP 31,920 (+ GBP 3,500 industrial placement fee, if applicable) |
|
|
USA |
MS Engineering Management |
1.5 – 2 years |
USD 57,600 |
|
|
University of Dayton, Shorelight |
USA |
MS Engineering Management |
1.5 – 2 years |
USD 31,650 |
|
Australia |
MS Engineering Management |
2 years |
AUD 80,400 |
|
|
Australia |
MS Engineering Management |
2 years |
AUD 86,400 |
|
|
University of Technology, Sydney |
Australia |
MS Engineering Management |
1 year |
AUD 68,256 |
|
Canada |
Graduate Certificate in Quality Engineering Management |
2 years, including work placement |
CAD 27,844 |
|
|
University of Ottawa |
Canada |
MEng Engineering Management |
1.5 – 2 years |
CAD 10,502.45 per semester of active study |
Eligibility criteria for studying engineering management abroad
To study an MEM as an international student, you must meet basic entry requirements. These may vary between institutions and courses, but you will usually need some form of background in engineering.
Most universities require MEM applicants to hold a minimum of a second-class bachelor’s degree (with honours) in an engineering specialisation or an equivalent qualification. Some courses may accept applicants who do not meet the above requirements but have significant professional experience in engineering.
You must prove your English language proficiency. For most courses, a minimum overall IELTS score of 6.0 to 6.5 or an equivalent qualification.
| Check out scholarships to study Engineering Management in the UK |
Engineering management course options
There are a range of options available to Indian students hoping to study an engineering management degree abroad, with most master’s degrees in engineering management taking one or two years to complete.
Popular engineering management courses include:
- MS/MSc Engineering Management: A compact and practical course providing an industry-level and interdisciplinary understanding of engineering and business.
- MS Engineering Management with a work placement year: The same in content as a standard MEM, but with an additional year of real-world industry experience.
- MBA in Engineering Management: These courses have a more business-based approach and cover many of the areas found in a standard MBA but with a heavy focus on engineering and technology-based systems.
- Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma in Engineering Management: these professional courses provide important insights into the connections between engineering and management and allow you to develop your knowledge and skills accordingly. These courses may be more accessible to students who do not have a background in engineering.
- PhD Engineering Management: Doctorate programmes in engineering management allow you to conduct research into advanced industrial or manufacturing issues, providing engineering-based solutions.
Courses are also available for engineering management within specific engineering specialisation. For example, in production and engineering management, sustainable engineering management, or systems and engineering management.
Career opportunities for engineering management graduates
One of the benefits of studying an MEM, as opposed to an MBA is that it streamlines you professionally into the technology sector and makes you instantly a desirable candidate for many senior management-level jobs in tech. With experience, it is not uncommon for graduates to become CEOs or directors (MEMPC, 2017).
A popular career choice for MEM graduates is to become an engineering manager. This can be an interesting and lucrative role, with an average engineering manager in the USA earning around USD 160,000 per year (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).
Other common roles held by graduates with a master’s degree in engineering management include:
- Data analyst
- Operations engineer
- Product manager
- Project manager
- Sales engineer
- Systems engineer
- Technical consultant
- Technical manager
Many MEM courses carry internationally recognised professional accreditations, giving you scope to work overseas if you want to.
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