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Mitchel McNair,
The Dow Chemical Company

"This program has totally reshaped my thinking processes—I’m not just an engineer anymore—the scope of my thinking has increased and that in turn has made me a much more valuable employee and opened a lot of doors for me." more

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Mitchel McNair, DOW Chemical Company
Engineering Management Graduate (MSE 2003)

• The number one thing is that the program has totally reshaped my thinking processes—I’m not just an engineer anymore—the scope of my thinking has increased and that in turn has made me a much more valuable employee and opened a lot of doors for me at work. It has brought me much greater influence. If I knew then when I was looking at this program what I know now, I would not have waited six months and would have done it as soon as possible.
• I actively promote the program to my peers because I believe it is the best Master’s Degree option available to engineers today. People don’t just gain a Master’s degree through this program – they also gain the knowledge and tools they need to be successful for the rest of their professional careers.
• Having gone through this program and bringing this information back to my workplace has enabled me to rise head and shoulders above all of my peers in the eyes of my leadership and management.
• One of the most beneficial areas of this program has been the value of the practical application focus of this program. The material that is taught can be applied immediately in the workplace. It’s this focus that will get your boss to notice you immediately. It was easy for me as I’m going through the classes, in the back of my mind I’m taking notes on the side, ‘investigate applying this section to this problem at work’.
• You’re going to get recognized when you go through this program and you start applying it in your workplace. You don’t have to promote yourself. If you’re just doing the things you’re learning from this program, you’re going to rise to the top; I guarantee that, because everyone else is not doing those things, they’re not thinking with that broad of a mindset when they approach their work.
• I’ve had friends of mine at work who have gone off and gotten MBAs. When I was going through the Engineering Management Masters, I would show them the curriculum and each and every person who I’ve spoken to who has an MBA said: ‘I wish I knew about this program and that it was around when I was pursuing my masters because from an engineering standpoint, I would much rather have taken that path than just a traditional MBA.

Todd Baker, Future Electronics
Engineering Management Graduate (MSE 2006)

Discussing the strong points and takeaways of UT’s MSE in Engineering Management Program:

• "For anyone who wants to become a strong project manager and grow their people and leadership skills, the program is spectacular. You learn a lot about how to become more efficient and organized whenever you're leading people."
• "The tangible benefits come a lot faster than you think they would. Not only are you going to be better at your job because of this, but you're actually going to receive some rewards faster than you think. You didn't have to wait until the two years is over; the relevancy of the course material is immediate."
• "Prestige of the professors that are in the program – these aren't people who spent their whole careers in academics. These are people who've spent a lot of time as leaders in companies and major industry."

Sam Wesson, formerly with MD Anderson Cancer Research Center
Engineering Management Graduate (MSE 2006)
Discussing the takeaways from the Advanced Marketing Management course

Using the framework Dr. Mackie provided, we presented to the executive committee at MD Anderson how we were going to revitalize our supply chain. The framework was simple but very powerful—all I did was fill in the sheet that came with the book and filled in the answers. Getting initial approval has never been that easy. Within the first six months we captured about $25 million in savings.

James Hampton, Section Manager Test Operations/CTSD, Johnson Space Center, NASA
Engineering Management Graduate (MSE 2006)
Discussing the takeaways from The Arts & Science of Negotiations course

Following in the footsteps of the Hubble Telescope, the development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) presented James Hampton and NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) team a unique challenge. James had the following to relay regarding how the Engineering Management program helped arm him with the necessary tools to solve this complex riddle.

"Coming up with a feasible means to accurately test a large heavy telescope requiring simulation of an absolute zero temperature and a space like environment was a major challenge."

NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center, proposed to the Johnson Space Center an extremely expensive means of testing the JWST requiring the construction of a large heavy tower that the telescope would be suspended from. James and his team suggested to Goddard a new “Cup Up” approach for cryogenically testing the JWST. Goddard speculated there were additional risks in low vibration and cleanliness. The new approach required hard data before the potential savings could be realized.

"I educated my team to use a method of negotiation from Dr. Paulson’s class termed BATNA for Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement. Focusing on our mutual interests and an objective means to eliminate much of the risk and speculation of this new testing approach, our two teams discovered a viable alternative."

Using another learned negotiation tool that James introduced to his team, the Johnson Space Center established a place of strength in the negotiations by creating value and then claimed a portion of that value as the two Centers moved towards JSC’s pricing expectation.

The end result was a savings to both the Johnson Space Center and Goddard of millions of dollars. "It was so significant that the Goddard Space Flight Center management team gave the Johnson Space Center their Exceptional Achievement Award—this award is normally reserved for the employees within their own space center."

Juan Carlos Mendez, Chevron International Exploration and Production
Engineering Management Graduate (MSE 2006)

A brief explanation of how Dr. Duvic’s Engineering Economics and Dr. Bagchi’s Strategic Decision & Risk Analysis classes have allowed Juan Mendez to apply better decision making in his company:

• "Dr. Duvic’s class teaches you that an engineer that doesn’t understand engineering economics will normally drive for the cheapest solution because he thinks that initial cost is the main thing that counts. The engineer who understands and can analyze economics, will focus on the bigger picture."
• "In the engineering economics class you quickly realize that cost is only one of the many key variables. Analyzing revenue through time balanced against the initial investment enables understanding and insight of how an alternative that will cost you more upfront, may return more value."
• "Time is money. As an engineer, if you have a way of calculating net present value (NPV), you can narrow down the number of options and focus on the best alternative faster. If you don’t understand what drives NPV you will not be able to really find ways of adding value to your project and to your company."
• "After economic analysis comes risk & decision analysis. The phase of the project when you can add most value is in the early stages when you’re doing economic evaluations and you’re trying to select the best alternatives. Once you select the alternative you will pursue, your ability to add value to the company is narrowed down. Once you select and execute option A, you’re stuck with option A. If you don’t do a thorough job of looking at the different alternatives available and try to bring together engineering , economics and risk analysis, you will loose value."
• "Dr. Bagchi’s also class helps you understand how one uncertainty may have a bigger impact on the project outcome than another uncertainty and allowing you to uncover variables that can sway your project one way or another. His class provides you with an understanding of how to rationalize and objectively evaluate these uncertainties."
• "The Engineering Economics and the Risk and Decision Analysis classes equips you to go into any large corporation and have a significant conversation with the few people who understand what the heck this is all about."
• "What made the most significant difference for me was the tool box you gain going through the program."

Alumni Focus Group Sound bites:

"If I knew who my classmates would be it would have made a significant difference in my enrolling in this program – I have personal relationships with all my former classmates."

"It is a fact of life that your job is being outsourced. UT’s EM Master’s provides job security."

"I was so impressed by the personal involvement of the professors and their extraordinary willingness and commitment to help us get the very most out of this program. There wasn’t a professor whose home phone number we didn’t have – I have even called them at 8am on Sunday."

"Final decision was based on one thing: UT. When I matched UT’s overall engineering and business programs against reachable universities and programs, it had the best prestige, and also provided contacts."

"It also helps to know where these people are from that went through the program. People that were in our classes came from Houston, Oregon, Dallas, Washington DC, and New Orleans. And the diversity of disciplines as well – it’s not only high-tech, it’s also hospital industries, construction, and others."

"It was fun. The classroom experience was the best part of the program."